An old porter (搬运工人) had worked for the railway for a very long time. One morning he was standing in one of the big railway stations and waiting for travelers to ask him to help them with their luggage, when he saw a small man running toward the trains with a big bag in his hand.

The porter watched the man for a few seconds, and the man saw the porter.

At once the small man ran up the porter and said, “Can I catch the 10:35 train to London, porter?” He was breathing very fast, and he seemed worried.

The old porter looked at him for a moment and then said with a smile, “Well, sir, I’d like to help you, but I can’t answer your question because I don’t know how fast you can run along rails. You see,” he explained, “the 10:35 train to London left five minutes ago.”

1.The old porter’s job was _______

A. to stand in the railway station

B. to answer the traveler’s question

C. to help the travelers carry their luggage

D. to ask the travelers to help him

2.The small man looked worried, because _______.

A. he couldn’t run so fast as the train

B. he wondered if he could catch the 10:35 train to London

C. the porter watched him for a few seconds

D. he lost his bag

3.At the end of the story, the porter _______.

A. played a joke on the small man

B. told the small man when he could catch the train

C. helped the samll man to catch the train

D. told the small man there was no 10:35 train to London

4.When the porter told the man the train had left, the time was _______

A 10:40        B. 10:35        C. 10:30       D. 10:45

An old porter worked at the railway station for a long time. One morning he was standing and waiting for travelers to ask him to help them with their luggage(包裹), when he saw a short man running wards to the train with a big bag in his hand.

The porter watched the man for a few seconds, and then the man saw him. At once the short man ran up to the porter and asked, “Can I catch the 10:35 train to London, porter? ”He was breathing very fast, and he seemed worried.

The old porter looked at him for a moment and then said with a smile, “Well, sir, I’d like to help you, but I can’t answer your question because I don’t know how fast you can run along rails. You see,” he explained, “The 10:35 train to London left five minutes ago.”

1. A porter’s job is___________.

A. to stand in the railway station B. to answer the travelers’ questions

C. to help the travelers carry their luggage    D. to ask the travelers to help him

2. One morning a short man ___________.

A. was waiting for the porter to help him

B. was running along rails

C. was waiting for the train to London

D. was in a hurry to catch the 10:35 train to London

3. The short man looked worried because ____________.

A. he couldn’t run so fast as the train

B. he wanted to knows if he could catch the 10:35 train to London

C. the porter watched him for a few seconds

D. he lost his bag

4. At the end of the story, the porter ______________.

A. told the short man there was no 10:35 train to London

B. told the short man when he could catch the train

C. helped the short man to catch the train

D. played a joke on the short man

5. When the porter told the short man the train had left, the time was _______.

A. 10:40    B. 10:35    C. 10:30    D. 10:45

Mr. and Mrs. Green were very worried about their son, Leo. He seemed to be dumb (哑的)   51 he was normal in every other way. Mr. and Mrs. Green tried everything to get him to 52 , but with no success.

     When Leo was six years old, the best doctors in the town 53 him carefully, but could find nothing wrong. And he seemed to be smart. It was just that he 54 spoke.

     "There might be something wrong with his 55 , and he doesn't know he's able to speak," one doctor said.

     "But he can read and write," said Mr. Green. "We've written him notes, telling him that he can speak."

     "It's certainly very 56 ," another doctor said. "Perhaps he'll be able to speak some day."

      57 passed. Leo went to university. But he did not speak a 58 word.

     Then one day, Leo was having a meal with his parents. Without any warning, he looked up from his 59 and said, "Pass me the salt, please."

     Mr. and Mrs. Green were excited. "You spoke! You spoke!" they cried, "Why have you   60 so long to speak?"

     "I didn't have anything to say," he said. "Until now everything was perfect. But you forgot to put salt in these potatoes."

1.A. because       B. when             C. though             D. before

2.A. speak         B. walk               C. play               D. laugh

3.A. taught         B. found             C. examined          D. asked

4.A. never         B. often               C. usually             D. always

5.A. back          B. hair               C. face               D. mind

6.A. unfair        B. strange            C. noisy             D. quiet

7.A. Hours       B. Weeks            C. Months            D. Years

8.A. good        B. right               C. single              D. new

9.A. chair        B. meal               C. hands              D. books

10.A. slept        B. walked             C. served             D. waited

One summer vacation in my college, my roommate Ted asked to me to work on his father’s farm in Argentina. The idea was exciting. Then I had second thoughts. I had never been far from New England, and I had been homesick my first few weeks at college. What about the language? The more I thought about it, the more the idea worried me.
Finally, I turned down the invitation. Then I realized I had turned down something I wanted to do because I was scared and felt depressed(沮丧). That experience taught me a valuable lesson and I developed a rule for myself: do what makes you anxious(焦虑); don’t do what makes you depressed.
In my senior year, I wanted to be a writer. But my professor wanted me to teach. I hesitated. The idea of writing was much scarier than spending a summer in Argentina. Back and forth I went, making my decision, unmaking it. Suddenly I realized that every time I gave up the idea of writing, that downhearted feeling went through me.
Giving up writing really depressed me. Then I learned another lesson. To avoid the depression meant having to bear much worry and concern.
When I first began writing articles, I often interviewed big names. Before each interview I would get butterflies in the stomach. One of them was the great composer Duke Ellington. On the stage and on television, he seemed very confident. Then I learned Ellington still got stage fright（害怕）. If Ellington still had anxiety attacks, how could I avoid them? I went on doing those frightening interviews. Little by little, I was even looking forward to the interviews. Where were those butterflies?
In truth, they were still there, but fewer of them. I had learned from a process psychologists（心理学家） call “extinction”. If you put an individual in an anxious situation often, finally there isn’t anything to be worried about, which brings me to a conclusion: you’ll never get rid of anxiety by avoiding the things that caused it.
The point is that the new, the different, is definitely scary. But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you.
【小题1】We can infer from the passage that the author________.