阅读理解

　　A poet published a collection of his newly－written poems. He, of course, was proud of his success. But to his disappointment, few people would buy his book. He was troubled. The poet told a friend of his about it. “The problem is,” said his friend, “that nobody has ever heard of you. You should become popular and win acclaim, then your book will sell well.” “I see,” said the poet, “but what can I do?”

　　“You bookworm! Why not put an advertisement in the newspaper?” said his friend with a smile on his face.

　　“But I can't put an advertisement saying I'm a bright poet and my book is worth reading.”

　　“No, but don't worry, I can help you with it.”

　　What his friend said brought him some relief. And after that he looked in the newspapers every day, paying special attention to the columns of advertisements. But to his disappointment, he had never found any advertisements of his poems. And as time went by, he almost forgot all about the matter.

　　One morning, the poet was having breakfast. The door bell rang. He got up and answered it. When he opened the door, he saw a big man with a big dog standing in front of him.

　　“I've come for the reward!” the big man said in a bad－tempered voice.

　　“What reward is it?” said the poet, “perhaps you mistake me for someone else.”

　　“Nonsense!” said the man, “Two pounds you offered to pay for the dog!”

　　“But I don't want any dog,” said the poet.

　　“Aha! you don't want the dog!” in an impatient voice the big man said. “You let me come here all the way for nothing!” He was ready for a fight.

　　“I'm too weak, and that fellow is so strong,” the poet thought. “I can't be his match…” so he had no choice but to buy the dog for two pounds.

　　Having fed some meat to the dog and locked it in the kitchen, the poet went back to his work. It was not long before the door bell rang again.

　　He looked out through the window and found at least six men with six dogs in front of his door. “What's the matter?” he said to himself.

　　And all of a sudden, he thought of the advertisement. He picked up a pile of newspaper and began to look through them one by one. And suddenly one of the Found and Lost advertisements caught his eyes.

　　It read:

　　“Mr. Cock offers ￡ 2 reward for the return of his faithful dog that first awakened the ideas of writing his new book of poems.”

1．How did the poet feel after his newly written poems came out?

[　　]

2．The reason why few people would buy his book was that ——。

[　　]

A．the book was too badly written

B．he was unknown

C．he hadn't put an advertisement for the book

D．readers didn't like to read poems

3．Why did many people come to his house with dogs one morning? Because ________.

[　　]

A．they came for the reward referred in the advertisement

B．they were his relatives

C．they returned the dogs to him

D．they wanted to sell their dogs to the writer

4．________ had put the advertisement in the newspaper.

[　　]

5．The best title for the passage may be ________.

[　　]

A．Seeking popularity(知名度)

B．A poet and his friend

C．An advertisement

D．Looking for a faithful dog.

The old couple who lived in a cottage on the edge of the village were envied for the happiness of their marriage． They never quarreled and were always affectionate to one another． Sadly, after thirty-four years of this happiness, the husband became ill and died．

The wife was overcome with grief． Her children tried to comfort her, but to no avail． Her neighbors tried to comfort her, but with similar lack of success． Weeks and months went by, and still the woman was grieving; tears fell down her cheeks from morning till night．

Then a holy man came to the village． People told him about the woman, and asked him to try to help her． The holy man went to the woman’s house． Dressed in his rough woolen robe, he sat down with the grieving widow and listened, carefully, to her story． When she had spilled out all her sorrow, he reached into one of the deep pockets in his robe, and drew out a tiny, little mustard（芥末） seed． “I think I may have a cure for your grief,” he said． “I want you to go round the people in this region, and look for a family that has no sorrows． When you find this family, give them this little mustard seed, and then come back to me．

The woman set off in search of such a family． She visited every home in the district, and talked to the people． She listened to their stories, just as the holy man had listened to hers． In time, she almost forgot about the mustard seed, because every single family she met was carrying some kind of sorrow．

One day, she happened to meet the holy man again, and he stopped to ask how she was feeling． She was surprised at first, at his question, and then she suddenly remembered the mustard seed, still safely in her purse． “I’m sorry, I haven’t found a family without sorrows yet,” she told him． “But you yourself are cured of your grief,” he smiled． “The mustard seed is a great healer!”

What does the underlined word “grieving” mean?

   A． amused     B． sad         C． angry       D． astonished

What did the holy man ask her to do to end her sorrow?

