One of the most difficult questions to answer is how much a job is worth. We naturally expect that a doctor’s salary will be higher than a bus conductor’s wages. But the question becomes much more difficult to answer when we compare a miner with an engineer, or an unskilled man working on an oil-rig（钻探平台）with a teacher in a secondary school. What the doctor, the engineer and the teacher have in common is that they have devoted several years to studying in order to obtain the necessary qualifications for their professions. We feel instinctively that these skills and these years should be rewarded. At the same time we recognize that the work of the miner and the oil-rig laborer is both hard and dangerous, and that they must be highly paid for the risks they take.

　　Another aspect we must take into consideration is how socially useful a man’s work is. Most people would agree that looking after the sick or teaching children is more important than, say, selling second-hand cars. Yet it is almost certain that the used-car salesman earns more than the nurse and the schoolteacher.

　　Indeed, this whole question of just rewards can be turned on its head. You can argue that a man who does a job which brings him personal satisfaction is already receiving part of his reward in the form of a so-called “psychic（精神的）wage”, and that it is the man with the boring, repetitive job who needs more money to make up for the soul-destroying repetitiveness of his work. It is significant that the jobs like nursing and teaching continue to be poorly paid, while others, such as those in the world of sport or entertainment, carry financial rewards out of all proportion to their social worth.

Although the amount of money that people earn is largely determined by market forces, this should not prevent us from seeking some way to decide what is the right pay for the job. A starting point would be to try to decide the ratio（比率）which ought to exist between the highest and the lowest paid. The picture is made more complicated by two factors: firstly by the welfare benefits which every citizen receives, and secondly by the taxation system which is often used as an instrument of social justice by taxing high incomes at a very high rate indeed. Most countries now regard a ratio of 7:1 as socially acceptable. If it is less, the highly-qualified people carrying heavy responsibilities will become disappointed, and might even end up by leaving for another country. If it is more, the difference between rich and poor will be so great that it will lead to social unrest.

1.Why do people naturally expect that doctors should be well-paid?

A．Their work requires greater intelligence.

B．They are under constant pressure at work.

C．They work harder than most other people.

D．They have studied for years to get qualified.

2.In Paragraph 2 and 3, the author indicates that __________.

A．the talented should do more important work

B．unskilled jobs have less social responsibility

C．those with more socially useful jobs earn less

D．people want to pay more to important services

3.Which of the following statements would the author agree?

A．It’s difficult to define the social value of a job.

B．The market will decide what the right pay is for a job.

C．People should find a proper ratio between high and low pay.

D．Those receiving high salary should carry heavy responsibilities.

 

When I was a baby, I entertained you and made you laugh. Whenever I was “bad”, you'd shake your finger at me and ask, “How could you?”--but then you'd give up, and roll me over for a belly scratch and I believed that life could not be any more perfect.

My housetraining was a long process, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. We went for long walks, runs in the park and car rides. We stopped for ice cream. I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. Eventually, you fell in love. She, now your wife, is not a dog person, but I still welcomed her into our home. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement, I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them too. Your wife was afraid I would bite them. But nevertheless, as they began to grow, I became their friend.

Now, you have a new job in another city and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your “family”, but there was a time when I was your only family.

I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the dog pound. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said, “I know you will find a good home for her.” They shrugged and gave you a pained look. The children were in tears as they waved me goodbye. And “How could you?” were the only three words that swept over my mind.

Is it better to live with hope or without hope? At first, whenever anyone passed my pen (围栏), I rushed to the front, hoping it was you, that you had changed your mind and that this was all a bad dream.

My beloved master, I will think of you and wait for you forever. I hope you receive more faithfulness from your family than you showed to me.

1.Who tells this story?

         A. A dog.          B. A child.                            C. A dog's owner.      D.A dog trainer

2.Why did the dog's owner take his dog to the pound?

         A. He had a newborn baby.                           B. His wife did not like the dog.

         C. He was moving into a new building.              D. He thought the dog too troublesome.

3.Which is true about the dog when it lived at the pound?

         A. It hoped to be adopted by another family.           B. It continued to love its former owner.

         C. It did not trust humans any more.              D. It was excited about the pound.

4.What is the theme of the story?

         A. Be ready for changes.                             B. Never expect too much.

         C. Never complain about your life.                  D. Be faithful to those who love you.

 

The unwanted disturbing of a mobile phone ringing at a critical moment has led to some famously strong reactions

    British actor Richard Grif-fiths，stopped a performance at the National Theatre and ordered The offending party to leave

    Judge Robert Restaino went considerably further．He was hearing a session of domestic violence offenders in a court when proceedings were interrupted by rings of a phone．

   “Everyone is going to jail unless I get that instrument now,” he shouted．

    Over the next two hours，the judge entered a period of “incredible madness”．He began by ordering the doors of the court locked，and set the officers to searching for the phone．

    When that failed to find the offending item he ordered each of the defendants(被告) present in the room up to his bench and in turn asked them if they  had no idea, he sent each in turn to jail(监狱).   

