高中英语故事类阅读阅读理解

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's tummy.
The pregnancy progresses normally for Karen. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital.
The little girl gets worse. The doctor tells the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby — now they plan a funeral.
Michael, keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. However, Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not.  “If he doesn't see his sister now, he may never see her alive.” She dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches him into ICU. The head nurse recognizes him as a child and bellows, "Get that kid out of here now! " The mother, the usually mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen tows Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing.       
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray”  
Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate becomes calm and steady.     
"You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away "
The ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten's purr.     
Keep on singing, Michael. Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse as well as Karen.    
Funeral plans are scrapped. The next, day — the very next day — the little girl is well enough to go home!     
NEVER GIVE UP THE ONE WE LOVE!
How did Michal’s feel when he knew that he was going to have a sister?

A．indifferent.

B．worried.

C．expectant.

D．disappointed.

The doctor recommended the family ___________.

A．get ready for the worst result.

B．wait for the hope in the near future.

C．prepare much more money for the infant.

D．prepare for another chance in other hospitals.

Which word can best replace the underlined word in Paragraph 4?

A．pointed.

B．yelled.

C．whispered.

D．ignored.

What happened when Michael sang to his little sister?

A．The little baby responded to his song and woke up immediately.

B．The baby heard the song and burst into tears.

C．The baby’s physical signs disappeared eventually.

D．The baby recovered from the dangerous state of coma gradually.

What could be the best title of the article?

A．An unexpected gift.	B．A miracle of love.
C．A iron-mother.	D．A medical success.

Until a few months ago, he was a butler(管家) in one of the more expensive residential buildings in Manhattan. But now, Nepal-born Indra Tamang is the owner of two multi-million dollar apartments in the same building.
The former owner - his former employer, Ruth Ford - died last year and left the apartments  to Mr Tamang in her will.
Mr Tamang is happy but quickly points out that his good fortune did not come easily. "I am happy and have been touched by the generosity of the Ford family," he says. "I never expected that I will be given the ownership of these apartments. But I have been working for the family for the last 36 years, devotedly, with honesty and dedication(奉献). So my hard work has been rewarded."
Mr Tamang was 21 when he was brought from Nepal by Charles Ford, a writer and a photographer. Mr Ford died in 2002; his sister, actress Ruth Ford, then took charge and told Mr Tamang that he was like a brother to her after Charles's death.
Mrs Ford died aged 98. During the last five years of her life, she lost her eyesight and also developed speech problems. Mr Tamang looked after her most of the time and took care of her medicines and food.
He also worked with Charles Ford on various photography projects, which he now wants to keep as the photographer's legacy(遗产). He hopes to organize exhibitions of Mr Ford's photographs and edit a book of his works.
Mr Tamang plans to sell the bigger, three-bedroom apartment to pay the taxes he owes to the government on his legacy. He says: "The rules of the building might be a problem, as they require a minimum monthly income to qualify to live as owner of apartments. I have my small house here but I am happy with it,"
Mr Tamang has learnt his lesson from the life of his employers and plans to use his money with great caution. "I think one should save money for old age. That's when you need it the most to get care," he says. 
Mr Tamang treated the legacy as __________.

A．a reward

B．a punishment

C．business

D．a gift

What DIDN’T Mr Tamang do in the Ford family?

A．Show Mr Ford's works in the exhibition.

B．Look after Ruth Ford when she was ill.

C．Work on kinds of photography projects

D．Experience deaths of Charles Ford and Ruth Ford

Mr Tamang wants to sell one apartment to _______. 

A．buy the small house

B．pay the government the tax of the apartments

C．edit a book of Charles Ford's photographs

D．move into the expensive apartments as soon as possible

What lesson does Mr Tamang learn from the Ford family? 

A．To find a good butler.

B．To spend money thoughtfully.

C．To save money for children.

D．To get good care when people get old.

What can we know from the passage?

