Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. “I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school.”
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6 a.m. five nights a week for just £90, before tax and insurance. “It’s better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours’ should get a bit extra.”
The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. “I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful.”
The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. “Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself——and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags.”
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living. “They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write,” said Margaret. “I used to think what_my_parents_would_say_if_they_knew_what_I'd_been_doing,_but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it.”
1.Margaret quit her job as a nurse because________
A.she wanted to earn more money to support her family
B.she had suffered a lot of mental pressure
C.she felt tired of taking care of patients
D.she needed the right time to look after her children
2.Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because________.
A.they never clean their offices
B.they look down upon cleaners
C.they always make a mess in their offices
D.they never do their work carefully
3.When at work, Margaret feels________.
A.Lighthearted because of her fellow workers
B.happy because the building is fully lit
C.tired because of the heavy workload
D.bored because time passed slowly
4.The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would________.
A.help care for her children
B.regret what they had said
C.show sympathy for her
D.feel disappointed in her
When I was in the 8th grade in Ohio, a girl named Helen in my class had a terrible accident. As she was 36 to the bus in order not to miss it, she slipped on the ice and fell under the back wheels of the bus. She 37 the accident but was paralyzed from the waist down. I went to see her, in my 13-year-old 38 thinking that she wouldn’t live 39 from then on.
Over the years, I 40 and didn’t think much about Helen after that. Three years ago, in Florida, my oldest son was hit by a car while riding his bike, 41 a terrible brain injury. While I was looking after my son, a lady who said she was the hospital’s social worker called. It was a (an) 42 trying day. I burst into tears for no reason and rang 43 .
A short time 1ater, a beautiful woman, in a wheelchair, 44 into my son’s room with a box of 45 . After 16 years, I still 46 Helen. She smiled, handed me the tissues and hugged me. I told her who I was, and after we both went through the shock of that, she began to tell me about 47 since we last saw each other. She married, had children and got her degree so that she 48 the path for those people who were less 49 than her. She told me that if there was anything she could give me, it would be 50 .
Looking at this wonderful, giving person, I felt 51 . But I also felt the first hope I had since learning that my son was 52 . From this person that I thought would have no 53 of life, I learned that where there is life, there is hope. My son miraculously 54 and we moved north, but I owe Helen 55 that I can never repay.
1. A.walking B.riding C.running D.driving
2. A.lived B.survived C.existed D.escaped
3. A.mind B.brain C.head D.thought
4. A.equally B.calmly C.quietly D.normally
5. A.studied B.moved C.worked D.1ived
6. A.suffering B.causing C.bearing D.catching
7. A.normally B.particularly C.necessarily D.eventually
8. A.up B.off C.back D.down
9. A.ran B.walked C.rolled D.moved
10. A.tissues B.presents C.pills D.candies
11. A.realized B.knew C.recognized D.reminded
12. A.her life B.her son C.her family D.her work
13. A.cleared B.smoothed C.cleaned D.opened
14. A.rich B.healthy C.strong D.fortunate
15. A.money B.hope C.pity D.medicine
16. A.small B.pitiful C.weak D.shameless
17. A.admitted B.beaten C.hurt D.hospitalized
18. A.use B.value C.meaning D.quality
19. A.treated B.worsened C.relieved D.recovered
20. A.some money B.some tissues C.a debt D.a hope
-----John hit me, Mum!
------__________. You shouldn’ t have been that rude to him.
A.You are as strong as a horse B.Forget it
C.You are as cool as a cucumber D.It serves you right
With more forests being destroyed, huge quantities of good earth __________ each year, which __________ that our environment is suffering.
A.are washing away, suggest
B.is being washed away, suggest
C.have been washed away, suggests
D.are being washed away, suggests
It is known to us __________ it was not until 1938 ________ the first colour TV programme began to be broadcast in the world.
A.that, which B./, / C.that, that D.which, that
In China when caught, those corrupt(腐败的) officials are sometimes limited to __________ in a certain place, only __________ their problems within an appointed time(规定的时间).
A.living, to report B.living, reporting
C.live, reporting D.live, to report