Once upon a time there lived an old man in a nice cottage with a large garden. The old man was seen   16   his flowers all the time. They were so well-tended that every passer-by could not but   17   for a glance.

   One day a young man went by the garden. He gazed at the splendid garden,   18   in admiration at the beauty of these sceneries. Then, suddenly he   19   the old gardener was blind.   20   , the young man asked, “Why are you busy tending these flowers every day which you can’t  21  in fact?” The old man smiled and answered that “ I can tell you 22   reasons. First I was a   23  when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can’t see these flowers, yet I can   24  them. Third，I can smell sweetness of them. As to the last one, that’s   25  .

    “Me? But you don’t know me,” responded the young man   26   .

   “Yeah, it’s   27  that I don’t know you. But I know everyone knows flowers and would never   28   them down. I know the beauty of my garden will get many people into a good   29   . In the meantime, it also   30  a chance to me to have a word with you here and to enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us.”

    The old man’s  31  astonished me. The blind man grows flowers and  32  them as a link of minds so as to make   33   enjoy the sunshine in spring. Isn’t it one kind of happiness？

   I believe every flower has   34 with which they can see the kindness of the man’s heart. The blind man grows flowers in his heart. Though   35  to see the beauty of blossoming（开花）, he surely can hear the voice of it, I suppose.

1. A. loving        B. watering        C. tending      D. planting

2.A. stop     　　 B. stay            C. live         D. run

3.. A. kept          B. dropped        C. fallen        D. lost

4. A. realized       B. noticed         C. felt          D. thought

5. A. Excited       B. Frightened      C. Shocked      D. Satisfied

6.A. feel          B. see            C. hear          D. eat

7.A. one          B. two            C. three         D. four

8.A. gardener      B. teacher         C. farmer        D. painter

9.A. taste          B. plant          C. touch        D. appreciate

10.A. it            B. me            C. them          D. you

11.A. with pleasure   B. in surprise      C. with hope     D. in anger

12.A. true           B. possible       C. a pity         D. a shame

13. A. put            B. turn          C. get           D. knock

14.. A. mind          B. life           C. future         D. mood

15. A. introduces      B. offers         C. stands        D. leaves

16. A. words         B. behavior       C. story        D. attitudes

17. A. treats          B. acts          C. works         D. serves

18. A. anybody       B. somebody      C. everybody    D. nobody

19. A. ears           B. soul          C. eyes          D. heart

20.A. refusing       B. trying         C. pretending     D. failing

 

Do you know the police are looking into the _______ of the accident?

 A. reason　　B. excuse      C. cause　D. reasons?

Ms Tan，you've referred to your new novel as your eighth book.

That's because it took me six or seven attempts at a second novel before I started and completed this one.

●Why do you think you had so many false starts?

I would say that my reasons were wrong：I was trying to prove that I wasn't just a mother-daughter storyteller，or I was trying to prove that I didn't just have to write about things that were strictly Chinese or Chinese-American.Those were never the right reasons for writing those early stories.And I could never come up with other，better reasons for continuing them.

●What kept you going on this book?

This book was different because it was based on my mother's real life.The reason for writing it became more personal and emotional.After The Joy Luck Club came out，my mother was always explaining to people that she wasn't any of the mothers in that book.And at one point she said to me，“Next book tells my true story.”And then she started telling me things I never knew before.She also told me many，many stories，because my mother doesn't generalize.The book really grew out of that.

●Have you ever visited China?

Yes.I've been there twice：about three years ago and then again last November，both times with my mother and my husband.

●Was it difficult to capture the Chinese-American dialect without sounding like a parody(拙劣的模仿)?

No，because it's the language I've heard all my life from my mother.She speaks English as it's direct translation from Chinese.But it's more than that：Her language also has more imagery than English.

●Can you think of an example?

Somebody might say to me，“Don't work so hard.You'll kill yourself.”My mother will say to me，“Why do you press all your brains out on this page for someone else？”So it's very vivid.That's the way she talks.