A．Charles Ford gave the apartments to Mr Tamang.

B．Charles Ford couldn't see or speak before his death.

C．Mr Tamang treated Ruth Ford much better than her brother.

D．Mr Tamang will still live in his small house in the near future.

I wasn’t surprised when I read that actress Helen Hunt recently stated that she would never allow her young daughter to become a child star. Ms Hunt is the daughter of a Hollywood technical director, and grew up in Hollywood. Now in her late 40s, she started acting and modeling when she was eight and has probably seen a lot over those years in show business.
She has had a successful career. She earned four Golden Globes and four Emmys. She also attained the top honor of her profession when she won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role in the 1992 movie, As Good As It Gets. Given those accolades, Ms Hunt is successful. There is no doubt that her early experiences as a child star prepared her for what has been an outstanding adult career. Given those achievements, why would this star declare she’ll never allow her daughter, now at the age of six, to follow in her footsteps?
Everyone familiar with the entertainment scene is aware of the reasons for her attitude. Recent tabloid (小报) news headlines featuring the troubles of former child stars, among them Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and the late Gary Coleman, may answer the question. Although Ms Hunt managed to become a successful grown-up star, she apparently believes she’s an exception.
What Ms Hunt may be suggesting is that many very young stars go through unnatural childhoods on movie and TV sets. While they’re earning big incomes, they’re so pampered (纵容) by directors and praised by fans; they may get false impressions that their lives will always be that way. Then, within a few years, when faced with reality, they’re hurt and confused. After all the overwhelming affection, they find they can’t deal with the problems. That’s often when drugs and alcohol take over their lives.
Helen Hunt has some other reasons why she doesn’t want her daughter to be in the entertainment business. Many child stars can never make a successful transition to meaningful adulthood. However, as with many Hollywood movies, I believe there are both good and bad scenes about how it can be played out in real life.
According to the passage, Ms Hunt _________.

A．started acting and modeling when she was a little girl

B．has been acting for about 30 years

C．is the daughter of a famous actor

D．started singing when she was eight

The underlined word “accolades” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_________”.

A．difficulties

B．awards

C．salaries

D．opinions

The author thinks Helen Hunt’s success is mainly due to _________.

A．her hard work	B．the help of a technicaldirector
C．her experiences as a child star	D．her talent and good luck

Helen Hunt wouldn’t allow her daughter to become a child star because she thinks _________.

A．child stars often take drugs and alcohol

B．being a child star may ruin her future

C．child stars aren’t able to solve their problems

D．it is difficult to succeed as a child actor

From the passage we can conclude that _________.

A．few child stars will succeed in the future

B．there is no way to save the entertainment business

C．the author has a different opinion about child stars

D．meaningful adulthood only belongs to non-child stars

Bertie knew there was something in the wind．His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie’s feet when Father cleared his throat and began, “You’ll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We’ve found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England.”
His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. “But the lion,” he cried, “What about the lion?”
“I’m afraid there’s something else I have to tell you,” his father said. Looking across at Bertie’s mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.
“No! You can’t send him to a circus!” said Bertie. “People will come to see him. He’ll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will laugh at him. He’d rather die. Any animal would!” But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.
Bertie felt completely betrayed. He waited until he heard his father’s deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he slipped downstairs, took down his father’s hunting rifle from the rack and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion’s neck. The time had come.
“Be wild now,” he whispered. “You’ve got to be wild. Don’t ever come home. All my life I’ll think of you. I promise I will.” He buried his head in the lion’s neck. Then, Bertie clambered down the hill and walked away.
When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.
There was only one thing left to do. With tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion’s head.
Bertie’s mother was sad probably because she ______.

A．had been seriously ill recently

B．had decided to send Bertie to school

C．knew selling the lion would upset Bertie

D．knew Bertie would hate to go to England

In the last paragraph, the boy lifted the rifle to ______.

A．kill the lion out of anger	B．show his anger towards his father
C．protect himself from the lion	D．threaten the lion back to the wild

The passage intends to show that ______.

