Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California’s Santa Ana Freeway. It was an hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home. I couldn’t reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus. Not knowing the routes, I figured I’d just head east.

A bus pulled up, and I asked the driver how far she was going. “Four more lights,” she said. There was another bus I could take from there. This clearly was going to be a long night.

She dropped me off at the end of her route and told me which bus to look for. After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home. Then a bus pulled up. There was no lighted number above its windshield(挡风玻璃). It was out of service. But the door opened, and I was surprised to find that it was the same driver.

“I just can’t leave you here,” she said. “This isn’t the nicest place. I’ll give you a ride home.”

“You’ll drive me home in the bus?” I asked, perplexed(困惑).

“No, I’ll take you in my car,” she said.

“It’s a long way,” I protested.

“Come on, ” she said. “I have nothing else to do.”

As we drove www..comfrom the station in her car, she began telling me a story. A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas. A good Samaritan picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car. “I’m just passing the favor along, ” she said.

When I offered her money as a thank-you, she wouldn’t hear of it. “That wouldn’t make it a favor, ” she said. “Just do something nice for somebody. Pass it along.”

1. Why did the writer say that he would have a long night?

A. He wondered how long he had to wait for the next bus.

B. No driver would give him a ride.

C. He didn’t know the routes.

D. He perhaps would have to take a taxi.

2. Judging from its context, the place where the writer waited for the second bus was _______.

A. very quiet and peaceful     B. dark without street lights

C. neither clean nor beautiful   D. a little unsafe

3. Why did the writer change his mind after waiting for 30 minutes at the end of the route?

A. No bus would come at the time.

B. A taxi ride would be more comfortable.

C. He became impatient and a bit worried.

D. He knew the driver would never return.

4. The bus driver drove the writer home later because ________.

A. she happened to go in the same direction

B. she wanted to do something good for other people

C. her brother told her to do so

D. she wanted to earn more money

5. The bus driver hoped that the writer ________.

A. would do as she did             B. would keep her in memory

C. would give the money to others    D. would do her a favor

In 1974, after filling out fifty applications, going through four interviews, and winning one offer, I took what I could get ----- a teaching job at what I considered a distant wild area: western New Jersey. My characteristic optimism was alive only when I reminded myself that I would be doing what I had wanted to do since I was fourteen ------- teaching English.
School started, but I felt more and more as if I were in a foreign country. Was this rural area really New Jersey? My students took a week off when hunting season began. I was told they were also frequently absent in late October to help their fathers make hay on the farms. I was a young woman from New York City, who thought that “Make hay while the sun shines” just meant to have a good time.
But, still, I was teaching English. I worked hard, taking time off only to eat and sleep. And then there was my sixth-grade class ---- seventeen boys and five girls who were only six years younger than me. I had a problem long before I knew it. I was struggling in my work as a young idealistic teacher. I wanted to make literature come alive and to promote a love of the written word. The students wanted to throw spitballs and whisper dirty words in the back of the room.
In college I had been taught that a successful educator should ignore bad behavior. So I did, confident that, as the textbook had said, the bad behavior would disappear as I gave my students positive attention. It sounds reasonable, but the text evidently ignored the fact that humans, particularly teenagers, rarely seems reasonable. By the time my boss, who was also my taskmaster, known to be the strictest, most demanding, most quick to fire inexperienced teachers, came into the classroom to observe me, the students exhibited very little good behavior to praise.
My boss sat in the back of the room. The boys in the class were making animal noises, hitting each other while the girls filed their nails or read magazines. I just pretended it all wasn’t happening, and went on lecturing and tried to ask some inspiring questions. My boss, sitting in the back of the classroom, seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. After twenty minutes he left, silently. Visions of unemployment marched before my eyes.
I felt mildly victorious that I got through the rest of class without crying, but at my next free period I had to face him. I wondered if he would let me finish out the day. I walked to his office, took a deep breath, and opened the door.
He was sitting in his chair, and he looked at me long and hard. I said nothing. All I could think of was that I was not an English teacher; I had been lying to myself, pretending that everything was fine.
When he spoke, he said simply, without accusation, “You had nothing to say to them.”
“You had nothing to say to them”. he repeated.” No wonder they are bored. Why not get to the meat of literature and stop talking about symbolism. Talk with them, not at them. And more important, why do you ignore their bad behavior”? We talked. He named my problems and offered solutions. We role-played. He was the bad student, and I was the forceful, yet, warm, teacher
As the year progressed, we spent many hours discussing literature and ideas about human beings and their motivations. He helped me identify my weaknesses and strengths. In short, he made a teacher of me by teaching me the reality of Emerson’s words: “The secret to education lies in respecting the pupil.”
Fifteen years later I still drive that same winding road to the same school. Thanks to the help I received that difficult first year, the school is my home now.
【小题1】 It can be inferred from the story that in 1974 ________________.

A．the writer became an optimistic person

B．the writer was very happy about her new job

C．it was rather difficult to get a job in the USA

D．it was easy to get a teaching job in New Jersey

【小题2】According to the passage, which of the following is most probably the writer’s problem as a new teacher?

A．She had blind trust in what she learnt at college.

