高中英语故事类阅读试题

One day, when I was working as a psychologist in England, an adolescent boy showed up in my office. It was David. He kept walking up and down restlessly, his face pale, and his hands shaking slightly. His head teacher had referred him to me. "This boy has lost his family," he wrote. "He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others, and I'm very worried about him. Can you help?"
I looked at David and showed him to a chair. How could I help him? There are problems psychology doesn't have the answer to, and which no words can describe. Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and sympathetically.
The first two times we met David didn't say a word. He sat there, only looking up to look at the children’s drawings on the wall behind me. I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon - in complete silence and without looking at me. It's not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why did he never look at me?
"Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with," I thought. "Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering." Some months later, when we were playing chess, he looked up at me suddenly.
"It's your turn," he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times about his biking with some friends, and about his plan to get into university. Now he had really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something. But I also learned that one - without any words – can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, and an ear that listens.
When he first met the author, David________.

A．felt a little excited

B．walked energetically

C．looked a little nervous

D．showed up with his teacher

As a psychologist, the author_______.

A．was ready to listen to David

B．was skeptical about psychology

C．was able to describe David's problem

D．was sure of handling David's problem

David enjoyed being with the author because he ______.

A．wanted to ask the author for advice

B．needed to share sorrow with the author

C．liked the children's drawings in the office

D．beat the author many times in the chess game

What can be inferred about David?

A．He recovered after months of treatment.

B．He liked biking before he lost his family.

C．He went into university soon after starting to talk.

D．He got friends in school before he met the author.

What made David change?

A．His teacher's help.

B．The author's friendship.

C．His exchange of letters with the author.

D．The author's silent communication with him.

Three Japanese tourists taking a holiday in Australia got stuck when their GPS told them they could drive from the mainland to an island, failing to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud in between.
As they drove their hired car from Moreton Bay to nearby North Stradbroke Island, they started to notice the firm surface they were driving on giving way to the well-known bay mud. However, being confident that their GPS would direct them to a road soon, they decided to drive on, managing to travel around 500 metres before their car was up to its tires in mud. To make matters worse, the tide(潮汐) started to come in and soon forced them to seek help and abandon the vehicle. Just four hours later the car was trapped in two metres of water — to the great amusement of onlookers on the shore and passengers on passing boats and ferries.
Yuzu Noda, 21, said she was listening to the GPS and “it told us we could drive down there. It kept saying it would navigate(导航) us to a road. But we got stuck…there’s lots of mud.” She and her travel companions Tomonari Saeki, 22, and Keita Osada, 21, instead had to give up their plans for a day trip to the island and headed back to the Gold Coast of a lift from the RACQ tow truck(吊车) driver who was called to the trapped car. No such luck for the hired car though – after assessing the situation, no attempt was made to recover it. The students from Tokyo, who are due to return home tomorrow, said the experience would not put them off returning to Australia for another visit. Mr. Tomonari said, “It has rained every day on our six day holiday. Hopefully next time we come back, it will be sunny.”
The car was covered by insurance, but the tourists will have to pay up to about $1500 in extra charges.
The three Japanese tourists got stuck because___________.

A．there was no way to the island

B．their GPS was broken during their journey

C．their GPS had given the wrong information

D．their car was not made in Japan

They didn’t abandon their car until _________.

A．some onlookers went to save them

B．they got stuck in the mud

C．there came the tide

D．they managed to travel around 500 metres

How did these Japanese students get back?

A．They had to walk back to their living place.

B．They had to take a lift from the tow truck driver.

C．They had to repair their GPS and drove back.

D．They had to turn to passengers on boats and ferries.