A．animal-hunting is popular in Africa

B．parents are sometimes cruel to their children

C．people and animals can be faithful to each other

D．animals usually lead a miserable life in circuses

My wife passed away a few years ago,and I went through the worst time in my life.I even wanted to kill myself.Just for kids,I had to continue to live and work as small-town doctor at my medical clinic in Hawaii.My kids had gone to live on the mainland,and I was alone.Then they asked me to have a family trip.On our trip, we turned on the TV at the motel and saw the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. Seeing it falling down, I said to my kids: “I’m going to Afghanistan”. And a few weeks later, international Medical Corps sent me to set up 20 clinics in provinces where people had no health care. In these field clinics surrounded by frightening shoots or deadly bombs, we were eventually serving 27,000 patients a month in a very busy schedule. Tired and nervous, I gradually had a sense of achievement, a sense of purpose, and my depression went away.
In the years to follow, I went to Indonesia after the tsunami, Pakistan after the earthquakes, Sudan after the civil war and Iraq after more and more bombs. Each time after disasters one after another, hundreds of people were killed, wounded and many more had to flee. We once set up movable clinics in an area with 19,000 refugees, and it was supposed to hold 13,000 originally. Flu broke out, one of the biggest killers of kids in refugee camps, and it spread like wildfire. Water and food were also serious problems. “Adventures or not?” I often asked myself.
When my wife passed away, I thought my life was done. But in reality, it was just getting started. At the end of her life, she went unconscious. I held her head in my hands and told her of all the places we would visit and the exciting adventures we would have.
I think about the moment many times during my “adventures”. I didn’t know how predictive those words would be. But I know that she is still with me.
Where has the doctor been in the past few years?

A．Some countries where he could set up clinics.

B．Some African countries where flu broke out.

C．The places where the earthquakes happened.

D．The places that the horrible disasters struck.

How would the doctor describe his life after he had worked in Afghanistan?

A．Tired and troublesome.	B．Busy and risky.
C．Meaningful and helpful	D．Frightening and depressing.

The underlined word “refugees” means people_______________.

A．who are robbed, killed, or wounded

B．who suffer from flu in movable clinics

C．who like to take adventures

D．who have lost homes because of disasters.

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．the doctor’s wife encouraged him to work in foreign countries.

B．What the doctor said to his wife before her death became reality.

C．The doctor’s adventures made him understand the love of his wife.

D．With the true love of his wife, the doctor started to change his life.

A few days ago we – that’s me and the husband – took a cab to the station. Chat with the driver fell to the wrong of cyclists, and the misunderstanding of the road rules. So far as the rules of the road go, there seems to be one basic principle: when you are driving a car you hate bikes, when you are riding a bike you hate cars (and I guess walkers hate everyone). 
There is an obvious difference of viewpoint built in here. It wasn’t until I started to drive a car (almost 20years after I had first rode a bike) that I actually realized that you could not see a cyclist at night without lights. In fact I now want to shout at late night cyclists without lights(like motortists once did at me): “You’ll get killed, sunshine, I can’t see you.”
The problem is that cyclists do ride headlong into danger. It's not just not having lights. It’s biking on pavements (and so threatening to injure a load of innocent walkers in the process) and biking down one-way streets the wrong way.
I admit that I do bike the wrong way down a one-way street sometimes. My feeble(软弱无力) defense is that I try always to do it as if I know I was doing wrong. That is slowly, with an apologetic look on the face, and ready to get off at any minute. I can’t bear the guys(一伙人) (usually, but not always it is guys) who do it as if they owned the place, and at high speed.
So cyclists are not entirely innocent. But they are among the disadvantaged groups, because the bottom line is that a car or a lorry can kill a cyclist and not the other way around.
When did the writer realize the danger for late night cyclists without lights?

A．Not until she became a driver herself.

B．Not until she had driven a car for 20 years.

