One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite   1   at the answer. Thinking he had not made    2   understood or the girl had not   3   him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”   4   the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know   5   to say.
What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   6  a compliment (恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She   7  understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the   8  , people will feel proud and 9   when they are praised . So if someone says the   10   you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”
In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing , but in my opinion, being confident does not   11  being proud, so sometimes you should be confident   12  being modest.
   13  you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by  14 . When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try”, he or she will   15   get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.

One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite   1  at the answer. Thinking he had not made   2   understood or the girl had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.” But the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know   3   to say.

What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   4   a compliment (恭维)in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She     5      understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the west, people will feel proud and   6  when they are praised(赞扬). So if someone says the dishes you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”

In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing, but in my opinion, being confident does not   7  being proud, so sometimes you should be confident    8   being modest.

  9    you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down on by others. When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try ”, he or she will  10  get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.

1.                A．excited         B．surprised       C．relaxed   D．frightened

2.                A．her            B．herself         C．himself   D．him

3.                A．when          B．which          C．what D．how

4.                A．accept         B．receive         C．refuse    D．disagree

5.                A．hardly          B．really          C．rarely    D．badly

6.                A．kind           B．modest         C．shy  D．confident

7.                A．think           B．say            C．ask  D．mean

8.                A．different from   B．as well as        C．instead of D．the same as

9.                A．Unless         B．Until           C．Whether  D．If

10.               A．expect to       B．fail to          C．succeed in     D．believe in

Many years ago, when I was working as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Lisa. The poor little girl had a very serious disease(疾病)and was dying. The doctor had done his best but no medicine really worked. The only chance to save her seemed to be a blood transfusion(输血)from her five-year-old brother. The little boy had the same disease before and had developed the antibodies(抗体)to fight the illness.
The doctor talked to the little boy about what they planned to do, and asked him if he would like to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate(迟疑) for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I’ll do it if it can save Lisa."
As the transfusion was going on, the little boy lay quietly in bed next to his sister. He looked at her and smiled all the time. When everything was done and the color returned to his sister’s face, his smile disappeared and he looked a little afraid. He looked up at the doctor and asked, "Will I start to die now?"
He was too young to understand the doctor. He thought he would have to give all his blood to his sister, but he agreed.
【小题1】What happened to the little girl named Lisa later?