—What did John say about leaving the city?

  —He said he disliked the place so he had no _____ about leaving so soon.

A. hopes          B. regrets      C. memories             D. comments

 

One morning in Philadelphia, the sun shone bright through all the thick jungles and the tall churches. John, 6, wearing the worn-out clothes, walked from a far place, his dark small hands holding a piece of stolen bread.

John stopped for a moment at the entrance to the church and then left tightly holding the bread,      

He was an orphan(孤儿), whose parents were killed in World War II leaving him alone in the orphanage for five years, Like many children in the house, he had a lot of free time. Mostly no one took care of them, so they had to learn how to steal those they wanted.             

John believed God to be real, so every Sunday morning in any case he would go to the church to have a look and listen to those people singing inside or reading the Bible. He felt only at this moment he was the child of God and so close to God. But he couldn’t enter because his clothes were so dirty. John himself knew it.

John was quietly calculating the times. This was his 45th Sunday at the entrance to the church. He stood on tiptoe（踮着脚尖） for a while and walked away.

As time passed, the pastor(牧师) noticed John and learned from others that he was the small boy who liked stealing things in the orphanages.

On the 46th Sunday, the sun was shining and John came still holding a piece of bread with his dark small hands. When he just stood there, the pastor came out. He felt like running away, but he was carried by the pastor's friendly smile.

The pastor walked up to his side, clearly seeing John's small hands shaking.

"Are you John?"

John didn't answer, but looked at the pastor and nodded.

"Do you believe in God?" the pastor patted John on his head with dust.

"Yes, I do!" This time John told him loudly.

"So you believe in yourself?"

John looked at the pastor, without a word.

The pastor went on saying, "At the first sight of you, I find you're different from other kids because you have a good heart."

His face turning red, John said nervously, "In fact, I'm a thief." With that, he lowered his head.

The pastor didn't speak, but held John's dark small hands, slowly opened them and put them against his wrinkled face.

"Ah" Just at the same time, John shouted and was about to take out his dark small hands. Yet the pastor tightly held his small hands and spread them out in the sun.

"Do you see, John?"

"What?"

"You're cupping the sunshine in your hands."

John blankly looked at his hands: when did they become so beautiful?

"In God's eyes, all children are the same. When they are willing to spread out their hands to greet the sun, the sun will naturally shine on them. And you have two things more than they do. First is courage and the second is kindness." With that, the pastor led him into the church. It was the first time that John went into this sacred place, and at this moment he didn't feel inferior, but the unspeakable warmth.

On that morning greeting the sunshine, John found himself again, along with the confidence, satisfaction, happiness, dreams he had never had.

Twenty years have passed. Now the boy who ever tightly held the bread with his dirt hands has been the most famous cook in Philadelphia and made many popular dishes.

Every Sunday morning, he would personally send the bread he baked to the orphanage. Those children who greeted him with cheers were used to consciously spreading their palms before they got the bread.

Because they all knew when we are willing to spread out our hands to greet the sunshine, the sun will naturally shine on us.

1.The method the writer uses to develop Paragraph is ______________

A．presenting contrasts (对比)                B．showing causes （原因）

C．offering analyses                        D．providing explanations

2.Why didn't John go inside whenever he went to the church?

A．He was frightened to be recognized by the pastor

B．He was not welcomed by those singing in the church.

C．He was sorry for his dirty clothes and identity as a thief.

D．He was left alone in the orphanage and nobody cared for him.

3.Which of the following questions did John reply certainly?

A．“Are you John?"                        B．"Do you see, John?"

C．"So you believe in yourself?"               D．"Do you believe in God?"

4.Which of the following can best describe the pastor's great effect on John?

A．John became a famous cook.

B．John admitted his bad behavior. (行为)

C．John believed God to be real

D．John spread warmth to other orphans.

5.According to the passage, the sunshine cupped in hands can bring ________

A．cheers and confidence                   B．dreams and imagination

C．courage and kindness                    D．forgiveness and satisfaction

 

John and Bobby joined a wholesale company together just after graduation from college the same year. Both worked very hard. After several years, however, the boss promoted Bobby to the position of manager but John remained an ordinary employee. John could not take it any more, tendered his resignation to the boss and complained the boss did not know how to delegate and did not value hard-working staff, but only promoted those who flattered him.

The boss knew that John worked very hard for the years. He thought a moment and said, “Thank you for your criticism, but I have a request. I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave. Perhaps you will change your decision and take back your resignation.”

John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find out anyone selling watermelon in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found out a man selling watermelon. The boss asked how much per kg. John shook his head and went back to the market to ask and returned to inform the boss $1.2 per kg.

Boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office. He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelon in the market. Bobby went, returned and said, “Boss, only one person selling watermelon. $1.2 per kg, $10 for 10kg, he has inventory (清单) of 340 melons. On the table 58 melons, bought from the South two days ago, they are fresh and red, good quality.”

John was very impressed and realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided not to resign but to learn from Bobby.

Chances exist in the daily details. For the same matter, a more successful person sees more and farther so that he can find out an opportunity and catch it to realize his aim. If a person sees one year ahead, while another sees only tomorrow. Then the difference between a year and a day is 365 times!

Why did John decide to hand in his resignation to the boss?