October 21 was a very dark day in Texas．Not only did Hurricane Hanna destroy homes，it caused the largest business damage in Texas’s history．The worst thing is Hanna’s destructive force nearly wiped out most power poles and power lines．According to Center Point Energy，Hurricane Hanna affected 2．15 million customers．Currently, more than 4，000 of them are still in the dark．Crews have worked 16-hour shifts to restore power to residents．
Most of Houston seems to be returning to normal．Schools，restaurants，retail stores and gas stations are open．Smiles are back．But harder-hit places，including Galveston，will take much longer to recover. Hundreds of people are still missing，and coastal towns are a mess．Some ruins from storm have drifted south to other beaches in Texas．Several public schools in Galveston are closed due to water damage．Parents are registering kids in other area schools which are scheduled to begin class on November 13．Many school supplies were destroyed．
Clara Barton Village is an emergency shelter located at Alamo Elementary School in Galveston，Texas．This is where Paula Reed and her family are staying．Believe it or not，Paula Reed and her family consider this hurricane a blessing．When Paula was a girl，she was an orphan，but was taken in by her stepmom，Antonia Flores．Reed lost contact with Flores and had been trying desperately to locate her for the past few years．Before the hurricane，Reed and her family moved away from Galveston to a San Antonio shelter．There，she reunited with Flores after 30 long years! The moment they saw each other, their lives were changed．
What’s the most serious damage caused by Hurricane Hanna?

A．Hundreds of people are still missing．

B．A large number of people are homeless．

C．Power facilities are severely destroyed．

D．Factories are closed and many people jobless．

It can be inferred that the residents in Houston________．

A．have fully recovered from the disaster

B．were the most unlucky people in the disaster

C．need a long time to bring their life back to normal

D．suffered less from Hanna than people in Galveston

Kids in public schools in other areas of Houston will have to stay at home for_______

A．at least one month	B．at least three weeks
C．two weeks at most	D．nearly half a month

Paula Reed and her family consider the hurricane a blessing because_______

A．they had nothing lost after Hurricane Hanna

B．they lived a happier life in San Antonio shelter

C．Paula was taken good care of in the shelter

D．Paula reunited with her stepmother after three decades

John Nash，a Nobel Prize winner and a mathematical genius whose struggle with mental illness was documented in the Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind，was killed in a car accident on May 24th, 2015.
Born in West Virginia, Nash displayed a keenness for mathematics early in life，independently proving Femret's little theorem（定理）before graduating from high school. By the time he turned 30 in 1958，he was an unquestionable academic celebrity. At Princeton, Nash published a 27-page thesis that led to applications to economics，international politics, and evolutionary biology
His signature solution-known as a "Nash Equilibrium（纳什均衡）”-found that competition among two opponents，not necessarily governed by zero-sum logic. Two opponents can, for instance，each achieve their maximum objectives through cooperating with the other, or gain nothing at all by refusing to cooperate. It is now regarded as one of the most important social science ideas in the 20th century.
In the late 1950s, Nash began a slide into mental illness. By the time Nash was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994, he hadn't published a paper in 36 years. But like a child cured of a nightmare by the switch of a light, Nash recovered from his illness seemingly by choosing not to be sick anymore. He continued to work, travel，and speak at conferences for the rest of his life.
In 2001，the release of the film A Beautiful Mind，based an Sylvia Nasar’s 1998 book of the same name，introduced Nash's unusual life story to an international audience
John Nash passed away because of__________

A．a mental illness	B．overwork
C．a traffic accident	D．starvation

According to“Nash Equilibrium"，what will happen if  two opponents refuse to cooperate?

A．They will get nothing at all.

B．They will get what they really want

C．'They will lose the support from each other

D．They will achieve their maximum objectives.

Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．John Nash's Sudden Death

B．John Nash's Extraordinary life

C．John Nash's Equilibrium

D．John Nash's Mental illness.

