A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly，courteous and helpful most Americans were to them．To be fair，this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians，and should best be considered North American．There are，of course，exceptions．Small-minded officials，rude waiters，and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US．Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment．For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in 
an otherwise dull existence．
Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another．Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion，and brought news of the outside world．The harsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality．
Someone traveling alone，if hungry，injured，or ill，often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement．It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers．It reflected the harshness of daily life： if you didn‘t take in the stranger and take care of him，there was no one else who would．And someday，remember，you might be in the same situation．Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler．Yet，the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US，especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails．“I was just traveling through，got talking with this American，and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner—amazing．” Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon，but are not always understood properly．
1.In the eyes of visitors from the outside world，___________．
A．rude taxi drivers are rarely seen in the US
B．small-minded officials deserve a serious comment
C．Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors
D．most Americans are ready to offer help
2.It could be inferred from the last paragraph that ___________．
A．culture exercises an influence over social interrelationship
B．courteous convent
ion and individual interest are interrelated
C．various virtues manifest themselves 
exclusively among friends
D．social
interrelationships equal the complex set of cultural conventions
3.Families in frontier settlements used to entertain strangers ___________．
A．to improve their hard life
B．in view of their long-distance travel
C．to add some flavor to their own daily life
D．out of a charitable impulse
4.The tradition of hospitality to strangers ___________．
A．tends to be superficial and artificial
B．is generally well kept up in the united States
C．is always understood properly
D．has something to do with the busy tourist trails
5.What’s the author’s attitudes toward the American‘s friendliness？
A．Favorable． B．Unfavorable．
C．Indifferent． D．Neutral．
Cameron thought of himself as merely organized．He certainly did not consider that he took great pains over anything ,he did just enough to get it right．Exactly right, of course as he was fond of telling his staff, “if it’s not exactly right, it’s wrong”．Occasionally a worker might be sad on hearing these words, because it meant another hour or so of going over the same bit of work, correcting the mistakes which Cameron had patiently pointed out．And doing the corrections exactly right of
course．
Strangely enough ,his department had the reputation for performing the highest quality work in the company ,and it was seen, and not only by those who worked in the department ,as a sort of elite（出类拔萃）unit．Those programs that had to work first time, straight out of the box, Cameron’s men got those．“It’s mission（任务）critical—give it to Cameron” was almost a catch—phrase with his team．
It helped that Cameron was not merely particular about things．He wanted things done just so ,not because of a personal taste ,but because he had discovered through patient experimentation that this was the best way for it to be done．
1.Cameron was a ．
A．software programmer B．a chief scientist
C．quality controller D．head of department
2.“Mission-critical” work given to Cameron because ．
A．Cameron’s work was error—free B．Cameron was critical
C．he didn’t mind working late D．he had a good team
3.Working for Cameron, pe
ople felt that ．
A．they were part of an elite
B．their mission was critical
C．Cameron was very particular about things
D．Cameron was patient and responsible
4.According to the underlined part in paragraph 5,what is meant by someone “who couldn’t cut it”?
A．He didn’t cut corners． B．He wasn’t good enough．
C．He had the wrong measurements． 
D．He was a perfection．
5.What can we learn about Cameron?
