A lady in an old cotton dress and her husband, dressed in an old suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked into the president of Harvard’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such country people had no business at Harvard. She frowned. “We want to see the president,” the man said softly.  “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary said coldly. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied.

For hours, the secretary didn’t talk to them, hoping that the couple would finally become tired and go away. They didn’t. And the secretary finally decided to disturb the president. “Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she told him. He frowned too. Someone of his importance didn’t have the time to spend with nobodies.

The president walked toward them unwillingly. The lady told him, “We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard, and was very happy here. But he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to set up a memorial(纪念碑) to him somewhere on campus. ” The president was so surprised that he shouted sharply, “We can’t put up a statue(塑像) for every person who attended Harvard and died, this place would look like a cemetery.

“Oh, no” the lady explained, “We don’t want to build a statue. We thought we would give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at their plain clothes, and said with surprise, “A building! Do you have any idea how much a building costs? The physical building at Harvard cost seven million and a half.”

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly. “Is that all it costs to start a university?” Her husband nodded(点头). Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they set up the university with their name -------a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge(判断) others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.

46. What did the old couple go to Harvard for?

A. They wanted to see their son.

B. They had an important meeting

C. They went to Harvard just to see start a university

D. They wanted to meet the president of Harvard.

47. Why didn’t the president come out to meet the couple?

A. He was really busy at that time.

B. The secretary didn’t allow the couple to meet the president.

C. He was important and didn’t have time for unimportant people.

D. He had an important friend to meet and had to spend some time together.

48. From the passage, we can know ______.

A. the old couple were in fact rich people

B. the secretary was afraid of the old couple

C. the old couple’s son was killed in Harvard

D. the president of Harvard was kind and patient to anyone

49. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. the old couple set up their own university.

B. the old couple set up a memorial to their son

C. the old couple gave a building to Harvard.

D. Giving a building to Harvard was easy and cheap at that time.

50. The best title of the passage is “______”.

A. Never Judge a Book by Its Cover     B. How the Stanford Was Built 

C.A Visit to Harvard University        D. A Strange Old Couple

“When are you going on holiday? And where? ”are usual questions in the office before the summer holiday, and the answer often is: “In one week, to the beach. ”“Aha! You have a beautiful tan（＝brown by sunshine）! How was your holiday? ”These continue for days after you return.　　  Many Europeans have not only weekends and bank holidays but also five to seven weeks paid leave. おUsually parents in the summer plan to spend three or four weeks with the family. Because of my earlier years in China, I found it difficult to understand the European attitude （态度）toward holidays.

During my childhood in the 1960s, my parents were always busy with work and meetings. They left early in the morning and came back late in the evening. My sisters, my brother and I were left alone with Grandma. We saw our parents only on Sundays and during the few holidays. The only long period （一段）of time during which the whole family could be together once a year was the Spring Festival. We missed our parents badly, but didn’t say so because we had been told that hard work was everyone’s duty and that we could not have our own small family without a big family.　　  Later I was a hard working student and, during summer or winter holidays, often stayed alone at university to have more time to study. I was always encouraged by my parents, for whom the holiday was less important than “work” and “study”. Holidays were a waste of time and I felt as if I had done something wrong if I took a holiday or did nothing during a holiday.

I spent the most difficult period of my life abroad. But when I joined this company, my boss didn’t seem to think it right for me to work like that. When I called him at home after office hours for business purposes （目的）, he politely told me that he preferred talking about work with me in the office.

When the holiday season came near, he asked me to plan my leave beforehand （提前）. He talked with me about his holiday and also asked about mine. For him, leave was a right.　　  Giving up a holiday for the company is encouraged in China, but is foolish here. I began to think about holidays.

Today my parents are retired （退休）and stay home with a lot of time for their children. But we are all grown- up and live far away. We miss each other, but we cannot afford to see each other very much and they often feel sorry for the fact that they were too busy to be able to take care of us when we were young.

Nowadays, Chinese take long weekends and have paid holidays. But do they use their holidays to enjoy family life? I hope so because my experience in China and Europe has helped me understand that work is not my whole life and that a family is also very important. I do not want to feel sorry in the future as my parents do and I certainly spend as much time with my son as possible. There is nothing wrong with either working hard or taking holidays, but we shouldn’t have one instead of the other. It is important to keep a balance （平衡）between work and play.   

