I was blind, but I was ashamed of it if it was known. I refused to use a white stick and  36  asking for help. After all, I was a teenage girl, and I couldn’t bear people to look at me and think I was not  37  them. I must have been a terrible danger on the roads. Coming across me wandering through the traffic, motorists probably would have to step  38  on their brakes. Apart from that, there were all sorts of disasters that used to occur on the way to and from work.
One evening, I got off the bus about halfway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I  39  something. “I’m awfully sorry,” I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been  40  to a lamppost. This was just one of the  41  things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop, which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn’t stop  42  passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to try to guess if the bus had arrived.
Generally in this situation, because I hated  43   I was blind by asking for help, I tried to guess at the sound. Sometimes I would  44  a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to  45  my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.
 46  on this particular evening no one joined me at the stop; it seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass, or I thought I did. But because I had given up stopping them  47  making a fool of myself. I let them all go by. I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one. Then I gave up. I decided to walk on to the next stop.

My boss’s daughter was studying in the Philippines. He asked me if my husband and I could take care of her. He thought his daughter would be able to improve her English communication skills in this way.
After days of thinking, we agreed. He then brought her here and left after 3 days. I thought that my boss’s daughter was well-mannered, but that was wrong.
After a month of staying in the Philippines, she started to show her true colors. When my husband asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she answered him in a rude way. From then on, we experienced fights at home. There was a time when we didn’t talk to her for a week as a punishment of not being good to us. What I hated most was that she didn’t care about other people’s feelings. She ate ahead of us when we were still working and didn’t leave anything for us. So we had to separate her food from ours to avoid such a problem.
The worst thing about her was that she shouted at us. I was wondering if she did this to her parents. We told this to her parents, but unfortunately I didn’t think that solved the problem. This situation lasted for almost 8 months. Our patience was tested during that time.
We tried to teach her everything we could to make her a better person, but I guess 8 months may not to be enough. We even tried to understand her and adjust for her, but it didn’t work. I just hope that she learned something from us and from other Filipinos.
【小题1】This passage is mainly about the writer’s experience of              .

A recent study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal accident as a teenager driving alone. By contrast, the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.

The author also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight, with passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.

Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue.” he says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is.”

Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (使……缓解)the problem is to have states institute so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night of passenger restrictions, before graduating to full driving privileges.

Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies, About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of those states have restrictions on passengers, California is the strictest, with a novice (新手)driver prohibited from carrying any passenger under 20(without the presence of an adult over 25)for the first six months.

1.Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?

       A．Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m.

       B．A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.

       C．Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.

       D．A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.

2.According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to ________.

       A．their frequent driving at night

       B．their lack of driving experience

       C．their improper way of driving

       D．their driving with passengers

3.According to Paragraph 3．which of the following statements is TRUE?

       A．The licensing authorities are partly responsible for teenagers' driving accidents.

       B．Driving is a skill too complicated for teenagers to learn.

       C．Restrictions should be imposed on teenagers applying to take driving lessons.

       D．Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive.

4.The most suitable measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that ________ .

       A．driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule

       B．they should be prohibited from taking on passengers

       C．the licensing system should be improved

       D．they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m.

People should be warned against using mobile phones outdoors in stormy weather because they may“be struck by lightning”，according to doctors．
Three experts have described how a teenage girl was struck by lightning while using her phone in a large London park．The girl，aged 15，recovered，but a year later was still wheelchair-bound and found to be suffering complex physical and emotional problems.
The girl also had a perforate eardrum(打孔耳膜)on the side where she had been holding the mobile phone．She was having general recovery in Northwick Park Hospital，Middlesex．
Swinda Esprit，a senior house officer, said that while the brain and muscle damage was similar to that of many lightning victims—who can experience heart attacks on being struck—the ear problems were not．
She said that the damages were particularly relevant for people who might be involved in less serious lightning incidents，who might otherwise recover, but would never get their full hearing back if struck while on the phone．
“We were shocked by the damage，which is why we wanted to draw attention to it，”Dr Esprit said．“A year on and she still was suffering these difficult hearing．”
They added that three other cases had been reported in newspapers in China，South Korea，and Malaysia．In the Malaysian case，a sales executive was killed by lightning while talking on his phone during a thunderstorm near Kuala Lumpur．
“All these events resulted in death，”the doctors wrote．“This rare phenomenon is a public health issue，and education is necessary to stress the risk．”
The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects，including cordless or mobile phones，should not be carried outdoors during thunderstorms．However, “the United States National Weather Service says on its website that both are safe to use “because there is no direct path between you and the lightening”．
Paul Taylor, of “the Met Office'’，said the ear injuries were a consequence of mobile phones being metal，and not related to radio waves．
Mr. Taylor said that mobile phones should be treated as another piece of metal，similar to carrying coins or wearing rings，and people need to be warned against the possible danger．
【小题1】What do we know about the teenage girl?

I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling（叛逆）．I wish it were so．At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents．You should be learning to stand on your own feet．But take a good look at the present rebellion．It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents．Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching(紧握）at one another's hands for reassurance．

They claim they want to dress as they please．But they all wear the same clothes. Then set off in new directions in music．But somehow they all end up with listening to the same record together．Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that many people are doing it．They have come out of their cocoon（茧） into a larger cocoon．

It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and go his or her own way．Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market．These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be． 

And many of today's parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children．All this adds to a great barrier(障碍） for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path．

But the barrier is worth climbing over．The path is worth following, You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party．You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records．You may have some thoughts 'that you don't care to share with your classmates at once, well, go to it．Find yourself．Popularity will come-with the people who respect you for who you are．That is the only kind of popularity that really counts．

1.In this passage, the author wants to tell         .

A．teenagers how to learn to decide things for themselves

B．readers how to be popular with people around

C．parents how to control and guide their children

D．people how to understand and respect each other

2.According to the author, many teenagers think they are brave enough to act on their own, but in fact, most of them            ．

A．have much difficulty understanding each other

B．lack confidence

C．dare not cope with （处理） problems single-handed

D．are much afraid of getting lost

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．There is no popularity that really counts．

B．What many parents are doing is helping their children find their own paths．

C．It is bad for a teenager to disagree with his or her classmates．

D．Most teenagers claim that they want to do what they like to, but they are actually doing the same．

4.What does the author think of advertisements?

A．Convincing．               B．Influential.

C． Instructive．              D．Authoritative（权威的）．

5.During the teenage years, one should learn to       .

A．differ from others in as many ways as possible

B．get into the right reason and become popular

C．find one's real self

D．rebel against parents and the popularity wave