Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.

She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school."

So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6.a.m. five nights a week for just￡90, before tax and insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get a bit extra."

The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.

Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful."

The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags."

Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other. people when she tells them what she does for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."

54. Margaret left her job as a nurse because_______.

　　 A. she needed the right time to look after her children

　　 B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure

　　 C. she wanted to earn more money to support her family

　　 D. she felt tired of taking care of patients

55. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because_______.

　　 A. they never clean their offices　　　 　　　 B. they look down upon cleaners

　　 C. they never do their work carefully 　 D. they always make a mess in their offices

56. When at work, Margaret feels_______.

A. tired because of the heavy workload　 　　

B. happy because the building is fully lit

　　 C. light-hearted because of her fellow workers　　

D. bored because time passed slowly

57. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would_______.

　　 A. help care for her children　　　　 B. feel disappointed in her

C. show sympathy (同情) for her D. regret what they had said

Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.

She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school."

So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6.a.m. five nights a week for just￡90, before tax and insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get a bit extra."

The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.

Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful."

The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags."

Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other. people when she tells them what she does for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."

54. Margaret left her job as a nurse because_______.

　　 A. she needed the right time to look after her children

　　 B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure

　　 C. she wanted to earn more money to support her family

　　 D. she felt tired of taking care of patients

55. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because_______.

　　 A. they never clean their offices　　　 　　　 B. they look down upon cleaners

　　 C. they never do their work carefully 　 D. they always make a mess in their offices

56. When at work, Margaret feels_______.

A. tired because of the heavy workload　 　　

B. happy because the building is fully lit

　　 C. light-hearted because of her fellow workers　　

D. bored because time passed slowly

57. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would_______.

　　 A. help care for her children　　　　 B. feel disappointed in her

C. show sympathy (同情) for her D. regret what they had said

“Sixteen,” I said. I have forgotten the math question my second-grade teacher, Joyce Cooper asked that day, but I will never forget my _1_ . As soon as the number left my mouth, the whole class started _2_ . I felt like the silliest person in the world.
Mrs. Cooper fixed them with a firm (严格的) look. Then she said: “We’re all here to _3_ .”
Another time, Mrs. Cooper asked us to write a _4_ about what we hoped to do with our lives. I wrote: “I want to be a _5_ like Mrs. Cooper.”
She wrote on my report, “You would make an outstanding(杰出的) teacher _6_ you are determined(坚定的) and you try hard.” I was to carry those _7_ in my heart for the next 27 years.
After I graduated from high school, I got married and had children.
We needed every penny just to get by. College – and teaching – was out of the question.
Then one day I thought of my _8_ of how I wanted to help children. I talked it over with my family and _9_ to attend college classes in the mornings before work. And when I got home from work, I would _10_ . Finally after seven years, my dream had been realized and I became a teacher.
Not long after I started _11_ , something happened that brought the _12_ rushing back to me. I had written a sentence with grammatical(语法的) mistakes on the blackboard. Then I asked students to come and _13_ the mistakes.
One girl got halfway through, became confused(迷乱的) and stopped. As the other children laughed, _14_ rolled down her face. I gave her a hug and told her to get a drink of water. Then, remembering Mrs. Cooper, I fixed _15_ of the class with a firm look. “We’re all here to learn,” I said.