One Sunday afternoon, I went shopping at Wal-Mart . But I never thought I would have a life ­changing experience at WalMart.
Although my thoughts were only on speed, the checkout line I was standing in wasn’t moving as quickly as I wanted, and I looked towards the cashier.
There stood a man in his seventies, wearing glasses and a nice smile. I thought, well, he’s an old guy!
For the next few minutes I watched him. He greeted every customer before scanning the items. Sure, his words were the usual, “How’s it going？” But he did something different—he listened to people carefully and then he would reply to what they had said
I thought it was strange. I has grown used to people asking me how I was doing simply out of conversational habit. I could say, “I just found out I have six months to live，” and someone would reply, “Have a great day！”
But that wasn't the end.
He gave them the change, walked around the counter (柜台), and hugged them with his right hand in an act of friendship. He looked at the customers in the eyes. “I want to thank you for shopping here today,” he told them. “You have a great day. Bye-bye.”
The smiling looks on the faces of the customers were priceless. All had been touched by his simple gesture—and in a place they never expected. They would gather their things and walk out, smiling.
Of course, he did the same to me and I got to know his name—Marty.
Who was that guy? It was as if Sam Walton (沃尔玛的创始人)had come back from the dead and invaded this old guy’s body.
I had never walked away from that shop feeling like that.

【小题1】The underlined word “customer” mean________ in Chinese.

I remember my maths teacher Mr Young very well. He stood out because the kids made fun of him. He was missing one of his fingers. In school Maths was my worst subject. I don’t think there was ever a day I went to school that I was not afraid.
One day, I was told that if I got one more E on my report card, my parents would be called to school.
I tried really hard for weeks to learn Maths. I just couldn’t understand how to make different parts of numbers into whole things; my brain just couldn’t do it, no matter how hard I tried.
The day before report cards were to come out, I knew that Mr Young would give me an E, just like he always did.
After class ended, I went to Mr Young and told him what would happen if I got another E. He told me there was nothing he could do; it would be unfair to the other kids if he gave me a better grade than I had actually earned.
I looked at the teacher and said, “Mr Young, you know how all the kids make fun of you because you’re missing your finger?”
He looked at me, and said nothing.
“They shouldn’t do that to you because you can’t help not having a finger, Mr Young. Just like I can’t help not being able to learn numbers and matters like that,” I said.
Again, he said nothing as he looked down at his desk, and began grading papers.
The next day, when I got my report card, I looked at my grades: Geography: B- , English: D-  , History: C- , Gym: B+ , Art: C, Maths: D- .
That Math grade was the most favorite one I ever received in my whole life. I knew that someone in the world finally understood what it was like for me to be missing a finger inside my head.
【小题1】Where was Mr Young different from others?

When I was about 12, a girl in my class liked to point out my problems. I was too thin; I wasn’t a good student; I talked too much; I was too  61  , and so on. At last, I became very angry and ran to my father.
He listened to me  62 . Then he asked, “Are these things true or not? Do you know what you are really like? Go and make a  63  of what she said and find the  64  that are true.”
I did he told me. To my great  65 . I discovered that about half of the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change(like being very thin). But there were things I could and wanted to change. For the  66  time, I got a clear  67  of myself.
I brought the list back to dad. He refused to take it. “That’s just for you.” He said. “You know the truth about  68  better than anyone else. When people say something that is true about you, you should find it helpful.”
Our world is full of people who think they know your business. Don’t  69  and feel  70 . Listen to them.

完形填空（共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
Monday morning is an important time at our school. All of the students go to the playground. We listen to music, and we  1 the national flag go up.
　 Usually, one student gives a talk on Monday mornings. One Monday last year, a boy gave the talk. He was   2 and excited! When I saw him, I wanted to have a try, too.
　 Can I really do it?
　 Last week, our teacher said our class should give the talk. My teacher   3 me, “I know you want to have a try. Next Monday morning, I want you to give the talk. Go and write something down.  4 for it, I’m sure you’ll do well.”
“Thank you.” I answered. It was such a great  5 for me! When I got home, I was excited. I wrote two pages for the talk. I read them again and again. When I read, I asked my parents  6 . I wanted to make my teacher happy.
Finally Monday morning came. I began to feel  7 .
When did I last give a talk to  8 many people? Never! This was my first time. Could I really  9 it? Maybe I couldn’t finish the talk.
When I got to school, we all went out to the playground. I  10 in front of everyone. I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t say anything.
“Take it easy,” I said to  11 . “Don’t be nervous. You can do it.”
Just then, I looked down at everyone. I saw about 1,000 eyes. They were all looking at me ! I couldn’t  12  stand up.
I took a look at their eyes more carefully. Their eyes seemed to say, “You can do it! Come on!   13 afraid, just talk!”
I took a big breath. Then I began to talk. It wasn’t hard. It was easy.
I don’t know 14 I finished my talk, but I tried my best to do it. I felt so good that day. I showed myself  15 everyone what I can do.