1. What do the underlined words “paid leave” mean?

A. You have to pay when you take a holiday.　　 

B. Someone will pay for your holiday.　　 

C. You are still paid when you have your holiday.　　

D. You can’t leave until you pay for the holiday.   

2. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. Working is the only part of the life.      

B. Traveling is the best way to spend your holiday.　　 

C. Enjoying holidays is as important as working　　 

D. Sharing happiness with your family is more important   

3. The writer talks about her own experience because she hopes that the Chinese will _______.　　  A. plan their holiday beforehand　　  B. get used to long holidays and enjoy themselves　　  C. give up a holiday for their work　　   D. bring business home after work hours

 

Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.

She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school."

So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6.a.m. five nights a week for just￡90, before tax and insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get a bit extra."

The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.

Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful."

The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags."

Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other. people when she tells them what she does for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."

54. Margaret left her job as a nurse because_______.

　　 A. she needed the right time to look after her children

　　 B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure

　　 C. she wanted to earn more money to support her family

　　 D. she felt tired of taking care of patients

55. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because_______.

　　 A. they never clean their offices　　　 　　　 B. they look down upon cleaners

　　 C. they never do their work carefully 　 D. they always make a mess in their offices

56. When at work, Margaret feels_______.

A. tired because of the heavy workload　 　　

B. happy because the building is fully lit

　　 C. light-hearted because of her fellow workers　　

D. bored because time passed slowly

57. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would_______.

　　 A. help care for her children　　　　 B. feel disappointed in her

C. show sympathy (同情) for her D. regret what they had said

　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　

Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.

She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school."

So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6.a.m. five nights a week for just￡90, before tax and insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get a bit extra."

The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.

Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful."

The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags."

Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other. people when she tells them what she does for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."

54. Margaret left her job as a nurse because_______.

　　 A. she needed the right time to look after her children

　　 B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure

　　 C. she wanted to earn more money to support her family

　　 D. she felt tired of taking care of patients

55. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because_______.

　　 A. they never clean their offices　　　 　　　 B. they look down upon cleaners

　　 C. they never do their work carefully 　 D. they always make a mess in their offices

56. When at work, Margaret feels_______.

A. tired because of the heavy workload　 　　

B. happy because the building is fully lit

　　 C. light-hearted because of her fellow workers　　

D. bored because time passed slowly

57. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would_______.

　　 A. help care for her children　　　　 B. feel disappointed in her

C. show sympathy (同情) for her D. regret what they had said

　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　

A lady in an old cotton dress and her husband, dressed in an old suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked into the president of Harvard’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such country people had no business at Harvard. She frowned(皱眉). “We want to see the president,” the man said softly. “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary said coldly. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied.
For hours, the secretary didn’t talk to them, hoping that the couple would finally become tired and go away. They didn’t. And the secretary finally decided to disturb the president. “Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she told him. He frowned too. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time to spend with them.
The president walked toward them unwillingly. The lady told him, “We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard, and was very happy here. But he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to set up a memorial(纪念碑) to him somewhere on campus. ” The president was so surprised that he shouted sharply, “We can’t put up a statue(塑像) for every person who attended Harvard and died. This place would look like a cemetery (墓地).
“Oh, no” the lady explained, “We don’t want to build a statue. We thought we would give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at their plain clothes, and said with surprise, “A building! Do you have any idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”
For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly. “Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don't we just start our own?” Her husband nodded. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they set up the university with their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.
【小题1】What did the old couple go to Harvard for?

A．They wanted to see their son.

B．They had an important meeting

C．They went to Harvard just to start a university

D．They wanted to meet the president of Harvard.

【小题2】Why didn’t the president come out to meet the couple?

A．He was really busy at that time.

B．The secretary didn’t allow the couple to meet the president.

C．He was important and didn’t have time for unimportant people.

D．He had an important friend to meet and had to spend some time together.

【小题3】From the passage, we can know ______.

A．the old couple were in fact rich people

B．the secretary was afraid of the old couple

C．the old couple’s son was killed in Harvard

D．the president of Harvard was kind and patient to anyone

【小题4】The best title of the passage is “______”.

A．A Statue or A Building	B．How Stanford University Was Built
C．A Visit to Harvard University	D．A Strange Old Couple