A strange woman comes to my door one day in early March.It’s a rich area so we often have people selling things door to door，dusters，make?up，frozen foods—but she doesn’t look like a professional saleswoman.She hasn’t got the patter(喋喋不休) either.She just smiles shyly and puts a card in my hand：“Amy Turner.Pet Portraits Undertaken.”

I run my fingernail along the cheap gold edge of the card and look at her，waiting for an explanation.

“I’ll paint any animal in the comfort of your own home.”Amy Turner says.“Wouldn’t you like a nice picture of your loved one？I’ve had experience of dogs，cats，parrots，prize bulls...”

“Prize bulls！”I can’t help looking up and down our street.The thought of any of my neighbours keeping bulls in their back gardens makes me smile.

“I don’t have any animals，”I say as we look past each other.She must be wishing some little cat or dog would come running down the hall to give the game away and it is the first chance I’ve had to smell the air outside.It is one of those spring mornings when you wake up and find winter’s gone.Even the camellia in the garden opposite has flowered overnight，pink blossoms which look shocking against the quiet greens and greys.

“Why are you still in your dressing gown？”Amy says，turning her attention back to me.“It’s nearly lunchtime.Are you ill？”

“I’m fine，”I lie.I’m not going to tell a stranger I’ve just been sick in the toilet upstairs and would still be sticking my fingers down my throat if the doorbell hadn’t rung.But now I’m not sure what to do next.Amy is still standing there.She_doesn’t_seem_to_think_that_not_having_a_pet_is

_a_good_enough_excuse.

“I’m starving.”she says and I smile politely，nodding the way you do before you say goodbye.

“No，”she puts her foot in the door.“I’m really starving.I’ve had nothing to eat for two days and no one has any pets for me to paint.I need some food or I’ll faint，right here on your doorstep.”

I stand to one side and let her in.

1．According to the text，what does a professional saleswoman usually do?

A．Sells things door to door with her cards.

B．Never puts a card into people’s hands.

C．Tries to talk people into buying her things.

D．Smiles，hands her cards and walks away.

2．What does the underlined word “one” in the third paragraph stand for?

A．Dog. 　　　　B．Child.　　　　　 C．Pet. 　　　　　D．Cat.

3．From the text we know that Amy is a ________.

A．young baby?sitter 　 B．poor beggar　 C．professional salesgirl D．poor painter

4．What does the writer mean by saying “She doesn’t seem to think that not having a pet is a good enough excuse.”？

A．It seems that she doesn’t want to leave.

B．She wants the writer to give another excuse.

C．She is sure there is a pet in the house.

D．She thinks that not having a pet is a bad thing.

I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I used to give a lot of money to the homeless, feeling  31  for them. But as time passed, I became a mom with no home, a huge 32    , and hardly any income. As a result, I  33 giving money to the people on the side of the road and became very  34 .
Things started to change for me  35 . I had a home, a backyard for my daughter, and plenty of food, and I started to  36 myself out of debt. One day we saw a homeless person with the  37 , “Will work for food.” I  38 . My daughter commented. “Mommy, you used to always give money to those people in  39 .” I replied, “Honey, they just use that money for  40 , or other bad things.” She didn’t respond.  41 when I said that, I didn’t feel right.
Three days later, I was driving to  42 my daughter from school. A man was standing on the corner, and something deep  43 me said, “Just help the guy.” So I  44 down my window, and he ran over excitedly. He said, “God bless you, I only need 77 cents.” I  45 into my ashtray (烟灰缸) and strangely enough, there  46 three quarters and two pennies.
I picked them up and gave them to him. He  47 with joy and tears in his eyes. “Wow, you just made it  48 for me to see my mom for Christmas! Thank you so much; the  49 that had this great sale is leaving in 20 minutes!” It was a moment I’ll  50 forever. I think that man won’t forget it either, but I was the one who got the best gift in life—GIVING.

It was Thanksgiving morning and in the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags(破旧衣服) huddling together inside the storm door on the top step.

"Any old papers, lady? " asked one of them.

I was busy. I wanted to say "no" until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals(凉鞋), wet with heavy snow.

“Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa.”

They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I served them cocoa and bread with jam to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget.

The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady, are you rich? "

"Am I rich? no!"

I looked at my shabby slipcovers(旧家具套). The girl put her cup back in its saucer (茶托;浅碟)carefully and said, "Your cups match your saucers." Her voice was hungry with a need that no amount of food could supply. They left after that, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn't said "Thank you." They didn't need to. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.

