“What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?”The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.
The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people. but here’s the true answer:
The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8,1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.
While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.
As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.
When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.
For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.
My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said , “Thanks for being here.”
For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.
It’s the most important thing I have ever done.
The experience taught me two lessons.
First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people I cared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that--- just be there when someone needed me.
Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.
From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write----or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.
【小题1】When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author __________.
A felt it was not an interesting question           
B. thought for a while and spoke his mind
C. gave an answer from a lawyer’s point of view   
D. didn’t give the real answer
【小题2】When he saw his friend rush to the hospital, the author could not decide whether to follow mainly because he thought _________.

A．He had to stay with his family	B．His friend did not need his help.
C．He would not be of much help	D．the baby would be in the doctor’s care

【小题3】What can we infer from the author’s description of the scene at the hospital?

A．He found out that he was in the way.

B．He would have felt guilty if he had not been there.

C．He regretted that he went too later.

D．His friend would have felt better if he had not been there.

【小题4】Which of the following is conveyed in this story?

A．Family and relatives can not take the place of friends.

B．More people are a great comfort when one is in trouble.

C．It is best to be here when someone needs you.

D．You can certainly help a friend if you want to.

【小题5】The author learned from his own experience that_______.

A．what is taught in school is usually of no use.

B．a lawyer cannot learn much in classrooms

C．a lawyer should know people’s feeling first

D．he needs to be able to feel as well as think logically

【小题6】The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that the author_______.

A．is fond of writing poems

B．is going to coach the kid’s team

C．is determined to make friends with everybody

D．is fully aware of the importance of being helpful to those in need

The campaign is over. The celebrations have ended. And the work for US president-elect Barack Obama has begun.

The 47-year-old politician rose to the highest post because of his stand against the war in Iraq and his plans to fix a weak economy. But what will the first 47-year-old African-American president do for race relations.

Obama’s victory appears to have given blacks and other minorities a true national role model. For years, many looked to athletes and musicians for inspiration. As Darius Turner, an African-American high school student in Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times.“Kobe( the basketball player) doesn’t have to be everybody’s role model anymore.”

Recent polls also suggest that Obama’s victory has given Americans new optimism about race relations. For example, a USA Today poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites“will finally be worked out”. This is the most hopeful response since the question was first asked during the civil rights revolution in 1963.

However, it’s still too early to tell whether Obama’s presidency will begin to solve many of the social problems facing low-income black communities.

Although blacks make up only 13 percent of the US population, 55 percent of all prisoners are African-American. Such numbers can be blamed on any number of factors on America’s racist past, a failure of government policy and the collapse of the family unit in black communities.

It is unlikely that Obama will be able to reverse（扭转）such trends overnight. However, Bill Bank, an expert of African-American Studies, say that eventually young blacks need to find role models in their own communities.“That’s not Martin Luther King, and not Barack Obama,”he told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s actually the people closest to them. Barack only has so much influence.”

In the opinion of black British politician Trevor Phillips, Obama’s rise will contribute more to multiculturalism than to race relations in the US.

52: For years, before Obama was elected president of the US,      .

A. Kobe was the only role model for all the blacks

B. blacks could only find role models on the basketball court

C. minorities in America couldn’t find role models in their real life

D. American blacks had no role model who was successful in political area

53. According to Bill Bank,      .

A. Obama is not the proper role model for African-Americans

B. young blacks should not be so much influenced by Obama

C. blacks should find other role models because Obama is far from their reality

D. it’s better for young blacks to find role models in those who are close to them

54. What do you think the author is probably going to talk about in the next paragraph?

A. In what ways Obama will contribute to racial relations in the US.

B. How Obama will influence Americans as a national role model.

C. How Obama will contribute to multiculturalism in the US.

D. How to choose a role model in his community as a young black.

55.What would be the best title for this passage?

A. The First African-American President

B. America’s New Role Model

C. Obama—a Successful Black

D. Choosing a Right Role Model

 

A very strict officer was talking to some new soldiers whom he had to train. He had never seen them before, so began, “My name is Stone, and I’m even harder than stone, so do what I tell you or there’ll be trouble. Don’t try any tricks (诡计) with me, and then we’ll get on well together.”

