Two children stood outside the door with old coats. “Any old papers, Lady?” asked one of them.
I was busy. I wanted to say no, but I saw that their shoes were broken and wet. “Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot tea.” They came in, saying nothing. Their shoes left snow on the floor.
I gave them tea and bread to protect them against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started my housework again.
The silence in the front room surprised me. I looked in.
The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked me in a low voice, “Lady, are you rich?”
Am I rich? Oh, no! I looked at my old things in my room.
The girl put her cup back in its saucer(茶碟) carefully. “Your cups match your saucers.”
They left then, holding their papers against the wind. They hadn’t said thank you. They didn’t need to. They had done more than that. The blue cups and saucers were simple. But they said that they matched. The potatoes and meat before me, a roof over our hands, my husband with a job—these things matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The prints of their small shoes were still wet on my floor. I let them be. I wanted them there to remind me how rich I was.
1.The writer let the two children in _________.
A. to offer them some warm clothesB. to serve them tea and food
C. to sell them some old papersD. to show them how rich she was.
2.We can learn from the passage that_______.
A. the writer was in fact not very rich
B. the children took away many old papers
C. the writer’s husband was out of work
D. the two children were looking for a job
3. It can be inferred(推断) from the passage that _______.
A. it was snowing outside when the story happened
B. the two children thanked the writer and then left
C. the two children were not polite to the writer
D. the writer had a set of new furniture in her house
4.The underlined sentence “I let them be” means “_________”.
A. I dislike themB. I didn’t want to see them
C. I cleaned themD. I left them there
5. What’s the best title of the passage?
A. Any Old Papers? B. Matching Cups and Saucers
C. Are You Rich? D. Two Poor Children
I was recently invited to dinner by a friend. During the meal, the manager came over and said that our meal was free. He stood there at me, he seemed to know me. I asked if he knew me. He laughed and said I had probably him, but I had changed his life. He said that twelve years ago he was in stress management class. I asked the group what their number one stress was and of them, including him, said it was their .
He said I listened carefully and then took a chair and placed it in the center of the room. I on the chair for a few minutes and then I invited everyone to do the same. I wanted them to look at the room from there. After everyone had done it, I asked the group to think about how the room looked when they changed their perspective(角度).
Then I asked them to their bosses. Was this the same person who had seen their good and hired them? Do they remember how happy they were to be for the job? How did these wonderful people become terrible bosses?
He said I looked at him and asked if he had said thank you to his boss for the opportunity to make a living. He answered no.
He told me his changed that night. He went back to work with a card to his boss. He had been the manager for 8 years. He said he owed it all to me: I had taught him to look at life from different perspectives and I had taught him to express gratitude.
1.A. shoutingB. smiling C. lookingD. knocking
2.A. Suddenly B. LuckilyC. FinallyD. Firstly
3.A. rememberedB. seen C. dislikedD. forgotten
4.A. their B. ourC. hisD. my
5.A. moreB. most C. fewD. fewer
6.A. teachersB. wives C. bossesD. children
7.A. stoodB. sat C. walkedD. rested
8.A. down B. rightC. leftD. up
9.A. special B. different C. strangeD. same
10.A. miss B. considerC. like D. thank
11.A. qualities B. tastes C. looks D. skills
12.A. found B. refused C. chosen D. trained
13.A. neverB. alwaysC. sometimesD. ever
14.A. lifeB. luckC. salary D. job
15.A. sorry B. post C. thank-youD. greeting
--Hi, Bob. Long time no see. ____? --I've just bought a new car. It's great.
A. What's new B. What's wrong
C. How are you D. What about you
Maria’s teacher wanted to know______ .
A. how long she spends on her homework
B. when the speech will begin
C. why didn’t Mike come to the meeting
D. what she was doing these days
— Hi, Jack. What’s that on the desk?
— Oh, it’s the new backpack my mom gave me for my birthday.
A. when B. what
C. which D. where
— ______do millions of online users visit the home page of the government for?
— To read the news and search for the information they need.
A. When B. Where
C. Why D. What
