B
In ancient Japan, if you saved someone's life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue someone's story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude(感激).
It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM! There's an interruption. Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyone's attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the "charming" little child. Nobody is aware of the interruption－except the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn't made his or her point.
Or you're all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke. Suddenly, just before their big punch line (妙语), little Johnny drops a dish or the phone tings. After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny's carelessness. After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller. Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished－except the joke teller. When it's you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone's order just before your funny punch line?
Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, "Now, as I was saying ..." Instead, they'll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad because of what they didn't get to finish. Here's where you come in. Rescue them with the technique I call "Lend a Helping Tongue. "
Watch the gratitude in the storyteller's eyes as he restarts where his story sank and he sails off again toward the center of attention. His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often rewarded enough. You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life. Big winners have excellent memories. When you do them favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they'll find a way to pay you back.
45．Very often, a storyteller cannot make his point because_____.
A．people are more interested in food than his story
B．many guests bring their babies to the party
C．he is interrupted by something unexpected
D．his story is easily forgotten by the listeners
46．From Paragraph 3, we know that when someone is telling a joke, _________.
A．something bad will surely happen just before their punch line
B．the only person really interested in the joke is the joke teller
C．listeners' attention is often drawn to something else
D．the waiter knows when to take everyone's order
47．How can we help the joke and story tellers when they are interrupted?
A．By giving them a chance to finish.
B．By going on telling the story for them.
C．By comforting them to make them happy.
D．By teaching them some useful techniques.
48．What is the text mainly about?
A．We can win someone's heart by getting him back to his story.
B．People should learn how to take turns in a conversation.
C．Telling jokes will make you the center of attention.
D．It is impolite to interrupt someone's talk.

A

On the first day of the 11th grade, our new math teacher Mr Washington asked me to go to the blackboard to do a math problem. I told him that I couldn’t do it. He asked, “Why not?” I paused, and then I said, “Because I’m educable mentally retarded (可教育智能迟滞).”

He came from behind his desk and looked at me. “Don’t ever say that again. Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality,” he said.

It was a very special moment for me. Doctors said that I was educable mentally retarded in the fifth grade, and I was put back into the fourth grade. When I was in the eighth grade, I failed again.

But Mr Washington changed my life. This person always gave students the feeling that he had high expectations of them, and then all of the students did their best to live up to what those expectations were. He often said, “You have greatness within you.”

One day, I caught up with him in the parking place and said, “Mr Washington, is there greatness within me, sir?”

He said, “Yes, Mr Brown.”

“But what about the fact that I failed English, math, and history? What about that, sir? I’m slower than most kids.”

“It doesn’t matter. It just means that you have to work harder. Your grades don’t determine who you are or what you can produce in your life.”

“I want to buy my mother a house.”

“It is possible, Mr Brown. You can do that.” And he turned to walk away.

“Mr Washington?”

“What do you want now?”

“Uh, I’m the one, sir. One day you’re going to hear my name. I’m the one, sir.”

School was a real struggle for me. Mr Washington put many demands on me. He made me believe that I could do it. At the end of that year, I was on the honor roll for the first time in my life.

Years later, I produced five programs on public television. When one of my programs was shown on the educational television channel, I had some friends call him. I was sitting by the phone waiting when he called me. He said, “May I speak to Mr Brown, please?”

“Oh, Mr Washington, is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. You were the one, weren’t you?”

“Yes, sir, I was.”

1.What does Mr Washington mean by saying “Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”?

A．You needn’t have the same opinion as others.

B．You should believe what other people say.

C．What other people say about you may not be correct.

D．The doctor made a mistake.

2. What happened to the author at last?

A．He entered a good university.              B．He earned much honor.

C．He got a good job.                       D．He made television programs.

3. In the passage, the author implies that _________.

A．people shouldn’t believe what doctors say

B．no one can be successful with hard work and confidence

C．no one is really educable mentally retarded

D．a good teacher can change a student’s life

4.The best title for the passage would be “__________”.

A．Don’t believe others                   B．I am the one

C．My best teacher                        D．I succeeded at last

B

In 1605 some Englishmen planned to kill their king, James I, because they thought he was a bad man. They knew that on November 5th the King would go to the House of Lords(上议院)to talk with his nobles.

The men rented(租赁)a building next to the House of Lords. They dug through a wall and put many barrels of gunpowder in a cellar(地下室) of the House of Lords. They chose a man called Guy Fawkes to set fire to the gunpowder but something went wrong with their plan. One of the men had a relative who was coming to the House of Lords to meet the King. He warned his relative to stay at home. The relative spoke to other nobles and soon the King heard about the danger. Soldiers searched the cellars and found the gunpowder on November 4th ,Guy Fawkes was caught and killed.

Every year, on November 5th, English children remember Guy Fawkes. They collect old boxes, newspapers and rubbish so that they can make a big fire, which they call a bonfire. They put a pole in the middle of the fire and tie a “guy” to it. “The guy” is the figure of Guy Fawkes and is made of old clothes and paper. Sometimes they push their “guy” round the streets in a cart and ask for money so that they can buy fireworks.

In the evening they light the bonfire and let off many fireworks: crackers, rockets, bangers and many other kinds. November 5th is an exciting day for children in England. It is always a busy day for firemen and for hospitals. Sparks from the bonfires sometimes set fire to fences,  trees or houses. Every year children are injured when fireworks exploded unexpectedly.

60. Some Englishmen planned to kill their king because___________.

A. they thought highly of him

B. they thought poorly of him

C. they thought much of him

D. they thought well of him

61.Something went wrong with their plan because one of the men_________.