A．He never got things Wrong．
B．He didn’t allow for any mistake．
C．He encouraged work to be done in office hours．
D．He was often misunderstood．
6.The attitude of the author towards Cameron is that of being ．
A．positive B．sympathetic
C．non-subjective D．optimistic
Lightning flashed through the darkness over Donald Lubeck’s bedroom skylight．The 80-year-old retired worker was shaken by a blast of thunder．It was 11 p．m．The storm had moved directly over his two-story wood home in the rural town of Belchertown, Massachusetts．Then he heard the smoke alarm beeping．Lubeck padded down the stairs barefoot and opened the door to the basement, and flames exploded out．
Lubeck fled back upstairs to call 119 from his bedroom ,but the phone didn’t work．Lubeck realized he was trapped．“I started panicking,” he says．
His daughter and young gra
nddaughters ,who lived with him ,were away for the night．No one will even know I’m home, he thought．His house was three miles off the main road and so well hidden by pines that Lubeck knew calling for help would be fruitless．
Up a hill about a third of a mile away lived Lubeck’s closest neighbors, Jeremie Wentworth and his wife．Wentworth had been lying down, listening to the radio when it occurred to him that the sound was more like a smoke detector．He jumped out of bed ,grabbed a cordless phone and a flashlight, and headed down the hillside toward the noise．
He dialed 119“Is anyone there?” he called out as he approached the house．Wentworth knew that Lubeck lived in the house．
Then he heard ,“Help me! I’m trapped!” coming from the balcony off Lubeck’s bedroom．
“I ran in and yelled, ‘Don, where are you ?’Then I had to run outside 
to catch my breath．”
After one more attempt inside the house, he gave up and circled around back．But there was no way to get to him．“I shined the flashlight into the woods next to an old shed and noticed a adder,” says Wentworth．He dragged it over to the balcony and pulled Lubeck down just as the second floor of the house collapsed．
Wentworth and Lubeck don’t run into each other regularly, but Lubeck now knows that if he ever needs help
,Wentworth will be there．
Lubeck still cho
kes up when he tells the story．“I was alone,”he says．“Then I heard the most beautiful sound in my life．It was Jeremie．”
1.According to the text ,Lubeck ．
A．stayed calm in the fire B．couldn’t find a safe way out
C．lived on the first floor D．called for help in the fire
2.How did Wentworth help Lubeck escape?
A．He called 911．
B．He went upstairs and took Lubeck out．
C．He put out the fire
D．He used a ladder and pulled lubeck down
．
3.Which of the following factor
s was not mentioned in the text that 
almost caused Lubeck’s life?
A．He was living in his wood home alone that night．
B．The storm was too heavy and the fire was too fierce．
C．He lived far from the main road and was surrounded by pines．
D．He was too frightened to escape from the danger．
4.What does the text mainly talk about?
A．A near neighbour is better than a distant cousin．
B．A good way to get a narrow escape．
C．God helps those who help themselves．
D．Blood is thicker than water．
I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in Atlantic City and landing on my head．Now I am thirty two．I can slightly remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is．It woul
d be wonderful to see again, but a calamity（灾难） can do strange things to people．It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn't been blind．I believe in life now．I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply, otherwise．I don't mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes．I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left．
The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself．That was basic．If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life．When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone．That is part of it．But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate（错综复杂的） pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit．
It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance．It had to start with the simplest things．Once a man gave me an indoor baseball．I thought he was making fun of me and I was hurt．"I can't use this．" I said．"Take it with you," he urged me, "and roll it around．" The words stuck in my head．"Roll it around! "By rolling the ball I could hear where it went．This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball．At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball．We called it ground ball．
All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time．I had to learn my limitations．It was no good trying for something that I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure．I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress．
1.We can learn from the beginning of the passage that _______
A．the author lost his sight because of a car crash．
B．the author wouldn't love life if the disaster didn't happen．
C．the disaster made the author appreciate what he had．
D．the disaster strengthened the author's desire to see．
2.What's the most difficult thing for the author?
A．
How to adjust himself to reality．
B．Building up assurance that he can find his place in life．
C．Learning to manage his life alone．
D．How to invent a successful variation of baseball．
3.According to the context, “a chair rocker on the front porch” in paragraph 3 means that the author __________
A．would sit in a rocking chair and enjoy his life．
B．would be unable to move and stay in a rocking chair．
C．would lose his will to struggle against difficulties．
D．would sit in a chair and stay at home．
4.According to the passage, the baseball and encourag
ement offered by the man _____
A．hurt the author's feeling．
B．gave the author a deep impression．
C．directly led to the invention of ground ball．
D．inspired the author．
5.What is the best title for the passage?