●Have many readers told you that the Chinese mother in your book reminded them of the typical Jewish(有癖好的)mother?

Many people have told me that.I think the mother-daughter relationship is very intense in both cases.Culturally there is an acceptance that mothers have the power to tell their children，especially their daughters，how to conduct their lives—not simply up until the time they are 18，but for the rest of their lives.However，when children grow up in a different culture from their parents'，they tend to keep more secrets from their parents.The children think，“They just wouldn't understand that I had to do this.”And that can really create a gap，and it can grow as the number of secrets grows.

1．Based on the questions in this interview，what do you think Ms Tan's profession is?

A．A journalist.　　　　　　     B．A storywriter.

C．An interviewer.                    D．An interviewee.

2．What's TRUE about Tan's second book?

A．It's about her real life in America.

B．The name of the book is The Joy Luck Club.

C．It is the result of many times of careful thought.

D．It includes many works of her mother.

3．Which question is NOT answered in the interview?

A．How does she think of her mother's language?

B．How many books does she plan to write?

C．When did she visit China?

D．How is generation gap created?

4．The last paragraph mainly talks about ________.

A．how to keep secrets from parents

B．how to deal with the mother-daughter relationship

C．how to conduct the lives

D．how the generation gap comes about

When I tried to find____that prevented so many people from taking part in the program, it seemed to me that there were two main reasons.

　　A. why it did　　B. what it did　　C. what it was　　D. why it was　

　Most people feel lonely sometimes, but it usually only lasts between a few minutes and a few hours. This kind of loneliness is not serious. In fact, it is quite normal. For some people, though, loneliness can last for yeas. Now researchers say there are three different types of loneliness.

　　The first kind of loneliness is temporary（暂时的）. This is the most common type. It usually disappears quickly and does not require any special attention. The second kind, situational loneliness, is a natural result of a particular situation-for example, family problem, the death of a loved one, or moving to a new place. Although this kind of loneliness can cause physical problems, such as headaches and sleeplessness, it usually does not last for more than a year.

　　The third kind of loneliness is the most severe. Unlike the second type, chronic（长期的）usually lasts more than two years and has no specific cause. People who experience habitual loneliness have problems socializing and becoming close to others. Unfortunately, many chronically lonely people think there is little or nothing they can do to improve their condition.

Psychologists agree that one important factor in loneliness is a person's social contacts, e.g. friends, family members, co-workers, etc. we depend on various people for different reasons. For instance, our families give us emotional support, our parents and teachers give us guidance, and our friends share similar interests and activities. However, psychologists have found that, though lonely people may have many social contacts, they sometimes feel they should have more. They question their popularity.

　　Psychologists are trying to find ways to help habitually lonely people for two reasons: they are unhappy and unable to socialize and there is a connection between chronic loneliness and serious illness such as heart disease. While temporary and situational loneliness can be normal, healthy part of life, chronic loneliness can be a sad, and sometimes dangerous condition.

1.How would you treat temporary loneliness according to the passage?

　　A. Talk to friends                                                B. Just ignore it

    C. Go to see a doctor                        D. Ask your teachers for guidance

2."It" in the last sentence of the second paragraph refers to _____.

　　A. temporary loneliness                      　　                 B. situational loneliness

　　C. a new place　　                           D sleeplessness

3.The topic of the 4th paragraph is that____.

　　A. one problem of loneliness is a person's social contacts

　　B. we depend on various person for different reasons

　　C. lonely people don't have many social problems

　　D. lonely people don't have many friends

4.Why do psychologists want to help chronically lonely people?

　　A. Chronic loneliness can cause family problems　　               B. Chronic loneliness can cause serious illness

　　C. Chronic loneliness can not be overcome　　                     D. A, B and C are all correct

5.What is the best title for the passage?

　　A. Three Kinds of Loneliness                 B. Loneliness and Diseases

　　C. Loneliness and Social Contacts            D. Chronic Loneliness