C．After she was shouted at by a motorist.

D．After she was once knocked down by a group of guys.

When the writer biked the wrong way down a one way street, she felt_________.

A．angry

B．guilty

C．innocent

D．proud

Which group is most likely to face danger according to the writer?

A．walkers

B．passers-by

C．cyclists

D．motorists

What can we learn about the writer?

A．She often took a cab with her husband.

B．She has been a motorist for over 20 years.

C．She used to ride a bike without lights at night.

D．She often biked the wrong way down a one way street.

Recently I fully understood that a little favor could really make a big difference. My daughter and I were, accidentally, in time to catch a falling heart just before it hit the ground.
It all started when Charlene, one of my co-volunteers at the library, asked if I could do her duty on Tuesday since her doctor appointment had been unexpectedly changed. I agreed, which meant I  was home on Friday instead of volunteering as previously planned.
My daughter, Mary, managers a book store in town. Mid-morning, she called to ask me for help. Would I buy a fifty dollar gift card, birthday card, and cake for one of Mary’s assistant managers, Cindy?
Mary explained she had to call Cindy in to take the place of another assistant manager who was sick, but felt terrible about it when she discovered it was Cindy’s birthday. Cindy insisted that it was just fine. But that was not what Mary thought, so she gathered enough money from other employees to throw a surprise party for Cindy. Since neither Mary, nor any of the other employees, could leave to pick up the goodies, they were turning to me for help. Days later, Mary told me the wonderful rest of the story, “Cindy cried and cried when we surprised her. After the party, Cindy told us that her boyfriend had chosen that morning to break up with her. To top that off, she only had 26 cents left in her bank account.”
We were surprised at the series of unexpected events that took place in order to circle Cindy with love and catch her falling heart just before it hit the ground.
Why did Charlene ask a favor of the writer?

A．ShehadtoseethedoctoronFriday.

B．Shewantedtocelebrateherdaughter’sbirthday.

C．ShehadanunexpectedappointmentonTuesday.

D．Sheneededtoprepareforherdaughter’sbirthday.

What can we learn about Mary?

A．Shewasalearned careerwoman.

B．Shehaduneasyrelationshipswithherassistants.

C．SheknewCindy’slovestorybeforethesurpriseparty.

D．Sheplayedthemostimportantroleinthiscircleoflove.

Which of the following couldn’t be the reason why Cindy cried?

A．She had to work on her birthday.

B．She had little money in her bank account.

C．She was greatly moved by Mary’s care and kindness.

D．She and her boyfriend parted that very morning.

The underlined word “goodies” refers to_________.