All 46 of them．

    When a defendant protested the judge’s actions were not fair to those who didn’t possess the phone，Restaino replied：“I know it isn’t．

    Judge’s actions caused chaos．Extra officers had to be drafted into the court to control the crowd．and booking officers at the city jail were at full stretch．“We were playing Twister in here”, one said at the time．

Fourteen of the defendants were shackled(束缚 )in irons and sent to the county jail．

    The judge cooled off and later that afternoon released all 46．

    The “two hours of viral lunacy（疯狂）”, has probably cost Restaino his job．The commission ruled that he should be removed from his $14,000 job．Restaino now has 30 days to appeal(上诉)．

    His lawyer pointed out that until that moment he had served 11 years as a judge without any disciplinary issues．“With the exception of two hours．his record is spotless．”

1.The underlined sentence in the passage means _____．

A．we are just playing games

B．we are struggling to control the crisis here

C．we can hardly survive the crisis

D．we’re searching casually

2.Why is British actor Richard mentioned?

A．To indicate the disadvantage of mobile phone．

B．To scold the misusage of mobile phone．

C．To provide an excuse for Richard’s offence．

D．To support the opinion above

3.Two hours of viral lunacy will_____

A．make Robert pay a large sum of money

B．make no difference to Robert

C．most likely make Robert lose his job

D．make him world famous

4.What’s the best title of the passage?

A．Phone-rage(狂怒) judge    B．Judge，prisoner and mobile phone

C．The story in court     D．Mobile phone in court

5.From the passage we can find_____．

A．Robert is always challenging the disciplines

B．Robert is now in jail

C．judge is not a well-paid job

D．all the defendants didn’t follow Robert’s instructions willingly

 

FFather was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work attending classes，hoping to improve himself so that he could one day find a better. paid job. Except. for Sundays, Father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with the best that money could buy.

Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. Though he often longed to spend more time with his family, he weighed his contribution to his family above everything else.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed, and with distinctions too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely.

Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to provide his family with life’s little luxuries like nice clothing，fine food and vacation abroad.

However, the family still did not get to see Father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of manager. In fact, to make himself a worthily candidate for the promotion, he took another course in an open university.

Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. Though he often longed to spend more time with his family, he weighed his contribution to his family above everything else.

Father’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. Happily, he decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer big enough. It would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the facilities and comfort of a condominium.  Having experienced the rewards of his hard work many times before, Father resolved to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on Sundays entertaining clients.

 Over again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. Though he often longed to spend more time with his family, he weighed his contribution to his family above everything else.

As expected, Father's hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful condominium overlooking the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening at their new home, Father declared to his family that he decided not to take any more courses or pursue any more promotions. From then on he was going to devote more time to

his family, and it was a promise.

Father did not wake up the next day.

1.Father worked and studied very hard because ________.

A．he had to support his family

B．he was enthusiastic in attending classes

C．he wanted to bring his family a better lire

D．he had to so as to reduce his family’s complaint

2.What CAN’T Father get through his hard work?

A．Family time.        B．Higher education.   C．Better housing.     D．Vacation abroad.

3.How would the family feel when “Father did not wake up the next day”?

A．To their joy, Father can have a good rest in the end.

B．They should have stopped Father from working so hard.

C．Thank God, Father can stay home with them.

D．There is no point working hard for a better life.

4.What is the function of the italicized(斜体)paragraphs in this passage?

A．To make readers show sympathy for Father.

B．To show how stubborn Father was.

C．To make readers fee l how hard Father worked.

D．To imply a sad ending to the story.

 

It was Thanksgiving morning and in the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together. “Any old papers, lady?” asked one of them.

I was busy. I wanted to say “no” until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals, wet with heavy snow.

“Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa.”

They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I served them cocoa and bread with jam to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget.

The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady, are you rich?”

I looked at my shabby slipcovers. The girl put her cup back in its saucer carefully and said, “Your cups match your saucers.” Her voice was hungry with a need that no amount of food could supply. They left after that, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn’t said “Thank you.” They didn’t need to. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful. Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.

I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job—these matched, too.

I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am.

1.Two children came to the writer’s front door because _________________.

A．it was Thanksgiving Day                   B．they were beggars

C．they wanted old papers                   D．they wanted a cup of cocoa

2.Why did the writer let the children in?

A．She showed great pity on them

B．She had old papers to sell

C．She wanted to invite them to her Thanksgiving feast

D．She wanted them to see how rich she was

3.The girl thought the writer was rich perhaps because ________________.

A．she saw that the lady’s room was comfortable

B．she saw the cups matched the saucers

C．the writer’s slipcovers were very new

D．the writer was preparing a big meal while she was too hungry.

4.From the passage, we can infer that whether you are rich depends on ________.

A．how much money you have had

B．how you feel about your life

C．how you have helped others

D．what job your husband is doing

5.The writer left the muddy prints of small sandals on the floor for a while to ____________.

A．show her husband that someone had come

B．remind her that she had helped two children

C．remind her that she was very rich in the neighborhood

D．remind her how life should be