Women are friends, I once would have said, when they totally love and support and trust each other, and tell each other the secrets of their souls, and run no questions asked to help each other, and tell unpleasant truths to each other (no, you can't wear that dress unless you lose ten pounds first) when unpleasant truths must be told.

A woman friend is a friend all the way, I once would have said, but now I believe that’s a narrow point of view. For the friendships I have and the friendships I see are conducted at many levels of closeness, serve many different functions, meet different needs and range from the soul sisters to the most casual playmates.

Consider these varieties of friendship:

Convenience friends  They’ll lend us their cups for a party. They’ll drive our kids to school when we’re sick…As we will do for them. But we don’t, with convenience friends, ever come too close or tell too much; we maintain our public face and emotional distance.

Special-interest friends  These friendships aren’t close, and they needn’t involve kids or cups. Their value lies in some interest commonly shared. And so we may have an office friend or a yoga friend or a tennis friend. “I’d say that what we’re doing is doing together, not being together.”

Historical friends  We all have a friend who knew us when maybe way back in Miss Meltzer’s second grade, when our family lived in that three-room flat. The years have gone by and we’ve gone separate ways and we’ve little in common now, but we’re still a close part of each other’s past.

Crossroads friends  Crossroads friends form powerful links, links strong enough to last with just communication of a once-a-year letter at Christmas. And out of respect for those crossroads years, for those dreams and dreams we once shared, we will always be friends.

Cross-generational friends  The friendship exists across generations in what one woman calls her daughter–mother and her mother-daughter relationships.

There are medium(中等的), pretty good, and such good friends indeed, and these friendships are decided by their level of closeness. For example, we might tell a medium friend that yesterday we had a fight with our husband. And we might tell a pretty good friend that this fight with our husband made us so mad that we slept on the sofa. And we might tell a such good friend that the reason why we got so mad in that fight that we slept on the sofa — he had a love affair with that girl who works in his office. But it’s only to our very best friends that we’re willing to tell all, to tell what’s going on with that girl in his office.

The best of friends, I still believe, totally love and support and trust each other, and tell each other the secrets of their souls, and tell unpleasant truths to each other when they must be told.             

45. According to the passage, convenience friends ______.

A. are not valuable enough

B. are those who are easily available to make friends with

C. never tell each other their deepest feelings

D. discuss family budgets together

46. The underlined sentence means ______.

A. we should never sit and wait for something to happen

B. we join each other because we do something together

C. we complete something together rather than enjoy ourselves

D. cooperation is of great importance if we want to succeed

47. We can learn from the passage that ______.

A. special-interest friends will drive your kids to school

B. historical friends remind each other of their shameful past

C. crossroads friends can maintain their friendship by writing to each other once a year

D. cross-generational friends seem to maintain friendship forever

48. According to the author, a woman may tell her good friends that ______.

A. she has lost her job because she isn’t really qualified enough

B. her husband has fallen in love with a girl in his office

C. she has been upset these days because of financial problems

D. she is on a diet because she wants to lose weight

49. Which can be the best title of this passage?

A. Value of friendship              B. Friends, good friends and such good friends

C. The qualities of a good friend      D. Friendship: being together

Some years ago I worked with people on public welfare. I believed that everybody had the ability to be 　26 and all we have to do was to make them start working.

The first thing I said to them was, "I would like to know what your 　 27 are." Everyone looked at me as if I were 28 . One woman said "I don't know what you can 　29 with dreams. The rats are eating up my kids." I said. "That's terrible. You are very much 　30 with the rats and your kids. How can we help?" " I could use a new screen door（纱门）because there are 31 in the old." I asked, "Is there anybody knowing 　32 to fix it?" A man said, "Long ago I used to do things like that but now I have a bad back, but I'll 33 ." I gave him some money to do that.

　 The next week, when the group was 34, I asked the woman, "Well, is your 35 door fixed?" "Oh, yes," she said. "Then we can start dreaming, right?" She 36 at me. I asked the man, "How do you feel?" He said, "Well, it's funny that I'm beginning to feel a lot 　37 ." These seemingly small 　38 allowed the group to see that dreams were not stupid. One woman 　39 that she wanted to be a secretary. I said, " What 　40 in your way?" She answered, "I have six kids, and no one can 　41 　them while I'm away." I asked "Who would help this woman while she gets some 　42 at school?" Another woman said "I got kids, too, but I could do that." So the woman went to school.

