C
One Sunday, my family had gathered at my parents’ house to feast upon Mom’s wonderful cooking. During the normal dinner chatter (闲聊), I noticed that my father was slurring (说话含混) his words. No one mentioned this during dinner, but I felt compelled to discuss it with my mother afterward.
We decided that there was something seriously wrong and that Dad needed to see the doctor.
Mom phoned me two days later. “The doctor found a brain tumor (肿瘤). It’s too large at this point to operate. Maybe they can do something then, but the odds are long.”
Even with the treatment, my father’s condition worsened, and the doctor finally informed us that this condition was terminal (晚期的). During one of his stays in the hospital, we brought our baby daughter Chelsey with us when we visited him. By this time he had great difficulty speaking. I finally figured out that he wanted Chelsey to sit on his stomach so he could make faces at her.
Watching the two of them together, I realized I was living an experience that would stay with me forever. Though grateful for the times they could share, I couldn’t shake the feeling of a clock ticking in the background.?
On the visit to my parents’ home during what we all know was my father’s last days, my mother took Chelsey from my arms and announced, “Your father would like to see you alone for a minute.”
I entered the bedroom where my father lay on a rented hospital bed. He appeared even weaker than the day before.
“How are you feeling, Dad?” I asked. “Can I do anything for you?”
He tried to speak, but he couldn’t make out a word.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t understand you,” I said.
With great difficulty he said, “I love you.”
We don’t learn courage from heroes on the evening news. We learn true courage from watching ordinary people rise above hopeless situations. In many ways my father was a strict, uncommunicative man. He found it difficult to show emotion. The bravest thing I ever saw him do was overcome that barrier to open his heart to his son and family at the end of his life.
【小题1】Which of the following statements is TRUE?

I worked hard for a whole week. So I decided to relax and went out of town with my son for the   1 . When we were walking on the street, we felt a little   2 . So we found a café and  3  to have lunch there. After we sat down at our table, I   4 an elderly couple having lunch at a table across the room. I must have looked over at them a few times because my son asked me if I   5  them. I shook my head and said no. But I told him that they   6  me of my own grandparents.
When the waitress came over, I asked her if she knew them. She said she did. She said it was the elderly man’s birthday today. On hearing this, I wanted to do something for them, so I told the   7  that I wanted to buy them the lunch and gave her the money.
Some time later, the elderly couple came over to   8  us. They were so excited that someone had bought them lunch. It was really a big   9  for them. They said that they had been a little   10  because their own son and daughter seemed to have   11  the old man’s birthday. But they were really cheered up by my   12 .
My son was surprised that I had paid for this couple who we didn’t know. He asked me why I did it. I smiled at him and replied that my grandparents used to go out for lunch to celebrate their birthdays in the same way and it just felt like the   13  thing to do to make this couple smile,  14  on their birthdays. Hearing my   15 , my son smiled.

Letters to the next president
Dear Mr. President:
I would like to personally thank you for your time and concern for our great country. I would like to take a few minutes to address a few concerns that I have with the United States.
First of all, I would like to address the war. In my opinion, we should have never been involved with Iraq to the extent that we are now. I believe we should pull our troops out. However, I think there should be a time table that we follow but the time table should not be released（发布） because the enemy does not need to know when we are going to pull out. Also, the war takes out a ton of our money, which leads me to my next issue.
The economy right now, in the opinion of many Americans is the biggest issue with which we are facing right now. No one can predict what will happen one day or the next. The obvious thing to do is to put 700 billion dollars in the economy, but that bill failed and was rejected by the House of Representatives(众议院). Instead of putting 700 billion dollars in, I think the money should be equally distributed among Americans to pay off their debts. I'm not sure if this would work, but I think it is a positive alternative(替代) we could take.
My final issue I would like to call to your attention is teacher's salaries. The high school students of today are America's future. In a way, America's future depends greatly on the high school teachers of America. Saying this, it is sad that teacher's salaries are where they are. While teachers are working harder and harder every day to teach high school students, CEO's of big companies that are driving our countries economy into the ground are getting bonuses. I'm not saying that teacher's salaries should be the same of CEO's of companies, but I do strongly believe that action should be taken to increase the salaries of teachers because they have one of the most important jobs in America - - preparing our country for the future.
Once again, thank you for your time and your effort you put in to making this great country a better place.
Sincerely, Walker
【小题1】What's the author's attitude towards the Iraq War?

