myself at a checkout counter behind an elderly woman seemingly in no hurry as she paid for her groceries. A PhD student with not a lot of money, I had hurried into the store to pick up some flowers. I was in a
huge rush, thinking of my upcoming evening. I did not want to be late for this date.
We were in Boston, a place not always known for small conversation between strangers. The woman
stopped unloading her basket and looked up at me. She smiled. It was a nice smile-warm and
reassuring-and I returned her gift by smiling back.
"Must be a special lady, whoever it is that will be getting those beautiful flowers," she said.
"Yes, she"s special," I said, and then to my embarrassment ,the words kept coming out. "It"s only our
second date, but somehow I am just having the feeling she"s" the one."" jokingly, I added, "The only
problem is that I can"t figure out why she"d want to date a guy like me."
"Well, I think she"s very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is
obviously in love with her." the woman said. "My husband used to bring me flowers every week-even
when times were tough and we didn"t have much money. Those were incredible days; he was very
romantic and-of course-I miss him since he"s passed away."
I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries. There was no doubt in my mind as I
walked up to her. I touched her on the shoulder and said, "You were right, you know. These flowers are
indeed for a very special lady." I handed her the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.
It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just purchased ."You have a
wonderful evening." I said. I left her with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the
beautiful flowers.
I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story. A couple
of years later, when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, she told me that this story
had helped to seal it for her-that was the night that I won her heart.
B. He had to go back to school soon.
C. He was delayed by an elderly lady.
D. He had to pick up some groceries.
B. Her smile.
C. Her flowers.
D. Her politeness.
B. She allowed him to pay first.
C. She gave him encouragement.
D. She liked flowers very much.
B .Small talk is helpful.
C. Love and kindness are rewarding.
D. Elderly people deserve respecting.
could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new baby. They found out that it was going
to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael _1_ to his sister in Mommy"s tummy.
The pregnancy progressed _2_ for Karen. Then the labor pains came. Every five minutes ... every
minute. But complications 3 during delivery. Finally, Michael"s little sister was born. But she was in
serious __4_. With siren (警报) howling in the night, the ambulance _5_ the infant to the Intensive Care
unit at St. Mary"s Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee.
_6 inched by. The little girl got worse. The doctors told the parents, "There is very little hope. "
Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery (墓地) about a burial plot. They had _7_ a special
room in their home for the new baby - now they planned a funeral.
Week two in Intensive Care. It looked as if a funeral would come_8_the week was over. Michael,
kept begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he said. Kids were never _9_ in
Intensive Care. But Karen made up her mind. She would take Michael _10_ they liked it or not.
She _11 him in an oversized scrub suit and _12_ him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry
basket, but the head nurse_13_ him as a child, "Get that kid out of here now! " The usuall _14_ lady
glared into the head nurse"s face, her lips a _15_ line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen
towed Michael to his sister"s bedside. He gazed at the tiny baby _16_ the battle to live. And he began to
sing 17 the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang:
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray"
18 the baby girl responded. The pulse rate became_19 and steady.
Keep on singing, Michael. "You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don"t take my
sunshine away - " The breathing became as smooth as a kitten"s purr.
Keep on singing, Michael. "The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping,…
Funeral plans were _20_. The next day - the very next day - the little girl was well enough to go home!
The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God"s love!
( )2. A. quietly
( )3. A. arose
( )4. A. situation
( )5. A. took
( )6. A. The years
( )7. A. fixed up
( )8. A. until
( )9. A. asked
( )10. A. no matter
( )11. A. put
( )12. A. marched
( )13. A. required
( )14. A. warm-hearted
( )15. A. firm
( )16. A. losing
( )17. A. in
( )18. A. Finally
( )19. A. calm
( )20. A. put off
B. peacefully
B.. raised
B. condition
B. sent
B. The months
B. made up
B. before
B. allowed
B. even if
B. dressed
B. forced
B. replied
B. well-managed
B. strong
B. lost
B. on
B. Instantly
B. quiet
B. put away
C. hopefully
C. rose
C. place
C. carried
C. The weeks
C. built up
C. after
C. admitted
C. whether
C. wore
C. hid
C. recognized
C. mild-mannered
C. hard
C. to lose
C. at
C. Patiently
C. slow
C. put up
D. normally
D. aroused
D. position
D. rushed
D. The days
D. set up
D. when
D. acquired
D. as if
D. fit
D. followed
D. regarded
D. cold-blooded
D. tough
D. having lost
D. with
D. Interestingly
D. fast
D. put down
Hertford Estate, Two Bridges,
Rickmansworth, West Sussex.