After the Summer Olympics are over, when all the athletics have gone home and the television audience has switched off, another group of athletics and fans will arrive at the host city, and another competition will begin．These are the Paralympics, the games for athletes with a disability．But in Beijing in 2008, for the first time, one of the greatest Paralympics will not be taking part．
She is a British athlete by the name of Tanni Grey-Thormpson．Born with spina bifida （脊椎裂） which left her paralyzed from the waist down．Tanni used a wheelchair from the age of 7．At first, she was not keen on sport, apart from horse-riding, which gave her a sense of freedom．But in her teens, she started taking sports more seriously．She tried swimming, basketball and tennis．Eventually
she found athletics, and never looked back．
Indeed, Tanni’s athletic career took off．In 1984, when she was 15, she pulled off a surprise victory in the 100metres at the Junior National Wheelchair Games．
In 1988, Tanni went to her first Paralympic Games in Seoul．She won bronze in the 400 metres．Even greater success followed at the 1992 Barcelona．Paralympics．Tanni won gold in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres relay, setting two world records in the process．In the same year she achieved the first of her six London Wheelchair Marathon victories．
Tanni’s enduring success had been part motivation（动机）, part preparation, “The training I do that enables me to be a good sprinter（短跑运动员） enables me to be good at a marathon too．I train 50 weeks of the year and that keeps me prepared for whatever distance I want to race．I am still competing at a very high lever, but as I get older things get harder and I want to retire before I fall apart．”
Indeed Tanni retired finally after the Visa Paralympic World Cup in 2007．Her wish is to coach young athletes for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games．
In spite of ups and downs, she never take her fate lying down．In her splendid life, she has won an amazing eleven gold medals, four silvers and one bronze in series of Paralympics--- a top lever athletic career covering two decades．She has won the London Wheelchair Marathon six times, more than any other competitor, and she has set over thirty world records．
What advice does she have for young athletes? “Work hard at your studies, and then train, train and train again．”
Which of the following sports did Tanni like before thirteen?

A．Basketball	B．Swimming．
C．Tennis．	D．Horse-riding．

When did Tanni win her first Olympic gold medal?

A．In 1984．	B．In 1988．
C．In 1992．	D．In 2007．

The underlined word “that” in the 5th paragraph refers to _______．

A．fifty weeks’ training

B．being a good sprinter

C．training almost every day

D．part motivation and part preparation

What’s the right order of the events related to Tanni?
a．She works as a coach．
b．She took up athletics．
c．She won four gold medals in Barcelona．
d．She competed in her first Paralympic Games．
e．She achieved a victory in her first London Wheelchair Marathon．

A．b,d,c,e,a	B．a,d,b,c,e
C．a,d,c,e,b	D．b,d,a,e,c

What can we learn from Tanni’s success?

A．Union is strength．

B．Never too late to learn．

C．Well begun is half done．

D．No pains, no gains．

阅读理解
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
He is only 12 years old but Utkarsh Tripathi brings out a handwritten newspaper every week on matters like the environment. He does all this to satisfy his wish to “serve the country”. A Class 8 student of the Brij Bihari Sahai Inter College in Allahabad, Utkarsh has been bringing out the newspaper Jagriti for the last one year. And for the four-page, black-and-white newspaper, Utkarsh not only takes the role of a reporter, editor and publisher, but also gives it free of charge.
Jagriti has about 150 readers belonging to various age groups in Allahabad, some 200 km from the state capital Lucknow. “Children make up major Jagriti readers ... my school friends, my seniors in school, teachers and also my neighbours,” he said.
According to Utkarsh’s father Hari Prasad, who runs a coaching institute, his son has a gift for writing and wants to serve the country in some way.
“More than two years ago, he began to read articles in Hindi Daily. One day he said that he wanted to start serving society from his school life itself. I then suggested why not work like a journalist and make people know their rights,” he added. Utkarsh took the suggestion seriously and came up with Jagriti. “I try to cover social issues about environment, women foeticide and others in the editorial section, and also information about public welfare plans and important government policies for the betterment of the poor or children.” Utkarsh said.
Jagriti also has successful stories of scientists, political leaders and other outstanding people.But how does he get time from his studies to bring out a weekly newspaper? “I believe if anyone is passionate about something, he or she can take out some time to realize his dream.” Utkarsh replied.
Utkarsh’s efforts are much appreciated by people in Allahabad. Nutan Devi, a local journalist, said, “For me it’s real journalism …It has renewed the objective (宗旨) of journalism that seems to have now got lost somewhere.”
According to the text, Utkarsh Tripathi _____.

A．made the first newspaper about two years ago

B．is learning journalism at a college in Allahabad

C．wants to contribute to society

D．lives in Allahabad, the state capital

Who are most likely to be interested in Jagriti? 

A．Adults, especially the elderly.

B．Local journalists.

C．Children, especially Utkarsh’s schoolmates.

D．Women around Utkarsh.

What is the role of the last paragraph?

A．To prove Utkarsh does a good job.

B．To tell us what true journalism is.

C．To encourage us to follow Utkarsh’s example.

D．To show the different opinions on what Utkarsh does.

