I believe honesty is one of the greatest gifts. I know they call it a lot of fancy names these days, like  36_ and straightforward .And it’s still what  37  a man a good citizen .This is my secret ,and I try to live by .
I’ve been in the taxi business for thirty-five year,  38  there is a lot about it that is not so good. Taxi drivers have to be rough and tumble (乱作一团) fellows to be able to take it in New York. You’ve got to be  39  to fight the New York traffic eight hours a day . Because taxi drivers are tough, people get the   40  impression that they are bad .Taxi drivers are just like other people. Most of them will act as   41  fellows. You read in the papers almost every week   42  a taxi driver turns in money or jewels or like that people leave in their   43  . If they weren’t hones, you wouldn’t be reading those stories in the papers. One time .I found an emerald (翡翠的) ring in my car. I remembered helping a lady with a lot of suitcases that day , so I went back to where I had   44  . It took me almost two days to wait for her in order to return her   45  to her. I didn’t get much as “thank you”.  46  I felt good because I had done what was right. I think I felt better than she   47  .
I was born and raised in Ireland until I was nineteen years old. I came to this country in 1913 where I   48  several jobs to earn a few dollars before joining the army in Word War I. After being discharged (退伍), I bought my own car and have owned one ever since. It hasn’t been too easy   49  , but my wife takes care of our money and we have a good bit   50  for a rainy day (一时之需). In all my years of driving a taxi, I have never had   51  with the public, not even with drunks. Even if they get a little headstrong (顽固的) once in a while, I just agree with them and then they behave themselves.
People ask me about tips. As far as I know,   52  everyone will give you something , because most Americans are   53  generous . I always try to be nice to everyone, whether they   54  or not. I believe in God and try to be a good member of my parish (教区 ). I try to act toward others like I think god wants me to act. I have been trying this for a long time, and the   55  I try , the easier it gets.

We were driving on the right road when, all of a sudden, a black car pulled out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver stepped on his brake, skidded(打滑), and missed the black car’s back end by just inches! The driver of the black car, who almost caused a major accident, turned his head angrily and started shouting bad words at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean, my taxi driver was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to hospital!” And the following is what my taxi driver told me, which I now call “the law of the Garbage Truck”.
“Many people are like garbage(垃圾) trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump(倾卸)it. And if you let them, they dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish him well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”
So this is “The Law of the Garbage Truck”. I started thinking: How often do I let “Garbage Trucks” run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was then that I said, “I’m not going to do it any more.”
I began to see “Garbage Trucks”. I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my taxi driver, I don’t make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, and move on.
Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. What about you? The mark of a successful person is how quickly he can get back his focus on what’s important.
【小题1】Who acted like a garbage truck in the accident described in the first two paragraphs?

短文改错(共10小题；每小题1分,满分10分)

下面短文中共有10处错误,每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧）,并在此符号下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2.只允许修改10处,多者（从第11处起）不计分。

A pretty, well-dressed young lady stops a taxi in a big square, and said to the driver, “Do you see that young man at other side of the square?”

    “Yes,” said the taxi driver. The young man was standing outside a restaurant and look impatiently at his watch every few second.

    “Take me over there,” said the young lady.

    There was a lot of cars and buses in the square, so the taxi driver asked, “Are you afraid to across the street?”

    “Oh, no!” said the young lady. “So I promised that I would meet the young man of lunch at one o’ clock, and it is now a quarter to two. If I arrive at in a taxi, it will at least seem as if I had tried not to be later.”

         Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination(歧视) have been made illegal. But one popular form continues to exist, that is alphabetism (字母排序法). This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames (姓氏) begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.

         It has long been known that the cars of a taxi firm called AAAA have a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers look through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbot has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a quite large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.

         Thus the American presidents and vice-presidents have surnames starting with B and C separately and 26 of those before George Bush took office (including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi ). The world’s three top central bankers (Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. The same case are the world’s five richest men (Gates, Buffet and so on).

         Can this merely happen by chance? At the start of the first year in primary school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So shortsighted Zysman gets stuck in the back row, and is seldom asked the improving questions by those teachers. At that time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.

         The unfairness continues. At university graduation parties, the ABCs proudly get their awards first. However, by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are a little tired. Lists of job interviews and conference speakers and attendees all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their readers lose interest as they plough through them.

1. What does the author intend to show with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars?

         A. An example of competition of two kinds of cars.         B. Some advantages of AAAA cars in the taxi firm.

         C. An example of unfairness caused by alphabetism.     D. Some disadvantages of Zodiac cars in the taxi firm.

2. What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?

         A. The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zoe Zysman.

         B. In both East and West, names are important to success.

         C. Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies’ names.

         D. The discrimination in alphabetism can be found in many areas.

3. The fourth paragraph suggests that         .

         A. alphabetically disadvantaged students often escape from class

         B. teachers should pay equal attention to all their students

         C. questions are often put to the more intelligent students

         D. students should be seated according to their eyesight

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

         A. VIPs in the western world gain a great deal from alphabetism.

         B. People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often ill – treated.

         C. Putting things alphabetically may lead to unintentional unfairness.

         D. The movement to get rid of alphabetism still has a long way to go.

D

If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.

Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare(车费) of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.

The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration（登记） card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.

The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.

With so many loopholes （漏洞）in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.

68． The underlined words in this passage means to “______”。

A. be ready to help others         B. make good use of one’s friends

C. be a little ahead of others     D. gain something at other’s loss

69． Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. While taking a taxi in Finland, you can get off without first paying your fare.

B. In a big hotel in Finland, you can enjoy free meals if you’re living in the hotel.

C. The bosses in Finland pay the employees according to registration of their working hours.

D. The workers are always honest with their working hours.

70． We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. the Finnish society is of very high moral level

B. there are many loopholes in everyday life in Finland

C. in Finland, most taxi drivers will not charge you anything

D. everyone in Finland is like a gentleman, for they have faith in themselves

71． Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. Life in Finland     B. A Society with “Foolish” People

C.What a Life         D. Honest accounts of the Finns