Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive (欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture.

For example, someone might say, I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery. It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!

This guy's a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought $ 200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner. He’s really a big loser!

He didn’t say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That’s called a half-truth. Half truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.

Some politicians often use this trick. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents (对手) says, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true. However, an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs.”

Advertisers  will sometimes use half-truths. It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, “Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache.” It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.

This kind of deception happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.

1.How much did the lottery winner lose?

2.We may infer that the author believes people should ______.

3.What do the underlined words “net gain” in Paragraph 5 mean?

4.What can we know from the example of the Yucky Pill advertisement?

Once upon a time two brothers who lived on neighboring farms fell into conflict(对抗). It was the first serious one in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed.

      Then the long cooperation fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.

      One morning there was a knock on John’ door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter’s toolbox. “I’m looking for a few days’ work,” he said. “Could I help you?”

     “Yes,” said the older brother. “I do have a job for you. Look across the creek(河沟) at that farm. That’s my neighbor, in fact, it’s my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow(草地) between us and he took his bulldozer(推土机) to the levee(堤) and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I’ll go him one better. I want you to build me a fence―an 8-foot fence ―so I won’t need to see his place anymore. Cool him down, anyhow.”

     The carpenter said, “I think I understand the situation. I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.” The older brother had to go to town for supplies, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day.

  The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped.

      There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge― a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work― and his younger brother was coming across, his hand outstretched.

  “You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I’ve said and done.”

  The brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hand. They turned to see the carpenter lift his toolbox on his shoulder. “No, wait! Stay a few days. I’ve a lot of other projects for you,” said the older brother.

  “I’d love to stay on,” the carpenter said, “but, I have so many more bridges to build.”

72. What was life like for the two brothers before the conflict?

A.  They lived a poor, miserable life.

B.  They were friendly neighbors, helping each other.

C.  They never spoke to each other.

D.  They lived together as one family.

73. Which of the following best describes the carpenter?

A. He was skilled but dishonest.

B. He was hardworking but unskilled.

C. He was clever, hardworking, but cold hearted.

D. He was clever, helpful and skilled.

74. The best title for this passage is ________.

   A. A Fine Piece of Work

B. A Clever Carpenter

   C . A Conflict between Two Brothers

D. Two Brothers

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

A.  The younger brother used his bulldozer to dig a creek.

B.  After the conflict John was angry with his younger brother.

C.  At first the carpenter planned to build an 8-foot fence as John asked him to.

D.  The two brother made peace at last.

It was pouring outside. We all stood there  16  , some patiently, others annoyed  17  nature messed up their hurried day. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens  18  away the dirt and dust of the world.

    “Mom, let’s run through the rain.” a girl’s voice  19  me.

    “No, honey. We’ll wait until it  20  down a bit.” Mom replied.

    The young girl waited about another minute and  21 : “Mom, let’s run through the rain.”

    “We’ll get wet if we do,” Mom said.

    “No. we won’t, Mom. That’s not what you said this morning,” the young girl said as she  22  her Mom’s arm.

    “This morning?  23 __ did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?”

    “Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ‘If God can get us through this, he can get us through  24  .’”

    The entire crowd turned   25 . Mom paused and thought for a moment about  26  she would say.

Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being  27 . But then we heard, “Honey, you are  28  . Let’s run through the rain. If we get wet, maybe we just need washing,” Mom said. Then  29  they ran.

     We all stood  30__ , smiling and laughing as they ran past the cars. Yes, they got wet. But they were  31  by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the  32  to their cars. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, and they can even take away your  33  . But no one can ever take away your precious  34  . So, don’t forget to make time and take the  35  to make memories every day! I hope you still take the time to run though the rain.

16. A. talking                    B. waiting             C. complaining           D. expecting

17. A. as if                 B. even if             C. because             D. when

18. A. taking               B. putting            C. driving             D. washing

19. A. caught              B. annoyed           C. impressed           D. called

20. A. slows               B. comes              C. pushes              D. stops

21. A. asked               B. repeated           C. required           D. added

22. A. pulled               B. touched           C. waved              D. felt

23. A. Why                B. How                C. When              D. Where

24. A. the rain            B. the disease       C. anything          D. something

25. A. still                 B. silent              C. serious              D. angry

26. A. what              B. how                       C. whether             D. if

27. A. dishonest            B. silly                       C. daring              D. forgetful

28. A. right                B. wrong             C. stupid            D. clever

29. A. off                 B. along              C. on                 D. over

30. A. sighing              B. joking             C. discussing         D. watching

31. A. followed           B. guided                  C. respected            D. praised

32. A. time                      B. way                 C. same                D. best

33. A. house               B. money             C. health            D. time

34. A. children             B. memories         C. courage           D. experience

35. A. possibilities          B. opportunities    C. risk              D. challenge

Online shopping is increasing popular among people in recent years．Some people liked to buy goods online．And I don’ t like it, because online shopping is less reliable than the traditional sale．Firstly, some dishonest merchant offer consumers to false information online．Secondly, consumers can’t feel the items that is usually presented by means of pictures．This means the items delivering may differ from which consumers expect．As a result, they may risk returning the items at our own expense．Thirdly, the items might be damaged during delivery．In word, online shopping isn’t reliable at all．

I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Mikey himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my students. If I were to deal with them, I’d be busy 24 hours a day.
The forged excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The writers of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull: “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.”
Isn’t it remarkable, I thought, how the students complained and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they produced excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and gave them to my classes. I said, “They’re supposed to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Mikey?” The students looked at me nervously.
“Now, this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note --- the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study. ”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your imaginations. So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God’.” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. For the first time ever I saw students so careful in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. Heated discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked up and down, looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.”
When I stepped into his office, he came to shake my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you. ”
【小题1】What did the author do with the students found dishonest?