Directions：Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
Death is a serious theme worthy of great poets．For example, John Keats’s ‘When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be’ and John Donne’s ‘Death, Be Not Proud’ both discuss death in reflective ways．However, the imagery(意象) in these poems shows that while Keats believes that death can only destroy, Donne believes that death can be overcome.
Keats is afraid of death, because to him death means the loss of those things that make his life worth living: ‘On the shore/ of the wide world I stand alone, and think/ Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.’ Earlier in the poem, Keats says that he hopes this ‘Love’ will be a ‘high romance’ with a ‘fair creature.’ He also says that he hopes the ‘Fame’ he seeks will be the result of the ‘high piled books’ produced by his ‘crowded brain.’ In other words, Keats’s fear is that death is a ‘nothingness’ that will arrive before he can finish his life’s work or find his true love.
Donne has a different attitude toward death, and so the imagery in his poem is different, too．To Donne, death should ‘be not proud,’ because it is not ‘mighty and dreadful.’ Unlike Keats, Donne sees death as weak and merely a ‘slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men.’ He also says that death is like ‘rest and sleep’．Donne believes that we will all wake from the sleep of death to everlasting life, just as we wake from our normal sleep to our everyday lives．In fact, Donne believes that it is death itself that will die: ‘One short sleep past, we wake forever,/ And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.’
Keats and Donne both know that death is a prat of life, and both poets use powerful imagery to talk about that difficult theme．The differences in this imagery show two very different attitudes toward the subject, one of which is much more positive than the other．Which poet to believe is up to the reader to decide.
Not surprisingly, the readers’ own experiences may play a part in the way they respond to these poets’ approaches．Like the two poets and their beliefs, contemporary readers also may be divided on the subject．This may explain why Keats’s and Donne’s poetry remains fascinating years after their won deaths.
According to the passage, ________ makes Keats’s life worth living.

A．expressing his grand passion for poetry

B．walking on the shore with a pretty lady

C．defeating nothingness with his true love

D．pursuing the fame of being a romantic poet

In Donne’s poems he believes that death is ________ .

A．generally powerful and terrible

B．only a ceaseless sleep

C．merely the loss of work and love

D．hardly worth the fear

Contemporary readers may view the two poets’ serious subject differently because ________.

A．they are attracted to the two poets’ everlasting opposite beliefs

B．they are divided naturally by their positive or negative personalities

C．their own life experiences affect the understandings of the poems

D．their preferences for the poets’ strong imageries are various

Which of the following best describes the main writing style of the passage?

A．Analysis．

B．Argument．

C．Comparison．

D．Reasoning.

Gregory Kloehn digs through dustbins every day, but not for the reason that most people would think．He isn’t homeless．In fact he is trying to help the homeless.
Gregory began his life as a sculptor．But he often felt that his sculptures, which just stood in rich people’s houses for years, lacked a meaningful purpose．So in 201l he decided to put his artistic energies into creating homes to sell—not ordinary homes but small structures built entirely from recycled materials.
The thought of creating homes for the homeless didn’t occur to him until the year 2013, when a homeless couple asked him for a tarp(防水布)．Instead of a tarp, Gregory offered them something better: a small home with a water tank, a kitchen and a trap for waste．They were so grateful that Gregory decided to focus his efforts on helping house the homeless population in his city．And soon his “Homeless Homes Project” was started.
Before starting a new home, Gregory, goes hunting for materials by digging through dustbins．Everything he finds is usable—refrigerator doors become house doors; washing machine doors often serve as windows, and the tops of cars become strong roofs．He put wheels at the bottom for users to move their homes around easily．Each home takes two to three days to make．
So far Gregory has donated dozens of homes to the city’s most needy．While his small low-cost mobile homes are not the final solution to the problem of homelessness, they are really practical and do provide a warm and safe place for the homeless to stay in．They are simply a way for one man to do something nice for those in need of some help.
Gregory has written a book titled Homeless Architecture, where he explains techniques to build those homes and he is now working on weekend workshops．“A lot of people who hear about what I’m doing want to get involved,” he said． “Maybe we can meet someplace and put a couple of homes together.”
Why did Gregory turn from making sculptures to creating homes?

A．He had no home to live in．

B．He had to make more money.

C．He lost interest in sculpture.

D．He wanted to help the homeless.

The author mentions the story in Paragraph 3 to tell us____________.