A．Gifts for Cindy

B．Good stories

C．Close friends

D．Goods on sale

Living in South Africa, I had always taken the wildlife pretty much for granted. Not to say that we were surrounded by it, but the accessibility of game parks and wildlife sanctuaries（避难所，庇护所） always made it seem like a natural part of the environment. For this reason, I suppose that the way my European friends used to talk to me, wasn’t so strange after all. They would ask me what I thought at the time were really silly questions which got on my nerves. They’d say things like ‘Do you have a pet baboon?’ or ‘Do you travel to school by elephant?’.
When Amanda, a friend of mine who was visiting from England, invited me to join her and a group of friends on a wildlife expedition, I was not filled with enthusiasm. However, from the moment we entered the gates of the Zaluzi game reserve, I knew that this was not going to be anything like I had expected. We had been traveling along the National Road when, suddenly, we turned onto a dirt track which seemed to be hidden in the middle of nowhere. Amazingly, the scenery changed dramatically. The civilized environment took on a wild, chaotic（混沌的；一片混乱的） aspect and continued to do so as we walked deeper into the bush.
After having a good night’s sleep at one of the reserve’s bungalows, we were woken at the crack of dawn. After a quick breakfast we piled into a jeep and set off. Our guide assured us that the early start was necessary in order to have the best chance of seeing what was really worthwhile. Armed with just a thermos of coffee, we set out towards the shore of a small lake where it was expected that we could see that animals that used it as their morning watering hole.
On the way to our destination, we topped a hill and there, against the emerging morning light, were a group of animals.  It was a stunning sight. As we moved closer, the animals did not appear to be alarmed by our presence. Pet baboons aside, I had never before come within such close range of a pride of lions. It did cross my mind, however, that we might be in a certain amount of danger. When I asked Timothy, our game ranger, if we were actually in any danger, he replied straightforwardly that one is never entirely safe in the bush, but his knowledge and experience allowed him to anticipate any danger with reasonable accuracy.
However, the following day there was some cause for alarm. Not having started out so early, we missed the sightings of the day before. We decided to drive around for a while, hoping to come across something of interest. Suddenly our tracker perched up on the back of our vehicle, signaled to the driver to halt and at the same moment I realized that this time we had stumbled right into a pride of lions. The driver promptly turned off the engine and in a low voice warned us to remain seated and not to make any abrupt movements. The lions were picking at what looked like the remains of a zebra. Timothy, later told us how much to our advantage this was. Had their bellies not been full, their reaction to us would surely have been otherwise. As the nearest lion was less than three meters away from the jeep, I considered that we had been very lucky indeed.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Our near miss with the lions was without a doubt the highlight, but what it taught me yet again was how easy it is to be indifferent to our surroundings and not to have a full appreciation of the beauty around us.
How did the writer feel about the questions her European friends asked?

A．ridiculous

B．annoyed

C．strange

D．embarrassed

When did the writer’s attitude change about the expedition?

A．When she was traveling along the dirt track.

B．When she received her invitation.

C．When she arrived at the game reserve.

D．When her friend arrived from England.

What does the underlined word ‘It’ (in the fourth paragraph) refer to?

A．the pride of lions	B．the destination
C．the top of the hill	D．the morning light

Timothy’s experience as a game ranger was valuable because he ______________

A．could supply a straightforward answer to any question.

B．knew how to frighten the animals.

C．knew the game reserve well.

D．could identify trouble in advance.

What does the writer mean by the underlined sentence ‘we had been very lucky indeed’ in the fifth paragraph?

A．They had seen the lions up close.	B．They hadn’t been attacked.
C．They had a good guide with them.	D．They had gone on a trip.

What conclusion does the writer of the text come to?

A．We often do not realize how attractive our environment really is.

B．It is not clever to unnecessarily put ourselves in dangerous situations.

C．We don’t respect wild animals enough.

D．We should protect our surroundings.

Brief  Introduction
(Adeline) Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English novelist and essayist, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929), with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
Main  body
My dear，
'Dearest, I feel certain I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don't think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can't fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that - everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer.
I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been...........................from the last letter of virginia woolf
According to the first paragraph we can infer that            

A．During the interwar period，virginia woolf was important for London people.

B．She has been living for 55 years

C．Her first the novels Mrs Dalloway in 1925

D．She regarded as one of the foremost romanticism literary figures of the twentieth century

what is form of The main body？

A．letter of resignation	B．Letter of condolence
C．Letter of suicide	D．Letters of Apologies ;

Where can I see this article？

A．newspaper	B．biography
C．German Literature	D．television

According to the main body, which of the following is not the reason of her Dutch act（自杀）？