Then he went to each soldier one after the other and asked him his name, “Speak loudly so that everyone can hear you clearly,” he said, “and don’t forget to call me ‘sir’.”

Each soldier told him name, until he came to the last one. This man remained silent, and so Captain Stone shouted at him, “ when I ask you a question, answer it! I’ll ask you again: What’s your name, soldier?”

The soldier was very unhappy, but at last he replied, “My name’s Stonebreaker, sir,” he said nervously (紧张地).

51. 1.The officer was strict _________.

A．because the soldiers were new.

B．with any of his soldiers, new or old.

C．because he was named Stone.

D．only when he was before soldiers.

52.2. According to what the officer said, _______________.

A．obeying his orders would sometimes bring no trouble.

B．trouble would come if anybody made tricks.

C．he always got on well with his soldiers.

D．he often had trouble with his soldiers.

53. 3.The last soldier remained silent because _______________.

A．he didn’t like the way the officer spoke to them.

B．he wanted to see what would happen if he disobeyed his order.

C．the question was difficult for him to answer.

D．he was afraid the officer would be angry when he heard his name.

54. 4.According to the officer, how to answer the question, “How old are you?”

A．(sadly) Twenty, sir.	B．(clearly) Twenty.
C．(loudly)Twenty, sir	D．(quickly)Ten years younger than you, sir

 

 “What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?” The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.

The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people. But here’s the true answer:

The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8, 1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.

While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.

As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.

When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.

For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.

My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said, “Thanks for being here.”

For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.

It’s the most important thing I have ever done.

The experience taught me two lessons.

First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people Icared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that—just be there when someone needed me.

Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.

From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write—or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.

1.When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author __________.

A felt it was not an interesting question           

B. thought for a while and spoke his mind

C. gave an answer from a lawyer’s point of view   

D. didn’t give the real answer

2.When he saw his friend rush to the hospital, the author could not decide whether to follow mainly because he thought _________.

A. he had to stay with his family             B. his friend did not need his help

C. he would not be of much help         D. the baby would be in the doctor’s care

3.The purpose of the author’s description of the scene at the hospital is to inform us that ______.

A. he found out that he was in the way            

B. he would have felt guilty if he had not been there

C. he regretted that he went too later

D. his friend would have felt better if he had not been there

4.Which of the following is conveyed in this story?

A. Family and relatives can not take the place of friends.

B. More people are a great comfort when one is in trouble.

C. It is best to be here when someone needs you.

D. You can certainly help a friend if you want to.

5.The author learned from his own experience that_______.

A. what is taught in school is usually of no use

B. a lawyer cannot learn much in classrooms

C. a lawyer should know people’s feeling first

D. he needs to be able to feel as well as think logically

 

A very strict officer was talking to some new soldiers whom he had to train. He had never seen them before, so began, “My name is Stone, and I’m even harder than stone, so do what I tell you or there’ll be trouble. Don’t try any tricks (诡计) with me, and then we’ll get on well together.”

   Then he went to each soldier one after the other and asked him his name, “Speak loudly so that everyone can hear you clearly,” he said, “and don’t forget to call me ‘sir’.”

   Each soldier told him name, until he came to the last one. This man remained silent and so Captain Stone shouted at him, “when I ask you a question, answer it! I’ll ask you again: “What’s your name, soldier?”

   The soldier was very unhappy, but at last he replied,“My name’s Stonebreaker, sir,”he said nervously (紧张地).

1.According to what the officer said, _____

A. trouble would come if anybody made tricks.

B. obeying his orders would sometimes bring no trouble.

C. he always got on well with his soldiers.

D. he often had trouble with his soldiers.

2.The last soldier remained silent because _____

A. he didn’t like the way the officer spoke to them.

B. he was afraid the officer would be angry when he heard his name.

C. he wanted to see what would happen if he disobeyed his order.

D. the question was funny for him to answer.

3. According to the officer, how to answer the question, “How old are you ?” _____

A. (sadly) Twenty, sir.            

B. (clearly) Twenty.

C. (quickly) Ten years younger than you, sir  

D. (loudly) Twenty, sir