My House My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That's why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. "For just the two of us," my mother said, "an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better." Personally, I think she's lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me? I suppose if you looked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass--I couldn't wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (, ) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small tree house, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before Father's death. This house is special--maybe only to me--but special nevertheless. It's the little seemingly insignificant things that make this house so special to me: the ice-cold tile floors that make me tremble on midnight snack runs; the smell of my father's pipe that still exists; the towering bookcases of my mother; the view outside my bedroom window. This house holds too many memories, memories which would be lost if we gave it up. My mother moved a lot when she was growing up because of _ . A) Grandpa being in the army. B) their family's liking moving C) the life's need D) Mother's work
A
(Question)
"Take your time," Mr. Ballou encouraged."Read, borrow, and keep.Find something you like.What do you read?" "Pick for me, then." I said. He looked up and down at me as though measuring me for a suit.After a moment, he nodded, and handed me a dark red book, fairly thick. "The Last of the Just," I read."By Andre Schwarz-Bart.What's it about?" "You tell me," he said."Next week." I started after supper, sitting outdoors on an uncomfortable kitchen chair Within a few pages, the yard, the summer, disappeared.Translated from French, the language was beautiful, simple, impossible to resist.When the evening light finally failed I moved inside, read all through the night. To this day, thirty years later, I clearly remember the experience.It was my first meeting with world literature, and I was amazed by the strong power a novel contain.I lacked the vocabulary, however, to translate my feelings into words, so the next week, when Mr. Ballou asked,"Well?"I only replied, "It was good." "Keep it, then,"he said."Shall I suggest another?" I nodded, and was presented with Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa. To make the story short, Mr. Ballou never paid me a cent for helping cut his grass that year or the next, but for fifteen years I taught anthroplogy at Dartmouth College.That summer when I started to read became a turning point in my life which change the course of all that followed. The purpose of the writer is to _ . A) inform us of the importance of reading B) share with us his experience of reading C) persuade more people to read in summer D) express his sincere thanks to Mr. Ballou
(Answer)
B
Ques: When he was driving home one evening on a country road,he saw an old lady,stranded on the side of the road.He stopped in front of her car and got out.Even with the smile on his face,she was worried.He looked poor and hungry.He knew how she felt.He said,"I am here to help you,madam.Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Joe." She had a flat tire.Joe crawled under the car,changed the tire.But he got dirty and his hands hurt.She could not thank him enough and asked him how much she owed him.He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back,the next time she saw someone who needed help,she could give that person the assistance they needed,and Joe added,"And think of me." She drove off.A few miles down the road the lady saw a small restaurant.She went in.The waitress had a sweet smile,and was nearly eight months pregnant .The old lady wondered how someone like her who seemed poor could be so kind to a stranger.Then she remembered Joe.After the lady finished her meal,the waitress went to get her change from a hundred--dollar bill.But she stepped right out the door. When the waitress came back,she noticed something written on a napkin,"I am helping you because someone once helped me.If you really want to pay me back,here's what you do---Do not let the chain of love end with you." That night when she got home,she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written.She and her husband needed money with the baby due next month.She knew how worried her husband was,and as he lay sleeping next to her,she whispered,"Everything's going to be all right.I love you,Joe." At the restaurant, the lady _ A) received good service B) had an expensive meal C) told the waitress Joe's story D) met another poor guest
Ans: A
The crowd at the airport flowed forward. The passengers had been waiting for a couple of hours for an airline employee to open the door leading to the plane outside. No one was in a good mood. An old man got trapped in the middle of the rush. He fell down without being able to break his fall. His head hit the concrete floor. Blood poured from his forehead. He appeared to be unconscious. Everyone rushed past him, except Dana. She called for help. A minute later, a young airline employee showed up. Hardly looking at the old man, she told Dana to get aboard her plane. She said the old man would be okay, and walked away. Dana screamed for help. An airport supervisor appeared. He told Dana to get on the plane. Dana said that she was not moving until an ambulance arrived. The supervisor said her plane would leave without her. Dana said that she didn't care. An ambulance and two attendants finally arrived. The attendants said that the man would be okay, but he would need stitches . They put him into the ambulance and drove off. On her way out to the plane, which was still refueling, Dana saw the employee who had ignored the old man at first. The employee said, "You're lucky. The plane didn't leave without you." "The plane?" Dana asked. "Who cares about the plane? How could you be so cold? That was an old man; he could have been your grandfather! How would you like it if everyone just stepped over your grandfather and went on their way?" What does the story mainly tell us about Dana? A) She works as a young airline employee. B) She was waiting for a plane with her grandfather. C) She was the only person who helped the old man. D) She knows how to do first aid to an old man.
C