One day while shopping in a small town in southern California, it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk．He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase．I bought nothing, and marched angrily out of the store．
On the outside was a dark-skinned young man in his early twenties．His expressive brown eyes met and held mine, and in the next instant a beautiful, bright smile covered his face．I gave in immediately．The power of that broad smile dissolved all bitterness within me, and I felt the muscles in my own face happily responding．
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" I remarked, passing．Then I turned back．"I really owe you a debt of thanks," I said softly．
His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer．A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby．The woman stepped forward and volunteered, "Sir, but he doesn't speak English．Do you want me to tell him something?" In that moment I felt transformed．The young man's smile had made a big person of me．My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stand ten feet tall．
“Yes,” my reply was enthusiastic and sincere, “tell him I said, ‘Thank you!’”
“Thank you?” The woman seemed slightly puzzled．
I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave．"Just tell him that," I insisted．"He'll understand．I am sure!"
Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning．From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art diligently anywhere and everywhere, with everybody．
【小题1】 Why did the author leave the store angrily?

I was blind, but I was ashamed of it if it was known. I refused to use a white stick and hated asking for help. After all, I was a teenager girl, and I couldn’t bear people to look at me and think I was not like them. I must have been a terrible danger on the roads, Coming across me wandering through the traffic, motorists probably would have to step rapidly on their brakes. Apart from that, there were all sorts of disasters that used to occur on the way to and from work.
One evening, I got off the bus about halfway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I ran into something,“I’m awfully sorry,”I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been apologizing to a lamppost. This was just one of the stupid things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop,which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn’t stop unless passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to try to guess if the bus had arrived.
Generally in this situation, because I hated showing I was blind by asking for help,I tried to guess at the sound.Sometimes I would stop a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to swallow my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.
But on this particular evening no one joined me at the stop;It seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass,or I thought I did.But because I had given up stopping them for fear of making a fool of myself,I let them all go by.I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one.Then I gave up.I decided to walk on to the next stop.
【小题1】The girl refused to ask for help because she thought_________

“What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?” The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.
The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people, but here’s the true answer:
The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8,1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.
While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.
As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.
When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.
For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.
My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said , “Thanks for being here.”
For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.
It’s the most important thing I have ever done. The experience taught me two lessons.
First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people I cared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that--- just be there when someone needed me.
Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.
From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write----or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.
【小题1】 When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author _______.

Toyota recalls cars in safety alert.
Toyota is recalling more than two million cars in thief fears of sticking accelerator pedals, (踏板) just months after another major problem affected huge numbers.
The latest recall is due to potential problems with the pedal device that can cause the accelerator to become stuck.
The earlier issue affected 4.2m vehicles which we at the risk of the pedal becoming trapped under floor mats.
This time Toyota said in rare cases, the pedal mechanism were down, causing the accelerator to become harder to press, slower to return or, in some cases, stuck
It's said the problem appeared to be related to the potential build-up of condensation (压缩) on sliding surfaces in the accelerator system that helps drivers push down or release the pedal. A spokesman said the company did not yet have a solution to the latest problem but is working on it.
The recall affects the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia. Of these, the Avalon, Camry and Tundra models -- encompassing (包含) about 1.7 million vehicles -- were also included in the previous pedal recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement that the problem is "a serious safety issue and we are pleased Toyota is taking immediate action to address it".
Toyota said drivers in the recalled vehicles whose pedals become stuck should firmly apply their brakes, drive the car to a safe location, shut off the engine and contact the nearest dealer.
Toyota's latest recall in November was blamed for several crashes, including an accident involving a Lexus that accelerated to more than 120 mph before crashing in San Diego, killing four people.
1. Why is Toyota recalling so many ears in the US?
A. To reduce price                                B. To reduce pollution   
C. for the sake of safety                   D. For the sake of economy
2. Which statement is true according to the passage?
A. It's the first time for Toyota to recall cars
B. The reason of the latest recall is different from that of the earlier one
C. The Toyota company has found a good solution to the problem.
D. The recall only affects the cars made between 2009-2010
3. What shouldn't the driver in the recalled vehicles whose pedals get stuck do?
A. Turn on the car engine          B. Get in touch with the nearest dealers immediately
C. Drive the ear to a safe location immediately          D. Firmly apply their brakes
4. What can we infer from the The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's statement?
A. It's too dangerous for the company to recall the cars
B. It's a waste of money for the company to recall the cars
C. It's not hard to solve the safety problem.
D. It's a relief to see that the company can face the problem.

M When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter(炼铜厂), and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.

Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back.. The answer from that big industry was “No.”

Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren't any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds. It would be a waste of his life to try to do it. Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn’t get his idea accepted.

Paul later got married and had some kids. But his dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. As Samuel Johnson wrote, “It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. Attainable good is often ignored by minds busied in wide ranges.” Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.

And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against the plain common sense. Slowly rabbits appeared. Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.

Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow he made to himself as a child.

When Paul was a boy, _____.

he had decided never to leave his hometown

the economy of Utah depended wholly on the copper smelter

no laws were made to protect the environment against pollution

he had determined to stop the copper smelter polluting the area

Why did Paul go to college to study the science of plants?

He wanted to find out the best way to save the area himself.

He was interested in planting trees since he was young.

He wanted to get more knowledgeable people to help him.

He thought his knowledge would make his advice more persuasive.

What does the underlined phrase “the plain common sense” probably refer to?

That it was impossible for trees to grow on the wasteland.

That his normal work and life would be greatly affected.

That no one would like to join him in the efforts.

That he had to keep everything he did secret.

The message of the passage is that _____.

action speaks louder than words

perseverance(持之以恒) will work wonders

God helps those who help themselves

many hands make light work