In 12 weeks these people were 43 public welfare. The woman who 44 the children became a licensed foster care (代别人照看孩子)person. The man became a handyman. I've not only done that 　45 , I've done it many times.

26. A. self-confident B. self-employed C. self-independent D. self-control　　　

27. A. purposes B. goals C. hopes D. dreams

28. A. crazy B. ridiculous C. funny D. normal

29. A. live B. do 　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. go 　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. get

30. A. involved 　　　　　　　　　 B. furnished　　　　　　　　 C. equipped 　　　　　　　　 D. troubled

31. A. rats B. holes　　　　　　　　　　　 C. sinks 　　　　　　　　　　 D. crashes

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

33. A. continue B. try　　　　　　 　　　　　　 C. do D. work 34. A. sat B. placed　　　　　　　　　　 C. seated　　　　　　　　　　 D. positioned

35. A. new B. wood　　　　　　　　　　　 C. main　　　　　　　　　　　 D. screen 　　

36. A. laughed　　　　　　　　　　 B. smiled　　　　　　　　　　 C. glared　　　　　　　　　　 D. stared

37. A. better　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. worse　　　　　　　　　　 C. more　　　　　　　　　　　 D. less

38. A. strengths B. weakness　　　　　　　　 C. successes 　　　　　　　　　 D. failures

39. A. complained　　　　　　　　 B. shouted　　　　　　　　　 C. shared　　　　　　　　　　 D. yelled

40. A. stands　　　　　　　　　　　 B. stops　　　　　　　　　　　 C. allows　　　　　　　　　　 D. admits

41. A. take care B. look after　　　　　　　　 C. attend with　　　　　　　 D. pay attention

42. A. education B. help C. benefit D. training

43. A. back 　　　　　　　　　　　 B. off　　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. on 　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. out

44. A. took in C. took down 　　　　　　　　　　 C. took away D. took along

45. A. forever　　　　　　　　　　 C. never　　　　　　　　　　　 C. even　　　　　　　　　　　 D. once

How to be a good listener
Everyone loves a good listener. But there are more reasons to develop the skill of listening than to win hearts or popularity contests.
Listening heals hurts and builds bridges. It gives us the ability to understand and empathize, to view the world from our own point. It can bring us wisdom over and above mere intelligence. But most importantly, it allows us to give the people around us the gifts they crave (渴望) most—a sense of worth.
As it turns out, there’s more to good listening than just keeping quiet and allowing someone to speak. Effective listening is actually a combination of two key communication skills: listening and verifying (确认).
Even when we’ve managed to hear a person’s entire message, we often interpret it wrong—according to our own understanding, experience, or prejudice.
As an effective listener, your goal is to hear and absorb what another has to say…in exactly the way they mean it to be understood. Only then can you respond properly.
This is much easier read than done, so here are a few helpful tips:
1. Give the speaker your full attention.
Stop talking and remove all distractions. Turn off the TV, your phone, or computer. Watch your body language. The way you look at the speaker, or the way you stand or sit, makes a huge difference. The right listening body language communicates that we are listening openly and attentively, and puts the other person at ease.
2. Be patient.
Not everyone is a gifted speaker. Some people take longer to find the right word to make a point. Others are too worried to get their message across properly. If necessary, ask the speaker to explain further. It will help him / her speak more exactly and it will help you hear and understand better.
3. Keep your emotions in check.
If what someone is saying creates an emotional response in you, make an extra effort to listen carefully. When we’re angry, frightened or upset, we often miss key parts of what is being said.
4. Hold your fire.
Don’t jump to conclusions immediately. A good listener doesn’t react until comprehension is complete. If you respond in a way that makes the other person defensive, even if you “win” the argument, you may lose something far more valuable.
5. Even if you think you understand. VERIFY.
Never assume you got the message right. Pause, think about what was said, and then ask “Is this what you meant?” or “Am I understanding this right?”
6. Empathize.
Take a moment to stand in the other person’s shoes, to look at the situation from his / her point of view…especially when you’re being told something personal or painful, or something you strongly disagree with. The more shoes you are able to successfully stand in within your life time, the less puzzled you’ll find your life and relationships to be.

How to be a good listener

Everyone loves a good listener. But there are more reasons to develop the skill of listening than to win hearts or popularity contests.