What if it isn’t a dog-eat-dog world? What if caring for a dog or for a mom with Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆症) makes you stronger and allows you to live longer?
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are born to be selfish.
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was misunderstood by his male followers, the researchers say. Rather than “every man for himself”, Darwin believed that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our educational, selfless and sympathetic characteristics.
Why has it taken so long for Darwin’s central revelation(揭示) to be properly understood? “We’ve had too many men in social science,” Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner told me in an interview. “Female scientists acknowledge that caring for people is part of human nature according to the research, which shows the human ability to care exists in our brains and nerve systems.”
In my book Passages in Caregiving , I urge women who take the whole responsibility for taking care of an elderly parent or a sick relative to build a “Circle of Care”. Reach out to your brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and community volunteers to help you care, because no one can perform this overwhelming role alone. You will be as shocked as I to learn how the most selfless caregivers are rewarded with longer life.
Sympathy is not a woman’s word. In fact it makes all of us stronger under stress and more highly respected by our peers. For so long we have repeated the false saying “Nice guys finish last”. But the 40 richest Americans committed to doing good by donating half their fortunes are no spring chickens. So here is my new explanation：Nice guys die last.
【小题1】The first paragraph serves to       .

I’m trying to be a writer, but I can’t even start. What should I do?
Abraham, Nebraska
There are many ways to come up with ideas, one of which is to write down a list of your experiences, as well as things from your imagination. When you want to write, look in the notebook for ideas.
Books for writers often have good suggestions, too. One we like is Spilling Ink: A Yong Writer’s Handbook by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter. Perhaps your library has it.
My classmates keep asking about a new movie I’ve seen. But I don’t want to spoil it for them. What should I do?
Corinne (by e-mail)
You could ask your classmates whether they are sure they want to know and if they insist, go ahead and tell them. You may be able to give them a general idea of the movie without revealing details of the ending.
I’m going to a soccer camp for youth, but I’m not sure if I’m good at soccer or if I’ll make friends.
Louise, New Hampshire
Soccer camp is for people who share an interest in the sport. No matter what a person’s ability is at the beginning, it’s likely that everyone will leave camp with improved skills.
Sharing a common interest may make conversations easier. Smile, be friendly, and have a sense of humor. Before long, you may find that you’ve made some good friends.
Someone invited me to a birthday party. When I got there, kids were doing stuff I’m not interested in, like watching scary movies. I told them my mom would pick me up, so I just left. Was I rude for doing that?
Sam (by e-mail)
You just did the right thing and that isn’t being rude.
We hope you’ll talk with your parents about this. They’re probably proud of what you did. They may have other suggestions for you, too. Talk about different situations that might come up and what would be the best way to handle (处理) them.
【小题1】Who is interested in Spilling Ink: A Yong Writer’s Handbook?

