When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy holiday presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.

I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a hand basket and went in while I waited and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his presents. Finally he came to the checkout counter (交款处) and reached into his pocket ... Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.

Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. “You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you,” said the woman. “It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help others, I know you will feel as good about it as I do now.”

Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.

I would like to say “thank you” to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house collecting blankets and clothes for the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.

1.When did the story probably happen?

A．On Christmas Day.                       B．Before Christmas Day.

C．On New Year’s Day.                     D．After New Year’s Day.

2.When they got to the supermarket, Mark went in ________.

A．by himself                             B．with the writer

C．with the woman                        D．with his friends

3.In paragraph 2, what may happen when Mark put his hand into the pocket?

A．His gifts were stolen                     B．His basket was broken.

C．He lost his money.                       D．He lost his way.

4.In the last paragraph, what does the underlined word “it” refer to?

A．Collecting blankets and clothes for homeless people. B．Helping others.

C．Enjoying gifts                           D．Saying thank you.

5.What’s the best title for this passage?

A．A broken pocket                        B．A kind woman

C．A happy family                         D．A wonderful gift

“You speak very good English”

The other day I heard an American say to a Chinese student of English. “You  41  very good English.” But the student answered, “ No, my English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite

  42  at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself  43  or the student had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak it very well.” But the Chinese student still  44  saying  “No”.  45  the foreigner gave up and didn’t know what to say.

What’s wrong with the student’s answer? It is because he didn’t accept a compliment as the American people  46  . He should have said “Thank you” instead of “No”. He actually understood what the American had said. But he thought he should be modest. If someone says to a woman, “ You look  47  beautiful with the new clothes  48  .” she should be very happy and answer, “Thank you.” In our country we think  49  modest is a virtue and showing off is a bad behavior. But in the West, if you are modest and say, “ No,   50  I can’t do it well,” then the others will take it for granted (理所当然)that you  51  can not do it. If you often say,“No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by  52  . When  53  for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “ Let me have a try on the job”, he or she can expect to get it. So in the West, one should always be confident.  54  self-confidence, he can’t go anywhere. Confidence is of great  55  to one in a country where competition is quite keen.(激烈)

1.A. say     B. talk        C. speak    D. tell

2.A. surprising  B. surprised       C. laughed         D. laughing

3.A. understood        B. understand   C. to understand        D. understanding

4.A. keep  B. keeping         C. keeps    D. kept

5.A. At first        B. By the way    C. In the end     D. First of all

6.A. did     B. done     C. to do     D. do

7.A. such  B. such a   C. so D. so a

8.A. for     B. on          C. in  D. into

9.A. being B. be          C. having   D. have

10.A. I’m afraid B. I’m not sure  C. I don’t mind  D. I don’t know

11.A. hardly      B. really    C. badly     D. luckily

12.A. another   B. other    C. the other       D. others

13.A. asking       B. ask         C. provide          D. providing

14.A. With         B. Without         C. by D. under

15.A. importantly      B. unimportant C. important      D. importance

One Friday night, a poor young man stood at the train station. He played his violin and many people put 41  into the hat in front of him.　　
The next day, the young man came to the station 42  . But this time he took out a large piece of paper 43 some words on it. It said “Last night a lady 44  Mrs Sang put an important thing into my hat 45  . Please come for it.”　　
After about an hour, a middle-aged woman ran to the young man in a hurry and said, “You do come here. I know that you’re a(n) 46  man and will certainly come here.” They had a talk and the young man made sure she was the owner. Then he took out a lottery ticket and 47  it to the woman. Her husband bought a lottery ticket every day. Yesterday when she knew the lottery ticket he bought won, she was very 48  . The prize of the lottery ticket was $ 500,000. When she walked past the young man, she took out $50 and put it in the hat. 49  , the lottery ticket was also thrown in.　　
Later, someone asked the young man, “You play the violin every day to make money. Why didn’t you just take the prize of the lottery ticket for yourself?” the young man said，“Although I don’t have much money, I live happily. But if I 50  honesty, I won’t be happy forever.”　　
【小题1】 A. money       B. tickets          C. paper　　
【小题2】 A. instead       B. differently      C. again　　
【小题3】 A. for          B. with           C. over　　
【小题4】 A. introduced    B. spelled         C. named　　
【小题5】 A. by mistake     B. for mistake      C. on mistake　　
【小题6】 A. crazy         B. cool        C. honest　　
【小题7】 A. gave          B. lent            C. offered　　
【小题8】 A. surprising       B. happy          C. exciting　　
【小题9】 A. But            B. However      C. Therefore　　
【小题10】 A. have            B. win             C. lose　　

When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy holiday presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.

   I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a hand basket and went in while I waited and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his present. Finally he came to the checkout counter and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money! Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.

   Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. “ You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you,” said the woman. “It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help.When you help others, I know you will feel as good about it as I do now.”

  Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.

  I would like to say “thank you” to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house to collecting blankets and clothes foe the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.

1.When did the story probably happen?

A. On Christmas Day.       B. Before Christmas Day.

C. On New Year’s Day.      D. After New Year’s Day.

2.What happened to Mark in the supermarket?

A. His gifts were stolen.     B. He broke his basket.

C. He lost his money.       D. He lost his way.

3.Which is RIGHT according to the passage?

A.When they got to the supermarket, Mark went in with the woman.

B.Mark’s family has no money.

C. Finally Mark accepted the woman’s help. 

D. The woman asked Mark to collect the clothes and blankets.

4.Why did the writer want to say “thank you ” to the woman?

A. Because she bought Mark a nice gift.

B. Because she always paid money for others.

C. Because she collected clothes for the homeless.

D. Because she taught Mark to help people in need.

5.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. A big supermarket.     B. A kind woman.

C. A happy holiday.       D. A wonderful gift.