Several years ago, a television reporter was interviewing three of the most important people from local businesses. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

　　The reporter was talking to them about being important.

　　“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.

　　The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President is really important.”

　　The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.

　　The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President said he was too busy to answer it.”

　　The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”

　　“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”

　　“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.

　　“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”

1.This story happened in ________.

A. U.N.                         B. U.S.A.                              C. U.K.         D. P.R.C.

2.There are________in this passage.

A. three men        B. three women and one man　

C. four men       D. three men and one woman

3.The banker and the owner of one of the largest companies in the world ________.

A. had similar opinions about the reporter’s question　　        

B. disagreed with each other  

C. had been invited to the White House many times      

D. didn’t reply to the reporter

4.The owner of one of the largest companies thought ________.

A. he himself was really important because he owned one of the largest companies in the world

B. the President was really important because the president of another country called him

C. the visitor was really important if the President would rather treat him than answer an important phone call from another country

D. none of them was really important

5.The underlined word you in the last paragraph refers to (指的是) ________.

A. the television reporter　　                    B. the owner of many buildings

C. the President                   D. the visitor to the White House

完形填空（共12分，每小题1分）
阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选择最佳选项
　　I had my first job at the age of thirteen, when a friend of my mother’s who owned a book shop hired（雇佣） me for six hours a week to help her in the shop. I was very 　1　 　to earn my own pocket money and my parents 　2　 　interfered（干涉）with how I spent it, even when I was spending it foolishly. They believed that by earning money, spending it, and learning from the 　3　 , I would become more mature（成熟的） and responsible about how to handle work, relationships with others, and money.
　　Like many American parents, my parents also let me and my brothers do things over which they 　4 　　a great deal. When I was sixteen, for example, after I finished high school and before I entered university, I wanted to spend the summer months traveling around Europe. My mother was against the idea of my traveling alone at such a young age, but my father felt that it would be a great 　5　 　for me. In the end, my father won the argument（争论） on the 　6　 　that I limited（限定）my traveling to France, my mother’s home, where I had many uncles, aunts and cousins spread out through the country who could 　7　 　shelter（住处）and help if I needed them.
　　Three years later, my younger brother decided to 　8　 　a year off after his first year in university and travel through the United States and the Caribbean. Again my mother was very worried and not eager to see my brother leave school, but my father encouraged him and my brother had a(n) 　9　 　year working his way on trains and ships to 　10 　　passage to different ports and cities, and discovering many fascinating places and people.
　　These kinds of experiences are probably rare（稀少的）for children in many countries but in the US they are fairly common. Most parents start 　11　 　their children at a young age to do small things by themselves. By the time they have finished high school, many American kids have already had part-time jobs, traveled around the US or other countries on their own, have selected the university they plan to attend and maybe even 　12　 　on their future career, and so on.