   A． to go to church for help．

   B． to live with the family that has no sorrows with the mustard seed．

   C． to help others so that she can feel the happiness from the bottom of her heart．

   D． to find a family that is always happy and give them the mustard seed before returning to him．

How did the woman treat the families she visited?

   A． She was a good listener．

   B． She helped them to solve the problems they met．

    C． She gave every family a mustard seed．．

   D． She told them her unfortunate story．

Who on the earth heals the woman’s grief?

   A． The mustard seed                B． Her children   

    C． The families in the district        D． She herself

The old couple who lived in a cottage on the edge of the village were envied for the happiness of their marriage． They never quarreled and were always affectionate to one another． Sadly, after thirty-four years of this happiness, the husband became ill and died．
The wife was overcome with grief． Her children tried to comfort her, but to no avail． Her neighbors tried to comfort her, but with similar lack of success． Weeks and months went by, and still the woman was grieving; tears fell down her cheeks from morning till night．
Then a holy man came to the village． People told him about the woman, and asked him to try to help her． The holy man went to the woman’s house． Dressed in his rough woolen robe, he sat down with the grieving widow and listened, carefully, to her story． When she had spilled out all her sorrow, he reached into one of the deep pockets in his robe, and drew out a tiny, little mustard（芥末） seed． “I think I may have a cure for your grief,” he said． “I want you to go round the people in this region, and look for a family that has no sorrows． When you find this family, give them this little mustard seed, and then come back to me．
The woman set off in search of such a family． She visited every home in the district, and talked to the people． She listened to their stories, just as the holy man had listened to hers． In time, she almost forgot about the mustard seed, because every single family she met was carrying some kind of sorrow．
One day, she happened to meet the holy man again, and he stopped to ask how she was feeling． She was surprised at first, at his question, and then she suddenly remembered the mustard seed, still safely in her purse． “I’m sorry, I haven’t found a family without sorrows yet,” she told him． “But you yourself are cured of your grief,” he smiled． “The mustard seed is a great healer!”
【小题1】What does the underlined word “grieving” mean?

    It is impossible not to make a mistake at some point of your life．We may as well accept that something will go wrong and we will be to blame．It is therefore sensible to work out some plans for apologizing，and the best way to apologize is by letter．This way you can take care over every word you write－which you can’t do if you say sorry to someone in person．

  We all say or do something that we wish we hadn’t said or done．You may say something that accidentally hurts someone，or you may provide a service which doesn’t come up to the standards that a cheat or customer expected．

    You may feel that it was a mistake which couldn’t be avoided．Rather than dwell on the mistake．you should quickly try to remedy(补救)the problem．An effective letter of apology is an important part of that process．

    For the content of the letter，just remember TABS---Timing，Action，Brevity，Sincerity．

    The timing of a letter of apology is crucial一it must be sent as soon as possible．Any delay in sending the letter will only compound the problem．In this case．“better late than never”is not the best motto!The longer you wait before writing a letter of apology．the more it will seem that you have been forced into writing it．

    Although it is important to recognize what has gone before，it is also necessary to detail the action you plan to take to rectify whatever it was you did wrong．Research has shown that some indication that you have thought about what future action you plan to take is always well received．

    A  letter of apology should be brief and the word “sorry” should appear no more than twice．Indicate that you are aware you are using it a second time “once again，I’m so sorry for” or “as I said early，I’m so sorry about” Finally，the tone of the letter has to be sincere．In fact，all the above factors will help in this respect．

    And don’t think that letters are out of date in the Email-oriented 21^st century．An apology email can be worse than no apology at all !

53．What kind of advice does the text suggest about apologizing?

A．It’s a good idea to write a letter of apology as soon as something goes wrong．

B．It’s a good idea to sends several emails to apologize and show that you mean it．

C．Write a long letter apologizing several times to make your point．

D．Wait to see how they react to your letter before planning to do anything

54．What kind of things do you NOT apologize for ?

    A．Services that are not as good as they should be．    B．Genuine mistakes．

    C．Car accidents．                                                   D．Causing anger or hurt．

55．According to the writer，you should not         after you have made a mistake．

  A．waste time worrying about what happened      B．write an effective letter of apology

  C．avoid what happened                                     D．recognize what has gone before

56．The underlined word “rectify” means              ．

  A．to put right        B．to improve       C．to put aside     D．to apologize