A．Gregory’s small homes were popular among the homeless

B．how Gregory got the idea of “Homeless Homes Project”

C．the homeless couple asked Gregory to produce more homes

D．housing the homeless in a city was not an easy task

What can we conclude from Paragraph 4?

A．Gregory has great trouble hunting for materials for his small houses．

B．It takes Gregory a long time to produce a home．

C．Gregory’s work requires imagination and creativity

D．Everything in the dustbins will be used in Gregory’s work．

What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Gregory’s project will help more homeless people.

B．Gregory doesn’t need to make small homes now．

C．Gregory’s work will completely solve the homelessness problem．

D．A single person can make no difference to social problems．

When Peng Liyuan stepped off the plane in Moscow，the whole world wanted to know who dressed the elegant first lady．The reporter released the secret—Ma Ke．
Peng Liyuan has been wearing Ma Ke's designs for more than a decade，a fact that was only highlighted recently when she was on her first state visitaccompanying her husband President Xi Jinping．The elegant and attractive Peng，formerly a popular singer，has been compared with the US' first lady Michelle Obama and France's Carla Bruni­Sarkozy，since stepping off the airplane in Moscow on March 22.Suddenly，everyone was curious to know more about the first lady's wardrobe．
Even so，Ma prefers a low­key approach．“If you eat a tasty egg why would you want to see the hen？” she says of all the media attention．
Ma's relationship with Peng began 10 years ago after a concert in Guangzhou when a reporter told Peng she knew the designer behind the label Exception de Mixmind． Peng asked for an introduction because she was a fan of Ma's designs and had been wearing them for years．
The two naturally became friends．Ma says: “The painting reflects the painter，and clothes reflect both the designer and the wearer．Someone desires fame and wealth，or love and sympathy; what you have in your heart is reflected in the design．Those who don't share my philosophy won't buy my clothes．Peng is a caring person，devoted to charity and environmental protection，which is exactly what I'm doing now．”
However，regardless of the brand，Peng's support of Chinese labels has surprised millions of Chinese who favor foreign fashion brands．
“Instead she presented a vision of Chinese fashion，desiring to bring Chinese designers to the world stage,”says a western designer．
The first lady's double­breasted coat and her black leather handbag aren't available at any of Exception's shops，though Exception's physical stores do have seen a rising number of visitors．
The passage mainly discusses________．

A．the designer of the first lady Peng Liyuan's dress，Ma Ke

B．the friendship between Peng Liyuan and her designer

C．Peng Liyuan's clothes on her first state visit

D．the reactions to Peng Liyuan's first visit to Moscow

In the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 Ma Ke mentioned“an egg and the hen” to show________．

A．it is hard to explain “Which came first，the egg or the hen？”

B．paying such great attention to her was unnecessary

C．the outcome was more important than the process

D．her dissatisfaction with the media attention on her dress

What can be inferred from the passage?

A．First ladies compete with each other whenever they are together．

B．Peng's suits can be bought in Ma Ke's clothes stores．

C．Ma Ke offered to design the first lady's clothes through her friends．

D．Peng had liked Ma's designs long before she got to know her in the flesh．

Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Peng wears the dress designed by a Chinese designer probably to support Chinese brands．

B．Many citizens found Peng Liyuan's choice quite unexpected．

C．Black leather handbags like Peng's are widely sold in bag stores in big cities．

D．After Peng Liyuan's visit to Moscow Ma Ke's clothes became more popular．

Amanda Clement grew up in Hudson, South Dakota. Baseball was always her favorite sport. Once in a while her brother Hank and his friends would let her play first base in their games. More often, however, they asked her to umpire (裁判) for them, because they knew her calls would be fair and there would be no arguing.
One day in 1904, Amanda and her mother traveled to Hawarden, Iowa, to watch Hank play for the home team against Hawarden. When they arrived at the ball field, two local teams were waiting to play a preliminary (预备) game. The umpire hadn’t arrived, so Hank argued that the teams should let his sister serve as umpire. The players finally agreed.
Amanda, then sixteen and standing five feet, ten inches tall, made perfect calls. She was so good that players for the main game asked her to umpire for them and even offered to pay her. Thus, at sixteen, Amanda Clement became the first paid female baseball umpire of all time. She is honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Why did Hank and his friends often ask Amanda to umpire for them?