A．A Miserable Life
B．Struggle Against Difficulties
C．A Disaster Makes a Strong Person
D．An Unforgettable Experience
Streit was an experienced safecracker who never used force—either against people or safes．He was a real of his trade and it took him only 19 minutes to open the most difficult he had ever met．In about 10 years， by his brother Stefan，he took about 33,000,000—from the safes of 28 banks 
in Austria．On his last job，he the safe door open and 80,000 behind．With the was a note，“We don't need all that much”．A witness his car and Streit was caught by the police．Then he was sent to Austria's Stein Prison to serve a six-year ．He boasted（吹嘘）at his trial that he would c
ontinue the law, “I'm a thief and I shall use every opportunity.” In spite of the prison officials moved Streit to the prison's blacksmith shop．One day during the week before Christmas，Streit ．Searchers found all his doors were well locked．Streit had to make a set of keys and let himself out．Not to ，though．After crossing into Bavaria，Streit the suspicion（怀疑）of German customs police on purpose and got himself ．“I want to be in a German prison, ”he to the surprised police．“As German coups give much milder（温和的）sentences for like mine and will the time I would otherwise have served in Stein Prison．”In prison，Streit his keepers to let him telephone his former keeper, Karl Schreiner of Stein Prison．“I'm sorry I caused trouble．I didn't want to anybody by escaping．Conditions wer
en't that bad．In fact the food was better than it is here．”
1.A．dancer B．artist C．composer D．musician
2.A．safe B．bank 
C．prison D．door
3.A．offered B．trained C．respected D．helped
4.A．made B．broke C．left D．removed
5.A．safe B．money C．door D．job
6.A．rode B．stole C．broke D．recognized
7.A．sentence B．holiday C．freedom D．treatment
8.A．obeying B．respecting C．breaking D．destroying
9.A．sentence B．warning C．trial D．suggestion
10.A．survived B．starved C．disappeared D．worked
11.A．tried B．decided C．expected D．managed
12.A．safety B．prison C．hometown D．freedom
13.A．offered B．attracted C．removed D．admired
14.A．arrested B．relaxed C．recognized D．encouraged
15.A．went B．lied 
C．explained D．negotiated
16.A．mistakes B．robbery C．money D．crimes
17.A．multiply B．reduce C．add D．lose
18.A．cheated B．expected C．persuaded D．helped
19.A．if B．but C．for D．though
20.A．injure B．steal C．accuse D．embarrass
A noted American psychologist once remarked that childhood is a magical period in one’s life．Indeed it is, for during one undergoes a step-by-step transformation not only in mental capacity, but also in physical and verbal skills．Each step an increase in the difficulty of a child’s conceptual and learning abilities．During the early stages of childhood, from infancy to about five, the child learns skills including using the toilet, bathing and dressing himself independently．At this stage, he also learns to be very observant, curious, imaginative and creative．His ability to remember things also at this stage． He remembers details that an adult may have difficulty in r
emembering．Gradually , he learns elementary skills in problem-solving．At school, particular in classes, the child is especially creative．Given a piece of paper and some colored pencils, he draws a variety of from his surroundings as well as from his circle．It is not surprising to see a child draw a monster to represent an abusive father, and an angel to represent a loving and caring mother．
As he graduates to the later stages of childhood bordering on the teenage years, the child learns the of human relations and socialization by interacting with his peers—his friends and schoolmates． He also learns to with new life situations, including dates and part-time work． Given a tight schedule of schoolwork, the child learns to prepare his own schedules of work and play; the more________ and less serious ones manage to take time out of their busy schedules of assignments, reports and tests and examinations to go with their friends on relaxation entertainment．
1.A．adolescence B．adulthood C．childhood D．infancy
2.A．signsB．pre
sentsC．preventsD．signals
3.A．difficultB．simpleC．usefulD．helpful
4.A．developsB．increasesC．reducesD．strengthens
5.A．music B．artC．chemistryD．biology
6.A．picturesB．buildingsC．reflectionsD．images
7.A．familyB．schoolC．teacherD．friend
8.A．competenceB．commitmentC．complexityD．competition
9.A．agreeB．experimentC．withdrawD．concern
10.A．practical B．cautiousC．enthusiasticD．stubborn
