A lot of management training each year for Circle K Corporation, a national chain of convenience stores. Among the topics we address in our course is the retention（保护力） of quality employees-a real challenge to managers when you consider the pay scale（标准）in the service industry. During these discussions, I ask the participants（参加者）, “What has caused you to stay long enough to become a manager?” Some time back a new manager took the question and slowly, with her voice almost breaking, said, “It was a ＄19 baseball glove.”

Cynthia told the group that she originally took a Circle K clerk job as an interim（临时的） position while she looked for something better. On her second or third day behind the counter, she received a phone call from her nine-year-old son, Jessie. He needed a baseball glove for Little League. She explained that as a single mother, money was very tight, and her first check would have to go for paying bills. Perhaps she could buy his baseball glove with her second or third check. When Cynthia arrived for work the next morning, Patricia, the store manager, asked her to come to the small room in the back of the store that served as an office. Cynthia wondered if she had done something wrong or left some part of her job incomplete from the day before. She was concerned and confused.

Patricia handed her a box. “I overheard you talking to your son yesterday,” she said, “and I know that it is hard to explain things to kids. This is a baseball glove for Jessie because he may not understand how important he is, even though you have to pay bills before you can buy gloves. You know we can’t pay good people like you as much as we would like to; but we do care, and I want you to know you are important to us.”

The thoughtfulness, empathy and love of this convenience store manager demonstrates vividly that people remember more how much an employer cares than how much the employer pays. An important lesson for the price of a Little League baseball glove.

Among many of the problems in the service industry, talked about in this passage, is         .

       A．how to ensure his employees’ high pay

       B．how to attract more customers

       C．how to look carefully after the employees

       D．how to keep the good employees from leaving

Although a new manager, Cynthia would do her job well in keeping quality employees because she         .

       A．had mastered all the courses for the manager

       B．had already formed good relationship with the employees

       C．know the way how to deal with her employees

       D．had her own personal experience

This passage shows us that to run a business well it is necessary for managers to let their employees know         .

       A．how much they can get for their job.

       B．what good positions they can get later

       C．they are very necessary to the business  

       D．they are nice as well as useful

The story told in this passage tells us that employees care about         .

       A．only how large a pay they can get

       B．love from the managing people rather than only money

       C．if their children could be properly taken care of

       D．what position they can be offered

Kerry and Alice were both artists in Britain．They taught drawing and painting at Cambridge University．Although they were friends，each thought oneself to be the better painter．

One day，Kerry promised marriage to Alice．Surprised and pleased by the offer，the girl was not sure whether she would spend her future as a wife or a painter．After a moment she replied as follows,“Each of us must paint a picture．If yours is superior to mine．you can make me your wife．If not，please drop the question．”Then it was decided to give it the following day．

The next morning，Alice hung her picture on the gate．It showed a bunch of flowers and won high praise(赞扬)from everyone who passed by．In fact，a crowd collected in front of her masterpiece and fixed their eyes on it．

Several hours passed．Then Kerry was seen coming along to the gate with what appeared to be a beautiful leather suitcase in his hand．When he finally stopped before Alice, the girl artist blushed like a rose and agreed to marry him without any hesitation(犹豫)．Why?

Answer the questions：

1.What are Kerry and Alice?

__________________________________________.

2.What’s the meaning of the underlined part“superior to”?

____________________________________________________

3.Did Kerry agree to Alice’s suggestion?

_____________________________________________________

4.Why did Alice’s picture win high praise?

____________________________________________________

5.What do you think the“leather suitcase’’ really was?

________________________________________________________________

I shall never forget the day when the earthquake took place. It was about 5 o’clock in the afternoon and I was   26  to my daughter’s school. Our plan was to go   27 together. I’d stopped at a   28  to get some fresh fruit. We like to have some fruit to eat   29  our swim. I was driving along a high road on the way.  30  my road was another road which was built like a   31 . I was hungry so I put the bag of apples   32  me and started to eat one.  33  I saw the cars in front of me start to   34  from side to side. Then my car started to shake! I didn’t know what was happening. Perhaps something had   35  wrong with my car. I drove a little more slowly and then I   36  the car and at the same moment the road   37  onto the cars in front of me. I found myself in the __38 . I couldn’t move. My legs and feet were hurting badly and I couldn’t move them. All round me was   39 But above me I could hear shouts and a lot of noise. Then I memorized what had happened. I had been   40  an earthquake. For about two hours nobody came. Luckily I could reach the bag of   41 , so at least I had plenty to eat. Then I heard people   42  towards me. A team of people had come to   43  if anyone was under the   44  road. I called out, “I’m here!” I heard a shout. Soon a stranger climbed to my car. “How are you   45 ?”He asked. “Not too bad,”I said. They didn’t get me out until the next morning.

2. A. shopping      B. dancing    C. swimming   Dsightseeing

8.A. Finally        B. Actually    C. Suddenly    DSlowly

I always long for romantic moments, like a little girl longing for candies．However, my husband is my complete  36 . His inability to bring romantic moments into our life has made me get tired of our   37 . One day, I finally told him that I wanted a divorce.
“Why?” he asked,   38 .
“I am tired; there are no  39  for everything in the world!” I answered.
He kept  40 , seeming to be in deep thought, with a lighted cigarette in his hands. Finally he asked, “What can I do to change your   41  ?”
Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered, “Let’s say, I want a flower on a mountain cliff and picking the flower will cause your  42  . Will you do it for me?”
He answered, “I will give you my answer tomorrow.”
I   43 the next morning, finding a piece of paper on the dining table, which read: “My dear, I would not pick that flower for you, but please allow me to   44  .”
My feeling of disappointment only   45 , but I continued reading:
“You always leave the   46  keys behind, so I have to save my legs to  47  home to open the door for you. You always like to stay indoors and I   48  that you will feel too lonely, so I have to save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories. You always stare   49  the computer and that will do nothing  50  for your eyes, so I have to save my eyes so that when we grow   51  , I can help to clip your nails. Thus, my dear,   52  I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do, I could not pick that flower yet, and die.”
My tears fell on the   53 and I continued reading:
“Now that you have finished reading my answer, if you are   54  , please open the front door for I am standing outside   55  your favorite bread and fresh milk.”
Love, not words, wins arguments.

(NEW YORK) A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.

   Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year-old Julien Duret from France was the man who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.

   He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Seaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.

   “I didn’t think at all,” Duret told the Daily News. “It happened very fast. I reacted very fast.”

   Duret, an engineer on vacation, was walking with his girlfriend along the pier(码头) when he saw something falling into the water. He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river. In an instant, he took off his coat and jumped into the water.

   When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said. Fortunately, when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.

   Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera. An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from onlookers. Duret caught a taxi with his girlfriend shortly after.

   The rescue happened on the day before he left for France. Duret said he didn’t realize his story of heroism had greatly moved New York until he was leaving the city the next morning.

   “I don’t really think I’m a hero,” said Duret. “Anyone would do the same thing.”

Why was Duret in New York?

   A. To meet his girlfriend.               B. To spend his holiday.

   C. To work as an engineer.              D. To visit the Andersons.

What did Duret do shortly after the ambulance came?

   A. He was interviewed by a newspaper.

   B. He went to the hospital in the ambulance.

   C. He disappeared from the spot quickly.

   D. He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes.

Who dived after Duret into the river to save the little girl?

   A. David Anderson     B. A passer-by   C. His girlfriend    D. A taxi driver

What is probably the headline of this news report ?

   A. A Careless Father                   B. A Poor Girl

   C. Warm-hearted Onlookers             D. Brave Frenchman Found