A．Because she called them brothers.

B．Because they wanted to make her happy.

C．Because no one else wanted to do it for them.

D．Because she knew the rules well and was fair.

Amanda went to Hawarden in order to ______.

A．serve as umpire

B．watch her brother play

C．make money

D．help the local teams

Amanda most probably learned how to umpire a baseball game ______.

A．in her P. E. classes at school

B．in an umpire training school

C．by watching and playing the games

D．from her mother, a baseball umpire

Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown

B．Amanda Clement, First Female Umpire

C．Baseball Games in Hawarden, Iowa

D．A Family of Baseball Fans

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A,B,C,D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂上.
When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored "Tom Thumb" weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
The underlined words "talk of the town" means________.

A．it was in the newspaper

B．it was the most popular topic

C．people spread bad rumors about it

D．it was discussed in a city meeting

Which one of the following statements is true according to the text?

A．Charles mother took him to see the famous showman because he stopped growing.

B．Tom had to fight with others during the show.

C．Tom’s wedding ceremony helped people cheer up in a dark time.

D．Tom and his mother came from England.

What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.

B．People are always disappointed during war time.

C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose.

D．People should be married when they are small children.

The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is: Great talent is not enough.
I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100, 000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth.”
There is an old saying that goes, “Job means just over broke (破产)' ”. And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers “live within their means”. They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn.
When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald’s is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on bui1ding a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.
The author mentions the mechanic in the first paragraph to show that __________.

A．he has a sharp sense of hearing

B．he is ready to help others

C．he is just one of the talented people

D．he knows little about car repairing

The underlined part in the third paragraph can be best replaced by__________.

A．spend more than they can afford

B．live within what they earn

C．live in their own circle

D．do in their own way

Why do talented people earn so little according to the author?

A．They don't work hard enough.

B．They have no specialized skills.

C．They don't make full use of their talents.

D．They lack financial intelligence.

The main purpose of the author is to tell us___________.

A．why so many talented people are poor

B．what schools should teach students

C．how young people can find a satisfactory job

D．how McDonald's makes much money

Larry was on another of his underwater expeditions(探险)but this time, it was different. He decided to take his daughter along with him. She was only ten years old. This would be her first trip with her father on what he had always been famous for.
Larry first began diving when he was his daughter’s age. Similarly, his father had taken him along on one of his expeditions. Since then, he had never looked back. Larry started out by renting diving suits from the small diving shop just along the shore. He had hated them. They were either too big or too small. Then, there was the instructor. He gave him a short lesson before allowing him into the water with his father. He had made an exception. Larry would never have been able to go down without at least five hours of theory and another similar number of hours on practical lessons with a guide. Children his age were not even allowed to dive.
After the first expedition, Larry’s later diving adventures only got better and better. There was never a dull moment. In his black and blue suit and with an oxygen tank fastened on his back, Larry dived from boats into the middle of the ocean. Dangerous areas did not prevent him from continuing his search. Sometimes, he was limited to a cage underwater but that did not bother him. At least, he was still able to take photographs of the underwater creatures
Larry’s first expedition without his father was in the Cayman Islands. There were numerous diving spots in the area and Larry was determined to visit all of them. Fortunately for him, a man offered to take him around the different spots for free. Larry did not even know what the time was, how many spots he dived into or how many photographs he had taken. The diving spots afforded such a wide array of fish and sea creatures that Larry saw more than thirty varieties of creatures.
Larry looked at his daughter. She looked as excited as he had been when he was her age. He hoped she would be able to continue the family tradition. Already, she looked like she was much braver than Larry had been then. This was the key to a successful underwater expedition.
In what way was this expedition different for Larry?

A．His daughter had grown up.

B．He had become a famous diver.

C．His father would dive with him.

D．His daughter would dive with him.

What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

A．Larry had some privileges.

B．Larry liked the rented diving suits.

C．Divers had to buy diving equipment.

D．Ten-year-old children were permitted to dive.

Why did Larry have to stay in a cage underwater sometimes?

A．To protect himself from danger.

B．To dive into the deep water.

C．To admire the underwater view.

D．To take photos more conveniently.