A．She can't go on spoiling your life any longer

B．I feel certain I am going mad again

C．She cannot bear her husband's interference

D．The approach of war makes her psychological problems aggravated

As an experienced photojournalist in Nashville, Tennessee, I was hired by USA Today newspaper to photograph a spinal bifida (脊柱畸形) corrective surgical procedure. It was to be performed on a twenty-one week old fetus（胎儿）in uterus（子宫）at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. At that time, in 1999, twenty-one weeks in uterus was the earliest that the surgical team would consider for surgery. The worst possible outcome would be that the surgery would cause premature delivery, and no child born earlier than twenty-three weeks had survived.
The tension could be felt in the operating room as the surgery began. A typical C-section cut was made to access the uterus, which was then lifted out and laid at the junction of the mother’s thighs（大腿）. The entire procedure would take place within the uterus, and no part of the child was to breach the surgical opening. During the procedure, the position of the fetus was adjusted by gently moving the outside of the uterus. The entire surgical procedure on the child was completed in one hour and thirteen minutes. When it was over, the surgical team breathed a sigh of relief, as did I.
As a doctor asked me what speed of film I was using, out of the corner of my eye I saw the uterus shake, but no one’s hands were near it. It was shaking from within. Suddenly, an entire arm thrust out of the opening, then pulled back until just a little hand was showing. The doctor reached over and lifted the hand, which reacted and squeezed the doctor’s finger. As if testing for strength, the doctor shook the tiny fist. Samuel held firm. I took the picture! Wow! It happened so fast that the nurse standing next to me asked, “What happened?” “The child reached out,” I said. “Oh. They do that all the time,” she responded.
The surgical opening to the uterus was closed and the uterus was then put back into the mother and the C-section opening was closed.
It was ten days before I knew if the picture was even in focus(对焦). To ensure no digital manipulation(篡改) of images before they see them, USA Today requires that film be submitted unprocessed. When the photo editor finally phoned me he said, “It’s the most incredible picture I’ve ever seen.”
What may be the best title for the passage?

A．An Amazing Moment	B．A Pitiful Fetus
C．An Honorable Job as a Photographer	D．An Impressive Surgeon

In 1999, people believed that it was ________.

A．possible for a fetus 21 weeks born to survive

B．likely for a fetus born 21 weeks to become abnormal

C．right time for a fetus born 21 weeks to receive an operation

D．risky for a fetus 21 weeks in uterus to receive an operation

From the second paragraph, we can see that the surgery was ________.

A．challenging but successful	B．demanding and unsuccessful
C．simple and short	D．long-lasting and difficult

The underlined “It” in paragraph 3 refers to ________.

A．the uterus	B．the arm of the fetus
C．the picture	D．the head of the fetus

From what the editor said in the last paragraph, we know he was very ________.

A．disappointed

B．satisfied

C．confident

D．depressed

A man claiming to be a pastor(牧师) apparently tried to stiff a waiter on a tip, explaining that his work for God allowed him not to leave one.
A photo of the receipt, posted to Reddit.com, shows a bill for $34.93 with an automatic 18 percent gratuity(小费) (or $6.29) added above a blank space for an additional tip.
“I give God 10%,” the diner wrote on the receipt, scratching out the automatic tip. “Why do you get 18?” He then wrote “Pastor” above his signature, and an emphatic “0” where the additional tip would be. (The automatic gratuity, however, had already been added to the total.)
The Reddit user who submitted the image explained in the comments section that the receipt was part of a total bill for a party of 20, which is why the gratuity was automatically added.
“Parties up to eight ... may tip whatever they’d like, but larger parties receive an automatic gratuity," the server wrote. "It’s in the computer; it’s not something I do.”
The server added: “They had no problem with my service, and told me I was great. They just didn’t want to pay when the time came.”
Scribbling(乱涂) notes on receipts has become something of a trend. Earlier this month, the manager of a North Carolina Red Robin surprised an overdue pregnant woman by comping her meal.
“Once seated, a manager came up to us and started talking,” the woman's husband told Consumerist. “He was extremely friendly and jokingly asked my wife if this was her last meal before heading to the hospital.”
When the check came, a note from the manager next to her portion of the bill read: “MOM 2 BEE GOOD LUC.”
“It was a pleasant surprise and made my tired-of-being-pregnant wife a little more cheery,” the man said.
What did the pastor mean by saying, “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?”

A．He was bargaining with the waiter.

B．He didn’t mean to pay the gratuity at all.