When I was fourteen, I earned money in the summer by cutting lawns（草坪）, and within a few weeks I had built up a body of customers. I got to know people by the flowers they planted that I had to remember not to cut down, by the things they lost in the grass or struck in the ground on purpose. I reached the point with most of them when I knew in advance what complaint was about to be spoken, which request was most important. And I learned something about the measure of my neighbors by their preferred method of payment: by the job, by the month—or not at all.
Mr. Ballou fell into the last category, and he always had a reason why. On one day, he had no change for a fifty, on another he was flat out of checks, on another, he was simply out when I knocked on his door. Still, except for the money apart, he was a nice enough guy, always waving or tipping his hat when he’d seen me from a distance. I figured him for a thin retirement check, maybe a work-related injury that kept him from doing his own yard work. Sure, I kept track of the total, but I didn’t worry about the amount too much. Grass was grass, and the little that Mr. Ballou’s property comprised didn’t take long to trim (修剪).
Then, one late afternoon in mid-July, the hottest time of the year, I was walking by his house and he opened the door, mentioned me to come inside. The hall was cool, shaded, and it took my eyes a minute to adjust to the dim light. 
“I owe you,” Mr Ballou said, “but…”
I thought I’d save him the trouble of thinking of a new excuse. “No problem. Don’t worry about it.”
“The bank made a mistake in my account,” he continued, ignoring my words. “It will be cleared up in a day or two. But in the meantime I thought perhaps you could choose one or two volumes for a down payment.
He gestured toward the walls and I saw that books were stacked (堆放) everywhere. It was like a library, except with no order to the arrangement.
“Take your time,” Mr. Ballou encouraged. “Read, borrow, keep, or find something you like. What do you read?”
“I don’t know.” And I didn’t. I generally read what was in front of me, what I could get from the paperback stack at the drugstore, what I found at the library, magazines, the back of cereal boxes, comics. The idea of consciously seeking out a special title was new to me, but, I realized, not without appeal--- so I started to look through the piles of books.
“You actually read all of these?”
“This isn’t much,” Mr. Ballou said. “This is nothing, just what I’ve kept, the ones worth looking at a second time.”
“Pick for me, then.”
He raised his eyebrows, cocked his head, and regarded me as though measuring me for a suit. After a moment, he nodded, searched through a stack, and handed me a dark red hardbound book, fairly thick.
“The Last of the Just,” I read. “By Andre Schwarz-Bart. What’s it about?”
“You tell me,” he said. “Next week.”
I started after supper, sitting outdoors on an uncomfortable kitchen chair. Within a few pages, the yard, the summer, disappeared, and I was plunged into the aching tragedy of the Holocaust, the extraordinary clash of good, represented by one decent man, and evil. Translated from French, the language was elegant, simple, impossible to resist. When the evening light finally failed I moved inside, read all through the night.
To this day, thirty years later, I vividly remember the experience. It was my first voluntary encounter with world literature, and I was amazed by the concentrated power a novel could contain. I lacked the vocabulary, however, to translate my feelings into words, so the next week. When Mr. Ballou asked, “Well?” I only replied, “It was good?”
“Keep it, then,” he said. “Shall I suggest another?”
I nodded, and was presented with the paperback edition of Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa (a very important book on the study of the social and cultural development of peoples—anthropology (人类学) ).
To make two long stories short, Mr. Ballou never paid me a cent for cutting his grass that year or the next, but for fifteen years I taught anthropology at Dartmouth College. Summer reading was not the innocent entertainment I had assumed it to be, not a light-hearted, instantly forgettable escape in a hammock (吊床) (though I have since enjoyed many of those, too). A book, if it arrives before you at the right moment, in the proper season, at an internal in the daily business of things, will change the course of all that follows.
【小题1】Before his encounter with Mr. Ballou, the author used to read _____________.