What did Larry expect his daughter to do?

A．Become a successful diver.

B．Make a good diving guide.

C．Take a lot of photos underwater.

D．Have longer hours of training.

The story began with a young mother who had three sons. Unfortunately, the youngest son developed slow thinking skills, not having the intelligence of his brothers.
With double duty as the mother of the household, she was exhausted, so that the youngest was often the target of anger and annoyance. Bad words, such as “you little fool” and the like, served as a daily meal for the youngest.
The words and curses he got from the mother and ridicule from friends convinced him that he was distressing and embarrassing his family. Every morning he woke up with his own face staring from the mirror reflection, he started to say quietly and sadly, “The fool is going to school.”
As adult citizens, there was compulsory military service which should be lived. Thus, the youngest son also signed up and started to follow the various tests: a medical, physical ability test and other tests. On the day of the announcement, he was called into the board of examiners.
In his mind, he convinced himself that he was the fool and couldn’t pass the tests this time as he entered the room with his head down. It was not expected at all. The tests turned out to have the highest praise from the board of examiners.
“Congratulations, young man! Your test results are incredible! You are really a great and talented young man. ”Words from the board of examiners became the discovery of a new side of himself that was not known in advance. Voice kept echoing in his mind, such as “I, the great man, am in the shower”, “The great man washes his face”, “The talented young man again brushes his teeth” and so on. Confidence and improved self-image came beyond usual.
20 years later, the youngest established himself as a successful businessman who was admired and respected, and received many awards.
The mindset and belief are the power behind the success that is within us. Whatever we think and believe in or minds continuously, it will eventually materialize in reality. That’s the universally applicable law.
Why was the youngest often scolded by his mother?

A．He was not as clever as his brothers.

B．He considered himself to be a fool.

C．He didn’t behave himself at school.

D．He didn’t cook meals for his mother.

From the story we know that the young mother is ____.

A．selfish and lazy

B．gentle and caring

C．ill-tempered and impatient

D．kind-hearted and diligent

What happened to the youngest son later on?

A．He received aid from others.

B．He became an admirable psychologist.

C．He became confident and successful.

D．He developed strange mental diseases.

From this passage, the author tells us that____.

A．military service can change a person completely

B．mothers’ attitude toward children is important

C．even a fool can become a successful businessman

D．think big and you will get big results

Finally, I entered the university. Because of my careful savings, I did not have to work during the school year. Then, summer came and it was time to work harder than ever. I continued working as a waitress at night, instructed tennis camps several mornings a week and worked as a secretary for a few hours in the afternoons. I even decided to take a class at a community (社区) college. This class at the community college saved me $650. It was an extremely tiring summer and made me anxious to return to my relatively easy life at the university.
During my second and third years of undergraduate schooling, I decided to work about five hours per week in the campus (校园) admissions office answering phones. This provided a little spending money and kept me from drawing my savings out. I wanted to go to Israel to study for 3 weeks, but I hesitated in making this decision because it would cost me $1,600 more to get the credits in Israel. About two weeks later my Mom called to tell me that I had $1,600 in the bank that I had forgotten about! One of my concerns about this trip was not only the cost, but the loss of time to make money; however, I made as much that summer in the ten weeks when I was at home as I had made during the fourteen weeks when I was at home the summer before. The way everything worked together to make this trip possible was one of the most exciting things that have ever happened to me.
This experience has shaped me in many important ways. The first thing that I learned was the importance of a strong work ethic (伦理). Working long hours did a lot to develop my character and helped me learn the value of a dollar. It also made me learn how to search for creative ways to settle difficult situations.
Where did the writer probably work part-time before attending the university?

A．In a restaurant.

B．In the tennis camps.

C．In a company.

D．In the admissions office.

The writer took a class at a community college mainly because _________.

A．she wanted to save money

B．life there was relatively easy

C．summer time was tiring

D．it was required by the university

The writer’s major concern about the trip to Israel was that _________.

A．her mother would not agree

B．she would fail to get credits in Israel

C．a well-paid summer job would be lost

D．$1,600 couldn’t be drawn out in time

The passage is mainly about how the writer _________.

A．made money on the college campus

B．managed to make full use of her vacation

C．was forced to support herself by her mother

D．was shaped by working part-time through college