My father woke up early one summer morning when I was fourteen and announced, “Get up, you’re going with me to cut the grass in the garden.”
The idea that my father thought I was old enough to help him in his business made me feel proud and excited. From sunup to sundown, my father, my younger brother and I worked in the large garden. By the end of the day I was too tired to say a word but I felt happy. This was my first time to help my father in his business. I got $6 for my work that day.
One day my father found some leaves I had missed and pulled me aside. “Take away these leaves!” he said. “And don’t make me have to tell you to do it again.” The message was clear. Today I value the importance of doing job well the first time. I will never fail to impress (留下印象) the person I’m working for.
After two years, my father told me and my brother that he felt we were old enough to cut the grass by ourselves. Every Saturday during my last two years of high school, we set off early in the morning with the same wish we had gained while working under our father.
Looking after the garden was neither exciting nor high paying, but that didn’t matter. It taught me that any job was a good job and whatever I was paid was more than I had before.
A newspaper reporter once asked me how someone could possibly live with hard work and low pay. “If you’re only thinking about hard work and money, you probably don’t want to do better than you are doing,” I answered. In every job, from cutting the grass to washing dishes, I’ve learned much. I’ve learned something that helps me in my next job.
If you work hard enough, you can learn from any job you do.
7. The writer ______ from working in the garden.
A. learned to work hard to get money
B. found he could be well paid
C. felt he could impress others by working hard
D. learned any job was good though he might be paid less
8. When the writer finished high school, maybe he was ______ years old.
A. fourteen B. eighteen C. twenty D. twenty-two
9. The writer’s father was ______.
A. very strict but helpful
B. lazy and easy to get angry
C. careful and enjoyed working in the garden
D. funny and hard-working
10. Which is the most important to the writer according to the passage?
A. Finishing work as quickly as possible.
B. Asking no money for your work.
C. Keeping learning from any job you have.
D. Keeping on looking for different jobs.
It began with a red paper clip and ended with a house. Kyle MacDonald, a 26-year-old Canadian, got a three-bedroom house through 14 trades (交换) that started with a single red paper clip.
Encouraged by Kyle’s successful experience, now more and more young people around the world are starting their own trading activities. They set up websites where people can trade things they don’t usually use with other people. A website called Peerflix allows people to trade their used DVDs. These traders usually prefer face-to-face trading, which means they don’t have to worry about who is going to pay for the delivery (递送).
Last year, a young girl in Beijing decided to follow the example of Kyle. She started with a paper clip and hoped to get a house in the end. After several trades she now has a piano which is more than 10,000 yuan. But she may still have a long way to go.
You may be puzzled about why people are doing this. In fact, everyone in the trade activities gets things that are useful to them. Just as Kyle said, “What’s more important to a man dying of thirst in the desert — one million dollars or a glass of water?” Kyle’s words probably show why these trades are poplar among young people.
4. Where can people trade things they do not usually use according to the passage?
A. On the Internet. B. In Beijing. C. In Canada. D. In the desert.
5. Why are trading activities popular among young people?
A. Because they can make a lot of money by trading with other people.
B. Because the traders can get things that are useful to them.
C. Because young people love trading activities.
D. Because many young people want to get a house.
6. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. If you begin with a paper clip, you will finally get a house by trading.
B. A young girl in Beijing got a house through trading.
C. A glass of water is more important than one million dollars.
D. Many traders like face-to-face trading because they don’t have to pay for the delivery.
David came from a poor family. When he finished his high school, however, he was given a wonderful present. “Some of my friends got new clothes and a rich boy even got a new car,” he remembered, “My dad reached into his trousers pocket and took something out. I held out my hand, and his present dropped into it — a nickel (五分镍币).”
Dad said to me, “Buy a newspaper with that. Read every word of it. Then turn to the classified section (分类栏目) and get yourself a job. Get into the world. It’s all yours now.” I always thought that was a great joke my father had played on me until a few years later when I was in the army, sitting in a foxhole (战壕), and thinking about my family and my life. It was then that I realized that my friends had got only new cars, or only new clothes. My father had given me the whole world. What a great present!
1. When David left school, he received ______ as a present.
A. a new car B. new clothes C. a newspaper D. hardly anything
2. What did David become a few years later?
A. A college student. B. A rich person. C. A soldier. D. A newspaper reporter.
3. The title of the passage may be ______.
A. How to be a Soldier B. How to find a Job C. A Great Joke D. A Great Present
The bullet (子弹头) train D106 from Changsha to Shanghai has a short stop in Quzhou for only one minute.
Named 21 the letter D, the new trains run at speeds of 200 to 250 kilometers one hour. This is much 22 than Z-type and T-type trains. For example, it 23 take people 12 hours to travel from Shanghai to Beijing. But now it only 24 10. The most interesting part of the bullet trains is the revolving (旋转的) seats. People can adjust (调整) their seats as they like, so that it is 25 for you to talk with others around you face to face. The new trains run 26 big cities. They 27 the long trips much faster and more comfortable.
However, many passengers still won’t choose the bullet trains 28 some reasons. The ticket
29 of the bullet trains are much higher. For example, a hard seat ticket from Beijing to Jinan is only 90 yuan for T-type trains. But on the bullet trains all the seats are 30 . And they cost 153 to 184 yuan. On the other hand, the bullet trains don’t stop at small stations.
1.A. with B. begin C. at D. after
2.A. fast B. faster C. quickly D. slower
3.A. would B. will C. used to D. was used to
4.A. cost B. takes C. need D. spends
5.A. difficult B. hard C. easily D. easy
6.A. between B. among C. along D. around
7. A. get B. let C. make D. allow
8.A. because B. for C. since D. with
9. A. prices B. speeds C. costs D. seats
10.A. hard B. big C. expensive D. soft
The colours of his clothes are different from__________of yours．
A．one B．ones C．that D．those
The tourists are__________by the_________scenes of China．
A．amazed amazed B．amazing amazing
C．amazing amazed D．amazed amazing
