A few years ago, my younger sister and I were the first to board our flight for Norfolk, Virginia. Just as we were about to board the plane, a mechanic came out of the aircraft and blocked the door with his arms. He turned to the flight attendant and hurriedly stated, "We got problems!" I thought to myself, "Why did I have to be the one to hear that? Why couldn't I have been at the back of the line? I didn't need to know that!" Very soon we were back in the terminal, waiting, and then finally back on the plane. I waited for the pilot to give an explanation. Pilots take courses to ease passengers' mind, right? They know what to say to calm nerves. Unfortunately, I didn't think this pilot took that course. Soon his voice thundered throughout the plane, "Sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen. We had no power on the plane. We have a generator on the ground right now, and we're going to jump-start the engines. Once we get them going, we'll get up in the air and head to Norfolk, and see what happens." See what happens? We were going to get up in the air, and see what happens? Couldn't we have another plan, one that's been worked out just a little better? At this point, all I could do was to laugh nervously. One woman started yelling, "Oh no! We're going to crash!" There were sighs of desperation and anxiety spreading throughout the cabin. Finally, we got up in the air thirty minutes later, and what happened? Nothing ---other than thrust and lift. We arrived in Norfolk, and no sooner had the wheels touched the ground than a round of applause burst out, as everyone throughout the airplane simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. Although, I did sincerely like to have a plan better than "see what happens" worked out when flying --- it really isn't such a bad life strategy. Success will never be guaranteed. The best thing you can do is just get up in the air, and see what happens. Sometimes adjustments would be made in the air, or shall we say, in the middle of the process. Having known the problems, many passengers _ . A) felt desperate and anxious B) stood up and started yelling C) waited calmly for the problems to be solved D) complained about the mechanic's carelessness
A
(Question)
I once did a year of voluntary service in a residential home for people with learning disabilities. was set in an English village deep in the countryside, quite different from my home in Sweden. One of my fellow volunteers, a girl from Tanzania, seemed a little unhappy, so I asked what the problem was. She told me she had a friend back home who had financial difficulties and maybe it was impossible for her to complete her university courses. So this friend of mine had sent all her money to Tanzania to support her friend! This meant that she didn't have much food to eat and no money to go anywhere outside the village. I was so touched and I felt I had to do something. So, during my next trip to one of the nearby towns I walked into a shop. I didn't have much money left myself but I thought I'd buy her an extra box of chocolate we both liked and some rice. I started talking to the woman(also a volunteer)working in the shop and eventually told her about my friend. The woman looked at me, amazed. "Does she eat pasta?" she asked. "Yes," I replied. She immediately started loading a bag with pasta, cookies, and other things until the bag was full. "Give her this for me. It's my treat!'' I couldn't believe it but accepted with happiness. As I left the shop to go home with my unexpected bag of food, I asked the woman her name. "Just Gloria," she said. Imagine my friend's face when I arranged the gifts on my kitchen table and fetched her from her room to see! I had never seen her so happy! A few weeks later she found Gloria in the shop and thanked her in person. These two extraordinary women really showed me what true kindness and compassion are, and the impression will stay with me for the rest of my life! Why did the girl from Tanzania seem a little unhappy? A) Because she had to stop her voluntary work. B) Because she had no money to buy food or other things. C) Because she had spent all her money on food and clothes. D) Because her friend in Tanzania maybe had to quit school for lack of money.
(Answer)
D
Question: A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans. There lay my house, reduced to waist-high rains, smelly and dirty. Before the trip, I'd had my car fixed. When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill, she noticed my Louisiana license plate. "You from New Orleans?" she asked. I said I was, "No charge." She said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet. The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing happened. As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage on our ruined house. We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory. We'd began to accept that we'd have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kemmedy in California. He'd read some pieces I'd written about our sufferings for state, the online magazine and wanted to give us ("no conditions attached") a new house across the lake from New Orleans. It sounded a good to her return, but I replied, thinking him for his exceptional generosity, then we to go back. Then the University of Florida offered to let him house to me. While he want to England on his one year, paid leave. The rent was rather reasonable. I mentioned the poet's offer to James Kemdedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months. Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity. It's almost worth losing you wordy possessions to be reminded that people really when given had a channel. Which would be the best title for the text? A) Terrible Hurricane Katrina. B) Hurricane Is Heartless While Strangers Are Kind. C) Study in Florida. D) The Importance of Helping Others.
Answer:
B