Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing    1.  .

For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the 15^th  century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed.   2.  . By the 18^th century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.

About 100 years ago. Greenhorn was a popular expression in the west of America.   3.   The greenhorn lacked the skills he would need to live in the hard, rough country.

Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb.   4.  A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling, jealousy(嫉妒). The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space. It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”.   5.  A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay rise and she does not.

A．The plants produced much larger crops．

B．The expression comes from the early 1900s

C．Sometimes, it describes something that is nit yet ripe or finished

D．Later, it meant a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle.

E．It was used to describe a man who adjust arrived from one of the big cities．

F．It was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs．

G．It describes the unpleasant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants.

One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes. It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that ,”and it is even harder to say, “I was wrong, and you were right about that.”I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago .He told me he had been the manager of a cartons (纸箱).Then he talked of an incident and I began to remember the incident he was describing.

I was about eight years old at the time, and I had gone into the store with my mother to do the weekly grocery shopping. On that particular day, I must have found my way to the food department where the incident took place.

There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there was a big show of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons. The cartons were put three or four feet high. I must have stopped in front of them to admire the show. Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the pile of cartons. For some reason, I decided it was up to me to put the cartons back together, so I went to work.

The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened. When he appeared, I was on my knees checking some of the cartons to see if any of the eggs were broken, but to him it looked as if I was the person who was to blame .He severely reprimanded and wanted me to pay for those broken eggs. My face turned red and I tried to explain, but it did no good. Even though I quickly forgot the incident, but the manager did not.

51.   How old was the author when he wrote this article?

A. About 8 years old     B. About 18 years old

C. About 23 years old    D. About 15 years old

52. According to this passage, many people will admire who ______.

A. have never made any mistakes       B. often make mistakes but correct them in no time

C. admit their mistakes               D. forget other people's mistakes easily

53. Which is the correct order of the following?  

a. I forgot all about the incident. 

b. I went into the store.

c. A woman knocked off the egg cartons.

d. I stood in front of the egg cartons.

e. The manager reminded me of the incident.

f. The manager didn't believe my explanation.

g. I picked up the unbroken eggs.

A. b; d; g; c; a; f; e   B. b; d; c; g; f; e; a    C. b; c; d ;g; e; f; a   D. b; d; c; g; f; a; e

54. The word “reprimanded” in the last paragraph most exactly means “_______”.

A. frightened        B. scolded         C. suprised         D. comforted

55. The best title for this passage should be________.

A. A Case of Mistake                  B. The Manager I Never Forget

C. The Manager and I                  D. An Incident 15 Years Ago

Students will need to use all of their skills in order to understand the reading selections in Reader's Choice. 1.  These selections provide practice on employing different reading skills to get the message of the writer. They also give students practice in four basic reading skills: skimming, scanning, reading for thorough comprehension, and critical reading. 

    Skimming involves reading quickly through a text to get an overall idea of its contents. This kind of rapid reading is suitable when you are trying to decide if careful reading is desirable or 2.

Like skimming, scanning is also quick reading. However, in this case the search is more concentrated . 3.  When you read to find a particular date, or number you are scanning. 

    Reading for thorough comprehension is carefully reading in order to understand the total meaning of the passage. At this level of comprehension the reader is able to summarize the author's ideas. 4.

Critical reading demands that a reader makes judgments about what he or she reads. This kind of reading requires posting and answering questions such as “5. ”  "Do I share the author's point of view?" and "Am I convinced by the author's arguments and evidence?”

A. Does my own experience support that of the author?

B. Reader’s Choice is one of the most popular magazines in the world.

C. But he has not yet made a critical evaluation of those ideas.

D. The book contains many types of selections on a wide variety of topics.

E. To scan is to read quickly in order to find out specific information.

F. Do I know about the author?

G. when there is no time to read something carefully.