C．God gave him the privilege not to pay a gratuity.

D．The gratuity had already been paid by his friends.

What do you learn from the article?

A．The pastor paid ten percent gratuity of the meal to God.

B．A party of six diners can choose whatever gratuity they want to pay.

C．According to the husband, the wife enjoyed the process of being pregnant.

D．The pastor paid $34.93 in total for the meal.

What does the underlined word “stiff” mean?

A．amuse

B．abuse

C．persuade

D．fail to pay

Fourteen – year – old Richie Hawley had spent five years studying violin at the Community School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles when he took part in a violin contest. Ninety two young people were invited to the contest and Hawley came out first．
　　The contest could have been the perfect setup for fear, worrying about mistakes, and trying to impress the judges. But Hawley says he did pretty well in staying calm. “I couldn’t be thinking about how many mistakes I’d make — it would distract me from playing,” he says. “I didn’t even remember trying to impress people while I played. It’s almost as if they weren’t there. I just wanted to make music.”
Hawley is a winner. But he didn’t become a winner by concentrating on winning. He did it by concentrating on playing well．
　　“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part,” said the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin. “The important thing in life is not the triumph (胜利) but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
　　A characteristic of high performers is their intense, pleasurable concentration on work, rather than on their competitors or future glory or money, says Dr. Charles Garfield, who has studied 1,500 achievers in business, science, sports, the arts, and professions. “They are interested in winning, but they are most interested in self - development, testing their limits.”
　　One of the most surprising things about top performers is how many losses they’ve had and how much they’ve learned from each. “Not one of the 1,500 I studied defined losing as failing,” Garfield says. “They kept calling their losses ‘setbacks’.”
　　A healthy attitude toward setbacks is essential to winning, experts agree．
　　“The worst thing you can do if you’ve had a setback is to let yourself get stuck in a long depression. You should analyze carefully what went wrong, identify specific things you did right and give yourself credit for them.” Garfield believes that most people don’t give themselves enough praise. He even suggests keeping a diary of all the positive things you’ve done on the way to a goal．
Hawley won the contest because ________．

A．he put all his mind to his performance

B．he cared much about the judges’ feelings

C．he tried his best to avoid making mistakes

D．he paid close attention to the people around

According to the passage, successful people concentrate on ________．

A．challenging their own limits	B．learning from others
C．defeating their opponents	D．avoiding setbacks

The passage tells us that “praise” in times of trouble ________．

A．helps people deal with their disappointment

B．makes people forget their setbacks

C．makes people regret about their past

D．helps people analyze what went wrong

It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. If we didn’t see some rain soon we would lose everything.
　　I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He was obviously walking with a great effort. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house.
Moments later, however, he was once again walking toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I went out of the house and followed him on his journey.
　　He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he held in them. Branches and thorns (荆棘) slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site.
　　Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. And I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from heavy loss of water, lift its head with great effort to drink the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand.
　　I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart working so hard to save a life. As my tears began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops... and more drops... and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, Himself, was weeping with pride.
Why did the author follow her son?

A．Because there might be danger.

B．Because her son was doing a good deed.

C．Because she was curious.

D．Because she intended to help.

Which of the following statements is Not True according to the passage?

A．Rain was in great need.

B．There were few trees in the woods.

C．Billy carried water with his small hands.

D．Billy walked into the woods and then returned over and over again.

What Billy did mainly showed that he was ________.

A．caring

B．beautiful

C．childlike

D．brave

Which is the correct order of the development of the story?
① The author was moved to tears.
② Billy fed the water to the baby deer.
③ Billy walked towards the large deer.
④ It began to rain.
⑤ The author followed Billy into the woods.