Plain blue china(瓷的) cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.

I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job--these matched, too.

I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am.

1. Why did the writer let the children in?

A. She showed great pity on them.

B. She wanted to sell old papers.

C. She knew them and wanted to make them a cup of cocoa.

D. She wanted to invite them to her Thanksgiving party.

2. The girl thought the writer was rich perhaps because_________

A. she saw that the lady's room was comfortable

B. she saw the cups matched the saucers

C. the writer's slipcovers were very new

D. the woman had expensive clothes

3.What was the weather probably like when the story happened?

A. cloudy     B. sunny      C. windy      D. snowy

4. From the passage, we can infer that whether you are rich depends on_______

A. how much money you have had    B. how you feel about your life

C. how you have helped others       D. what job you are doing

Now let’s compare the Chinese diet with the Western diet. Some say that the Western food is better than the Chinese food. Do you think so?
First, let’s make a standard(标准) of the better diet. We don’t have to care much about the shape, the colour and the taste of the food. We say the one that has more nutrition, is easier to be digested and absorbed(吸收) by the body and then makes us more energetic should be the better. In this way, I believe, our Chinese food should be better than the Western food. Why?
I think the Western food contains too much fat and sugar. I know both fat and sugar are a kind of nutrition we need in our body, but too much of them will make your body harmed. That’s why so many westerners get ill when young. Besides, westerners have to use knives, forks and spoons to help them have their meals. It seems that they couldn’t have their meals without force.
But in Chinese food we have those mainly from plants including their seeds, leaves and roots together with a little meat such as chicken, fish, pork, mutton and so on. With so much plant food we can get enough calories as it is rich in fiber, protein, calcium and fat. With a little meat we can make our body even stronger. Besides, we use chopsticks, bowls and plates to help us have our meals. All of these make us harmonious to nature and everybody around us. So I say our Chinese food makes us wise, happy, healthy and wealthy.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
A. The taste of the Chinese food.
B. The taste of the Western food.  
C. The comparison between the two kinds of food.     
D. The tastes of both of the two kinds of foods.
2. Which is the standard of measuring a diet?
A. Quantity of nutrition in the food.
B. Whether it is easy to be digested and absorbed.
C. Whether it can offer us enough energy.      
D. All of the above.
3. Which is the writer’s attitude towards diet according to the passage?
A. Western food should be better because it contains much fat and sugar.
B. Western food should be better because contains much calories.
C. Chinese food should be better because it doesn’t contain too much fat or sugar
D. Chinese food should be better because it doesn’t have much nutrition.
4. According to the passage, which statement is true?
A. The standard (标准) of a better diet depends on the shape, color and the taste of the food.
B. Fat and sugar in the food do harm to our body.
C. Westerners use knives, chopsticks and spoons to help them have meals while Chinese use bowls, forks and plates.
D. Chinese food and the way Chinese have meals show Chinese are more harmonious with nature.

It was Thanksgiving morning and in the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags(破旧衣服) huddling together inside the storm door on the top step.
"Any old papers, lady? " asked one of them.
I was busy. I wanted to say "no" until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals(凉鞋), wet with heavy snow.
“Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa.”
They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I served them cocoa and bread with jam to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget.
The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady, are you rich? "
"Am I rich? no!"
I looked at my shabby slipcovers(旧家具套). The girl put her cup back in its saucer (茶托;浅碟)carefully and said, "Your cups match your saucers." Her voice was hungry with a need that no amount of food could supply. They left after that, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn't said "Thank you." They didn't need to. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.
Plain blue china(瓷的) cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.
I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job--these matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am.
1. Why did the writer let the children in?
A. She showed great pity on them.
B. She wanted to sell old papers.
C. She knew them and wanted to make them a cup of cocoa.
D. She wanted to invite them to her Thanksgiving party.
2. The girl thought the writer was rich perhaps because_________
A. she saw that the lady's room was comfortable
B. she saw the cups matched the saucers
C. the writer's slipcovers were very new
D. the woman had expensive clothes
3.What was the weather probably like when the story happened?
A. cloudy     B. sunny      C. windy      D. snowy
4. From the passage, we can infer that whether you are rich depends on_______
A. how much money you have had    B. how you feel about your life
C. how you have helped others       D. what job you are doing