A beautiful and very successful actress was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the country, but she didn’t want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the center of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colour.
It was very difficult to get tickets for her show in the evening, because everyone wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of month, when she got the painter’s bill. At the bottom of it were these words: “Four hours from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. watching Miss Hall sing and dance: 3 pounds,” with this note: “Before 5:00 p.m. I get 10 shillings (先令)an hour and after 5:00 p.m. 15 shillings.”

1. 1.

   The actress bought a house in the center of the city because        .

   1. A.
      she liked to live in the busiest place
   2. B.
      she didn’t like to live in the country
   3. C.
      she wanted to work harder than before
   4. D.
      she didn’t want to live in old house
2. 2.

   In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress        .

   1. A.
      gave him two tickets for her show
   2. B.
      sang and danced for four hours
   3. C.
      decided to give him 3 pounds
   4. D.
      invited him for a big dinner
3. 3.

   The actress got the painter’s bill        .

   1. A.
      to ask for the money of his painting work
   2. B.
      to ask her to pay for his watching her show
   3. C.
      in which he showed his thanks for the tickets
   4. D.
      in which he expressed his dissatisfaction
4. 4.

   It can be learned from the text that one pound is         shillings.

   1. A.
      10
   2. B.
      12
   3. C.
      15
   4. D.
      20
5. 5.

   What kind of man was the painter?

   1. A.
      He was a careful man.
   2. B.
      He was a poor man.
   3. C.
      He was not friendly to others.
   4. D.
      He knew little about music and dance.

A boy was sent by his parents to a boarding school(寄宿学校). Before being sent away, this boy was the   36  student in his class. He was at the top in every competition. But the boy changed after  37  home and attending the boarding school. His grades started dropping. He   38  being in a group. He was lonely all the time because he felt no one loved him.
His   39  started worrying about the boy. But they did not know   40  was wrong with him. So his dad   41  to travel to the boarding school and   42  with him. They sat on the bank of the lake near the school. The father started   43  him casual(随便的) questions about his classes, teachers and sports.   44 some time his dad said, “Do you know, son, why I am here today?”
The boy answered back, “To check my   45 ?”
“No, no,” his dad replied, “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for  46 . I want to see you   47 . I don’t care about grades. I care about you. I care about your happiness. YOU ARE MY LIFE.”
These words caused the boy’s eyes to fill with tears. He hugged(拥抱) his dad. They didn’t say  48   to each other for a long time.
Now the boy had everything he wanted. He knew there was someone on this earth who cared for him   49 . And today this young man is in college at the   50  of his class and no one has ever seen him sad!