A．③②⑤①④

B．④①③②⑤

C．⑤③②①④

D．⑤②①③④

Burn rate is the speed at which a startup business consumes money. My rate was $ 75,000 a month. Four months after my company was set up, I had only a quarter of the starting capital left in the bank.
Looking for guidance, I went to talk to my friend, Arthur Walworth about my new venture. “Times of great change always bring out the risk-takers,” he said. “And they leave winners and losers. My grandfather invested a lot of money in a project of Thomas Edison’s that ended up in failure. ”
I was lost in thought at the notion (an idea or belief about something) of a Thomas Edison project ending in failure. Damn. It could happen to anybody! I must continue.
At that time CD-ROM sales had bombed, so investors were fleeing from the field. I didn’t turn away from mine entirely, but instead linked it to the Internet.
My plan was to offer consumers descriptions of home-design products by using a special software and let them modify the designs. Then we can enable them to get online professional and constructional help to have their houses built, decorated and furnished according to their own choice.
To realize my plan I needed investors, so I continued to meet regularly with venture capitalists. One said I had a great idea. But I needed to test it. Get the money somewhere. To get this money from a venture capitalist is going to cost my wife and my children! He turned down my request.
Wife? Children? I hardly remembered them.
I was working nonstop --- struggling to turn the key in the lock, to find the right way ahead. The pressure was terrible. It was just at this time that my parents and sisters stepped up. Two hundred thousand dollars. A lot of money to them, invested in this crazy son and brother without a moment’s hesitation. Dad and Mom had driven out from Chicago and seen the passion in my little office and the trouble at home.
With their help my company survived and has been prospering ever since.
When the author’s company started operation, he had _______ .

A．$ 450,000

B．$ 400,000

C．$ 350,000

D．$ 300,000

Arthur implies that to start a business in times of change, people have to _______ .

A．rely on famous people all be time

B．invest as much money as possible

C．face the risks of possible failure

D．think about nothing but success

The author’s company was engaged in _______

A．furniture design and production

B．online home-design service

C．traditional home designing

D．home decoration business

Faced with a very unfavorable market situation, the author decided  _______.

A．to improve his service	B．to start a new business
C．to withdraw his money	D．to reduce his investment

I grew up in New Hampshire, a small town in South Canada, where in my father’s words for the seasons were “Spring, Summer, Fairtime and Winter!” At that time, a week-long fair was held in the town every autumn. Thousands of people from other towns came to sell and buy things. It was the busiest time of the year.
When “Fairtime” came, my grandma became the most “useful” and busiest person of the family. Grandma was a kind, well-educated old lady. She was good at cooking. All her rrelatives liked the foodshe cooked. During “fairtime”, they would come to live in her house and have meals there. Grandma was always happy to look after them.
Year after year, many people moved to big cities. There was no loner “Fairtime”. Grandma became very old and was gradually going blind. My parents and I moved to live with Granma in her house. We did our best to make her day-to-day life as comfortable as possible. I was at high school then. What I often did at home was to help Grandma with the daily newspaper’s crossword puzzle. However, she didn’t look happy. She often sat in her room for hours, without saying a word.
To attract people to move back, the Town Hall decided to reopen the Fair. One day, when I came back room school, I saw Grandma wearing her glasses, washing the dishes in the kitchen. With a big smile on her face, she looked a lot much younger. She told me that her two nieces would come. “They said the food I cooked was very delicious and they want to stay in my house again.” Grandma said happily. “They will stay here for one week and we can have a big party. That must be the busiest week I’ve had in years!”
I suddenly realized that Grandma didn’t want to be looked after. She wanted to be “useful”, appreciated and helpful.
Thousands of people came to the town to __________ at the Fair.

A．enjoy Grandma’s food	B．sell and buy things
C．learn to cook	D．have a big party

Why was Grandma unhappy?
A.She was too busy.   B. No one lived with her.
B.She was not “useful”.  D. She couldn’t see anything
Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A．Grandma was good at cooking

B．Many people moved to big cities.

C．Grandma didn’t like “Fairtime”

D．Grandma was a kind old lady.

What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Fairtime	B．My “Old” Grandma
C．A Small Town	D．Grandma’s Family