Because he couldn’t stand being an ordinary employee.

Because Bobby would take John’s former position.

Because the boss was not flattered by his hard work.

Because Bobby instead of him was promoted.

What did the boss ask John to do?

A. To go to market and find out whether there is someone selling watermelons.

B. To make a complete marketing research on the various prices of watermelons.

C. To search for much information about the effective ways to sell watermelons.

D. To make a comparison on the prices of different types of watermelons.

What sort of following information about watermelons was NOT brought by Bobby?

A. The price.                       B. The quality.

C. The quantity.                    D. The weight.

From the difference of John and Bobby, we may infer that a more successful person is more _____.

alert, sensitive and passionate

observant, thoughtful and exploratory

considerate, modest and satisfied

confident, noble and tolerant

Are you a big fan of pirate（海盗） stories? Do you know how to talk like a pirate? You can have fun on September 19th. This special holiday is called International Talk Like A Pirate Day. It was invented in 1995 by two young Americans, John Baur and Mark Summers.
These two good friends came up with this idea when they were playing racquetball, and began to talk like pirates. At that moment, they thought, “Young people are interested in pirate, but there is no such a chance for people to get together to share it. Why not have a day when everybody talks like a pirate?” They decided to make September 19th the date. Since then, Baur and Summers have tried hard to promote Talk Like A Pirate Day. As Baur said, “We’ve talked like pirates, and encouraged several of our friends to do so every September 19th.”
At first, this day was only known by a few people. In 2002, Baur and Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to Dave Barry. This columnist（专栏作家）really liked their idea. He promoted the holiday and made it known to more and more people. Now, it has really become an international holiday. On Talk Like A Pirate Day, you need to dress like a pirate. You should wear a big hat or maybe cover one of your eyes. You can pretend to be any kind of pirate that you can find in any story or movie.
Having fun and being relaxed are not the only best things about the holiday. Young people share the same interest and childhood dreams that day. That's why it is welcomed by so many people, especially young people.
Unlike traditional holidays, International Talk Like A Pirate Day is a brand new holiday which is invented by the youth themselves and celebrated by themselves too. Because of Baur and Summers’ imagination and creativity, thousands of young people’s pirate dream come true. Next time, when you have a good idea, why not share it with your fiends and insist on your belief? Maybe you can create another wonderful holiday for the youth in the future.
【小题1】How did John Baur and Mark Summers invent the special holiday?

A．Many young people asked them to do it

B．They did it just for pleasure

C．They did it in order to honor pirates

D．They thought out the idea by chance and imagination

【小题2】Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．It was Dave Barry who made more people know the holiday.

B．Talk Like A Pirate Day is a young, active and lively holiday

C．The holiday has been popular since the birth of it.

D．Thanks to John Baur and Mark Summers’ imagination and creativity, many people realize the pirate dream.

【小题3】According to the passage, which of the following can show that the holiday is special?

A．It is a brand new holiday invented and celebrated by the youth themselves.

B．It is a wonderful and instructive holiday.

C．It has a long history.

D．People can make their dream come true on this day.

【小题4】Which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage in a newspaper？

A．Young people’s pirate dream	B．Can you talk like a pirate?
C．John Baur and Mark Summers	D．September 19th—a traditional day in honor of pirates

Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in no more than ten words:

Just Ask Grandma

We read and hear a lot about healthy eating in newspapers and on TV nowadays. Experts and nutritionists tell us what to eat, when to eat and how to eat to stay healthy, Some of the their advice seems reasonable. Some just sounds strange. Who can we rely on?

Well, ask yourself another question: How did people choose foods and stay healthy before there were nutrition experts? We relied on culture, which is another way of saying: on tradition and common sense.

All of us carry around rules of thumb about eating that have been passed down in our families or plucked（采集） from culture. Earlier this year, US writer Michael Pollen posted a request about these rules on The New York Times website. Within days, he received more than 2,500 responses. Not all of them have stood the test of time or been confirmed by science, but all of them have something to teach us, Pollen said.

Here are some of Pollen’s favorites:

My parents are both from Italy, and one of our family rules was that you could not leave the table until you had finished your fruit. It was a great way to put fruit into our diets and also helped satiate（满足）our sweet tooth, keeping us away from less healthful sweets. – Marta C. Larusso

From my Romanian grandmother: “Breakfast, you should eat alone. Lunch, you should share with a friend. Dinner, give to your enemy.” – Irina A. Dumitrescu

Don’t eat anything that took more energy to ship than to grow. – Carrie Cizauskas

“It’s better to pay the grocer（食品商） than the doctor” was the saying that my Italian grandmother would frequently use to remind us of the love and attention to detail that went in to her cooking – John Forti

If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are not hungry. – Emma Fogt

“Make and take your own lunch to work.” My father has always done this, and so have I. It saves money and you know what you are eating. – Hope Donovan Rider

Never eat something that is pretending to be something else, e.g.: chocolate-flavor sauce that doesn’t contain chocolate. – Sonya Legg

Other than health experts, which other sources are there for us to turn to for advice on diet?

What does the underlined sentence imply?

According to Marta C. Larusso, we can both satiate our sweet tooth and keep away from less healthful sweets by_________________________________

What did John Forti’s grandmother mean when she said, “It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor.”?