A. told the King about it

B. told other nobles about it

C. told his relative about it

D. Guy Fawkes was killed

62.The phrase “let off many fireworks” in the passage means ________.

A. allow the fireworks to leave

B. cause the fireworks to explode

C. keep the fireworks off the bonfire

D. put the fireworks into the bonfire

63.November 5th is a busy day for firemen because _________.

A. fireworks are in great need

B. quite a few houses catch fire when fireworks explode

C. many children are injured by the unexpected explosion of fireworks

D. both B and C                 

C

At one time it was the dream of many little girls to become a nurse. Today, however, America is facing its worst nurse shortage since World War I. Recently about 2,000,000 nurses are needed and 60 percent of all hospitals in the US have shortages large enough to threaten(="say" that you will hurt somebody if they don’t do what you want) the quality of care provided. The demand for nurses spreads widely throughout the nursing field.

What has become of these women in white? The answer lies in not one but several causes. One possibility is the fact that women have greater career options(职业选择). In the past, women who chose to work outside the home had two basic choices: nursing or teaching. Today, more women than ever are in the work force, but their choices have greatly increased. There are women doctors, lawyers, firefighters and police officers. In fact, women today are found in nearly every field of work. Nursing has been left behind, as women move on to jobs with higher pay and greater status(地位). A woman or man in the nursing field is often looked down upon as “just a nurse”. Teachers may be also at fault. Many high school students are actually being steered(劝导) away from nursing, told by teachers that they are “too bright to be a nurse”.

Americans are living longer than ever and requiring more medical attention. In fact, the number of elderly patients has almost doubled in the past twenty years. Obviously a larger population requires more nurses. AIDS and other diseases have caused more and more people to need nursing care. Usually fatal diseases mean long hospital stay, that is to say, more nurses are needed to care for these patients. It is estimated that the demand for nurses will be doubled the supply in the coming ten years.

63. Why is America facing its worst nurse shortage?

A. Because American health conditions are becoming worse and worse.

B. Because more and more women prefer to be teachers and doctors.

C. Because women have been provided with many different jobs.

D. Because women no longer choose to be nurses.

64. The passage tells us that high school teachers are at fault for ___________.

A. not mentioning the worst nurse shortage in the US

B. introducing jobs with higher pay and greater status to their students

C. not asking the government to raise the nurses’ payment

D. persuading the students not to be nurses

65. The author wrote this passage in order to __________.

A. describe the unequal treatment of women in the US

B. warn people to pay more attention to the nursing problem

C. tell us women’s free choice of jobs today

D. call on women not to be nurses

66. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. High school students think themselves too bright to be nurses.

B. Women in the US have greater career choice than those in other countries.

C. Of all the hospitals in the world 60 percent more nurses are badly needed.

D. Nursing used to be a popular job among women.

C

At dawn on Friday, May 19, 1780, farmers in New England stopped to wonder at the pink color of the sun. By noon the sky had darkened to midnight blackness, causing Americans, still in the painful struggle of a prolonged war of independence, to light candles and tremble at thoughts of the Last Judgment. As the birds quieted and no storm accompanied the darkness, men and women crowded into churches, where one minister commented that “The people were very attentive.” John Greenleaf Whittier later wrote that “Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp . . .”

A recent study of researchers, led by Richard Guyette from the University of Missouri’s Tree Ring Laboratory, has shown that vast forest fires in the Algonquin Highlands of southern Ontario and elsewhere in Canada brought this event upon New England. The scientists have discovered “fire scars” on the rings for that year, left when the heat of a wildfire has killed a part of a tree’s cambium (形成层). Evidence collected also points to a drought that year. An easterly wind and low barometric pressure (低气压) helped force smoke into the upper atmosphere. “The record fits pretty close,” says Guyette. “We had the right fuel, the drought. The conditions were all there.”

Lacking the ability to communicate quickly over long distances, Americans in 1780 remained in the dark about the event, which had disappeared by the next day. Over the next several months, the papers carried heated debates about what brought the darkness. Some were the voices of angry prediction, such as one Massachusetts farmer who wrote, “Oh! Backsliding New-England, attend now to the things which belong to your peace before they are forever hid from your eyes.” Others gave different answers. One stated that a “flaming star” had passed between the earth and the sun. Ash, argued another commentator. The debate, carried on throughout New England, where there were no scientific journals or academies yet, reflected an unfolding culture of scientific enquiry already sweeping the Western world, a revolution nearly as influential as the war for independence from the English.

New Englanders would not soon forget that dark day; it lived on in folklore, poems, and sermons for generations.

66. New Englanders crowded into churches because they were frightened by_____.

   A. the pink color of the sun        B. the darkened sky at daytime

   C. the Last Judgment on Friday     D. the American War of Independence

67. What can we infer about the event in New England on May 19, 1780?

   A. Prayers remained silent and attentive.     B. Night birds no longer came out to sing.

   C. People’s ears became sharper than usual.  D. Midday meals were served by candlelight.

68. According to the researchers, the origin of the event was_________.

   A. an east wind    B. a severe drought   C. some burning fuel   D. low barometric pressure

69. What can we know about the debates after the dark day?

   A. They focused on causes of the event.

   B. They swept throughout the Western world.

   C. They were organized by scientific institutions.

   D. They improved Americans’ ability to communicate.

70. What can be the best title for the text?

   A. New England’s dark day.       B. Voices of angry prediction.

   C. There is no smoke without fire.  D. Tree rings and scientific discovery.