B．She didn’t ask experienced teachers for advice.

C．She took too much time off to eat and sleep.

D．She didn’t like teaching English literature.

【小题3】What is the writer’s biggest worry after her taskmaster’s observation of her class?

A．She might lose her teaching job.

B．She might lose her students’ respect.

C．She couldn’t teach the same class any more.

D．She couldn’t ignore her students’ bad behavior any more.

【小题4】Which of the following gives the writer a sense of mild victory?

A．Her talk about symbolism sounded convincing.

B．Her students behaved a little better than usual.

C．She managed to finish the class without crying.

D．She was invited for a talk by her boss after class.

【小题5】The students behaved badly in the writer’s classes because

A．They were eager to embarrass her.

B．She didn’t really understand them.

C．They didn’t regard her as a good teacher.

D．She didn’t have a good command of English.

【小题6】The taskmaster’s attitude towards the writer after his observation of her class can be described as________________.

A．cruel but encouraging	B．fierce but forgiving
C．sincere and supportive	D．angry and aggressive

 

II、完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

阅读下列短文，掌握其大意，然后从文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案。

After spending a weekend away with my son, I was so impressed by his generous heart that I sent him this letter.

Dear son,

I want to thank you for teaching me a very __16__ lesson in life by the great example you __17__. When we were eating at that café in Bondi and a person who had __18__ his hamburger didn’t have enough money to pay for it, without any __19__, you went over and put the __20__ $2 into this hand.

When we were leaving, you __21__ threw a five-cent coin onto the pavement and said __22__ like, “Some kid will really enjoy __23___ this.”

Last week, a young man __24___ me in the line at a petrol station didn’t have __25__ money to pay for his petrol. I asked the money collector, “How much __26__ is he ?” she told me he had meant to put $15 of petrol in his car __27__ he had been looking at the wrong gauge (计量表) and had put in 15 __28__, which came to just over __29__. That is an easy mistake __30__ both gauges run fast.

Something made me think of you and __31__ you did that night at the café in Bondi. I handed the man $6. He was so __32__ and said, “But why would you do this for me?” I just smiled as I thought of you.

 Thank you, son, for teaching me that “it’s __33__ to give than receive”. Now when I see a five-cent coin on the __34__ and want to pick it up, I think of you and leave it __35__, just in case some kid will get a kick out of finding it.

16. A. humorous      B. private                   C. reasonable  D. valuable

17. A. followed         B. gave              C. set                          D. took

18. A. ordered          B. booked                   C. offered                   D. bought

19. A. hesitation      B. doubt            C. permission  D difficulty

20. A. other               B. last                         C. extra             D. rest

21. A. again               B. already                  C. only                         D. also

22. A. nothing           B. everything   C anything   D something

23. A. finding             B. accepting     C looking for D pointing at

24. A. behind             B. beyond                   C. ahead of       D. next to

25. A. much               B. some             C. any                         D. enough

26. A. far                    B. long                        C. short             D. high

27. A. and                            B. but                          C. so                            D. while

28. A. litres (升)       B. kilograms     C. pounds                   D kilometers

29. A. $15                            B. $20                         C. $25                         D. $30

30. A. until                    B. as                     C. although      D. unless

31. A. what                B. which            C. whatever     D whichever

32. A. excited         B. surprised     C. interested D encouraged

33. A. easier              B. better           C. faster            D. worse

34. A. corner             B. way                         C. ground                   D. carpet

35. A. there               B. here                        C. out                          D. around

 

A funny thing happened on the way to the communications revolutions: we stopped talking to one another.
I was walking in the park with a friend recently，and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. There we were, walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day and…I became invisible, absent from the conversation.   
The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communications technology is a tragedy to the closeness of human interaction. With email and instant messaging over the Internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another, With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.
As almost every contact we can imagine between human beings gets automated, the alienation index goes up. You can't even call a person to get the phone number of another person my more. Directory assistance is almost always fully automated.
I am not against modern technology. I own a cell phone, an ATM card a voice mail system, and an email account. Giving them up isn't wise…they're a great help to use. It's some of their possible consequences that make me feel uneasy.  
More and more .I find myself hiding behind e-mail to do a job meant for conversation. Or being relieved that voice mail picked up because I didn't really have time to talk, The industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier…or at least facilitating my antisocial instincts．
So I've put myself on technology restriction: no instant messaging. with people who live near me，no cell phoning in the presence of friends, no letting the voice mail pick up when I'm at home.
【小题1】Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?   

A．The Advance of Communications Technology

B．The Consequences of Modern Technology

C．The Story of Communications Revolution

D．The Automation of Modern Communications

【小题2】The sentence “Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent，”means that       .

A．the people sitting beside you have to go away to receive a phone call

B．you can hardly get in touch with the people sitting beside you

C．modem technology makes it hard for people to have a face-to-face talk

D．people can now go to work without going to the office

【小题3】The writer feels that the use of modern communications is        ．

A．encouraging

B．disappointing

C．satisfying

D．embarrassing

【小题4】The passage implies that        .

A．modern technology is bridging the people.

B．modern technology is separating the people

C．modern technology is developing too fast

D．modern technology is interrupting our communications