When you meet someone for the first time, you will form an impression in your mind of that person in the first moment. Your reactions to other people, however, are really just barometers (晴雨表) for how you perceive(理解) yourself. Your reactions to others say more about you than they do about others. You cannot really love or hate something about another unless it reflects something you love or hate yourself. We are usually drawn to those who are most like us and tend to dislike those who display those aspects of ourselves that we dislike.
Therefore, you can allow others to be the mirror to illuminate (阐明;照亮) more clearly your own feelings of self-worth. Conversely, you can view the people you judge negatively as mirrors to show you what you are not accepting about yourself.
To survive together peacefully with others, you will need to learn tolerance. A big challenge is to shift your perspective from judgment of others to a lifelong exploration of yourself. Your task is to assess all the decisions, judgments you make onto others and to begin to view them as clues to how you can heal yourself and become whole.
Several days ago I had a business lunch with a man who displayed objectionable table manners. My first reaction was to judge him as rude and his table manners as annoying. When I noticed that I was judging him, I stopped and asked myself what I was feeling. I discovered that I was embarrassed to be seen with someone who was chewing with his mouth open and loudly blowing his nose. I was astonished to find how much I cared about how the other people in the restaurant perceived me.
Remember that your judgment of someone will not serve as a protective shield against you becoming like him. Just because I judge my lunch partner as rude does not prevent me from ever looking or acting like him. In the same way, extending tolerance to him would not cause me to suddenly begin chewing my food with my mouth open.
　　When you approach life in this manner, those with whom you have the greatest dissatisfactions as well as those you admire and love can be seen as mirrors, guiding you to discover parts of yourself that you reject and to embrace your greatest quality.
【小题1】The purpose of the author writing this passage is to advise people to _______.

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition which she won last year.
As a writer, I know about winning contests – and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection letter from the publisher. I also know the pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and destroyed hopes can resurface in our children.
A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?” “No,” she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting my daughter’s experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.
【小题1】What do we learn from the first paragraph?

Most Americans believe that someone isn’t grown-up until the age of 26 and they should complete their education, have a full-time job, have a family to support and be financially independent. They also believe that becoming a real grown-up is a process which begins at about the age of 20 and takes about five years, according to the report from the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center.
The findings are based on a representative sample of 1,398 people over the age of 18 who were surveyed in person. The survey found that people expect the transitions to grown-up status to be completed at the following ages: age 20.9 self-supporting; age 21.1 no longer living with parents; age 21.2 having a full-time job; age 22.3 education completed; age 24.5 being able to support a family financially; age 25.7 getting married; and age 26.2 having a child.
“There is a large degree of agreement across social groups on the relative importance of the seven transitions,” said Tom Smith, director of the survey. The only obvious pattern of differences is on views about supporting a family, having children and getting married. Older adults consider these more important than younger adults do. This probably shows in large part a change in values across generations away from traditional family values. The most valued step toward reaching adulthood, the survey found, is completing education, followed by full-time employment, supporting a family, financial independence, living independently, and marriage.
【小题1】According to the first paragraph, someone is a grown-up when he _______.  

Gallows humor（黑色幽默）seem like a mistake, or at least in poor taste. But psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress. “Humor makes you feel in control and it can give you that feeling that everything is okay even when it's not,” says James M. Jones, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware.
Psychologists say that just because you're laughing doesn't mean you’re wasting time. Occasional teasing among colleagues, particularly if it revolves around things associated with the job, can boost creativity, departmental cohesiveness（凝聚力）and performance.
“There are a lot of stressors out there,” says Ed Dunkelblau, a psychologist with the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning in Chicago. “But gallows humor is a way of making difficult things a little less difficult.”
This is true as long as the humor is used for the right purpose. The main point of it should be inspiring people --- not laughing at them. “Anything that would lift morale（士气）in terms of the company would be good humor,” says Thierry Guedj, a professor of business and psychology at Boston University. “Before you say or do anything, think about, ‘How is this helping my employees’ morale?’”
You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance, or faith. If you have any doubt, it's appropriate, don't go through with it.
Or you can take aim at the one person you know won't be offended（冒犯）:Yourself. “If there's going to be a joke or story, it should be you,” Mr. Dunkelblau says. For example, if you're a marketing manager reviewing a failed campaign that you led, begin with a line like, “The guy who gave permission to this deal might just be looking for work next week.”
“People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves too,” Mr. Jones says. “And if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”
【小题1】According to the text, gallows humor has the following functions EXCEPT ________.