Listening heals hurts and builds bridges. It gives us the ability to understand and empathize, to view the world from our own point. It can bring us wisdom over and above mere intelligence. But most importantly, it allows us to give the people around us the gifts they crave (渴望) most—a sense of worth.

As it turns out, there’s more to good listening than just keeping quiet and allowing someone to speak. Effective listening is actually a combination of two key communication skills: listening and verifying (确认).

Even when we’ve managed to hear a person’s entire message, we often interpret it wrong—according to our own understanding, experience, or prejudice.

As an effective listener, your goal is to hear and absorb what another has to say…in exactly the way they mean it to be understood. Only then can you respond properly.

This is much easier read than done, so here are a few helpful tips:

1. Give the speaker your full attention.

Stop talking and remove all distractions. Turn off the TV, your phone, or computer. Watch your body language. The way you look at the speaker, or the way you stand or sit, makes a huge difference. The right listening body language communicates that we are listening openly and attentively, and puts the other person at ease.

2. Be patient.

Not everyone is a gifted speaker. Some people take longer to find the right word to make a point. Others are too worried to get their message across properly. If necessary, ask the speaker to explain further. It will help him / her speak more exactly and it will help you hear and understand better.

3. Keep your emotions in check.

If what someone is saying creates an emotional response in you, make an extra effort to listen carefully. When we’re angry, frightened or upset, we often miss key parts of what is being said.

4. Hold your fire.

Don’t jump to conclusions immediately. A good listener doesn’t react until comprehension is complete. If you respond in a way that makes the other person defensive, even if you “win” the argument, you may lose something far more valuable.

5. Even if you think you understand. VERIFY.

Never assume you got the message right. Pause, think about what was said, and then ask “Is this what you meant?” or “Am I understanding this right?”

6. Empathize.

Take a moment to stand in the other person’s shoes, to look at the situation from his / her point of view…especially when you’re being told something personal or painful, or something you strongly disagree with. The more shoes you are able to successfully stand in within your life time, the less puzzled you’ll find your life and relationships to be.

 Dear Jack，

    Thank you for your congratulations，my congratulations to you! I remember Margaret Field very well―the girl with that wonderful red hair and those beautiful eyes.  She was the most popular girl in our college. You’re a very lucky fellow and I'm sure you’11 be very happy with her.

    Brenda and I are very lucky，too. Her father gave us this house as a wedding present，so we don't have to pay rent. The house and furniture are insured already，so I can’t help you by giving you that kind of business. I wish I'd known earlier that you were in the insurance business. I'd certainly have asked you to give me a policy for the house and its contents.

    I'm rather doubtful about the value of life insurance. It’s my duty，I know，to see that there will be money for my wife，and later on for the children，in the event of my early death. But I feel that it's wiser to put my money into the shares of good business companies. You say I can get a policy that will provide 50，000 when I'm 65. Yes，but that time is nearly forty years away，and what will 50，000 be worth then?The real value of money has been going down and prices go up a little every year，perhaps only 4％or 5％，but the movement is always up，never down. 50，000 in fifty years from now may be worth only two―thirds or even a half of what it is worth today. Now if I put my savings into the shares of the big oil companies，or aircraft manufacturers，the value of the shares will go up with the rise in costs and prices. So the real value of my money would remain about the same，wouldn’t it?I know your answer. You’ll say that your life insurance policy provides against my possible death. I've got to balance that possibility against the almost certain fall in the value of money?

    I'd very much like you to meet Brenda. Can you come for a weekend some time?What about next Saturday?If you can manage it，please let me know which train you’re coming by，and I’ll meet you at the station. We can have a talk about life insurance and perhaps you’ll succeed in making me see that life insurance is a good thing.

                                                             Yours sincerely，

                                                                   Fred

64. We can infer from the passage that              .

    A. Margaret is Fred’s wife

    B. Jack is a customer of Fred

    C. Brenda is familiar to Margaret

    D. Jack，Fred and Margaret once studied in the same college

65. The underlined sentence”In the event of my early death”can be replaced by         .

    A. when I should die young         B. if I should die young

    C. after I should die young          D. before I should die young

66. Which word can be used to describe Fred according to the passage?

    A. Narrow-minded.   B. Short-sighted.     C. Ambitious.    D. Practical.

67. This is a letter of        .

    A. refusing          B. inquiring          C. complaining    D. negotiating