Middx.
25th February
Dear sir,
Just over six months ago, I saw an advertisement in the Morning Mail for a set of the complete works
of William Shakespeare. Your company, Cosmo books Ltd., offered this set ( eight books of plays and
two books of poetry) at what was claimed to be a "remarkable" price: fifteen pounds and fifty pence,
including postage and packing. I had wanted a set of Shakespeare"s plays and poems for some time, and
these books, in red imitation leather, looked particularly attractive; so I sent for them.
Two weeks later, the books arrived, together with a set of the complete works of Charles Dickens
which I had not ordered. So I returned the Dickens books to you, with a cheque for fifteen pounds and
fifty pence for the works of Shakespeare. Two more weeks passed. Then there arrived on my door step
a second set of the works of Shakespeare, the same set of novels by Dickens and a six book set of the
plays of Moliere, in French. Since I do not read French, these were of no use to me at all. However, I
could not afford to post all these books back to you, so I wrote to you at the end of August of last year,
instructing you to come and collect all the books that I did not want, and asking you not to send any
other books until further notice.
You did not reply to that letter. Instead you sent me a bill for forty two pounds , and a set of the plays
of Schiller, in German. Since then, a new set of books has arrived every two weeks, the works of Goethe, the poems of Milton, the plays of Strindberg; I hardly know what I have. The books are still all in their
boxes, in the garage, and my car has to stand in the rain outside.
I have no room for any more books, and even if I read from now until the Last Judgement, I should not finish reading all the books that you have sent me.
Please send no more books, send no more bills, send no more angry letters demanding payment. Just
send one large lorry and take all the books away, leaving me only with the one set of the complete works
of Shakespeare for which I have paid.
Yours faithfully,
SIMON WALKER
B. urge Cosmo Books Ltd. to take away the books he had not ordered.
C. laugh at Cosmo Books Ltd..
D. advise readers not to order books from Cosmo Books Ltd..
B. a set of 10 books of the works of Shakespeare.
C. a book containing all the plays and poems of Shakespeare.
D. fifteen pounds and fifty pence.
B. he claimed that the books were being offered at a remarkable price.
C. he had ordered the set and had been waiting for them to come for some time.
D. the set he already had was not particularly attractive.
B. continued to send books that Mr. Walker did not order.
C. still not sent Mr. Walker the books that he ordered.
D. made a gift to Mr. Walker of several sets of books.
A. bitterness
B. respect
C. annoyance
D. humor
A few years ago I asked my children"s governess, Julia Vassilyevna, to come into my study.
" Sit down, Julia Vassilyevna," I said."Let"s settle our accounts. Although you most likely need some
money, you stand on ceremony and won"t ask for it yourself. Now then, we agree on thirty rubles a
month…"
" Forty."
" No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay the governess thirty. Now then, you"ve been here two
months, so…"
" Two months and five days."
" Exactly two months. I made a specific note of it. That means you have sixty rubles coming to you.
Subtract nine Sundays… you know you didn"t work with Kolya on Sundays, you only took walks. And
three holidays…"
Julia Vassilyevna flushed a deep red and picked at the flounce of her dress, but-not a word.
" Three holidays, therefore take off twelve rubles. Four days Kolya was sick and there were no
lessons, as you were occupied only with Vanya. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you
permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven-nineteen. Subtract…that leaves…hmm…forty-one
rubles. Correct?"
Julia Vassilyena"s left eye reddened and filled with moisture. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but-not a word.
" Around New Year"s you broke a teacup and saucer: take off two rubles. The cup cost more, it was
an heirloom, but-let it go. When didn"t I take a loss? Then, due to your neglect, Kolya climbed a tree
and tore his jacket: take off ten. Also due to your heedlessness the maid stole Vanya"s shoes. You ought
to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more rubles off. The tenth of January I gave
you ten rubles…"
" You didn"t " whispered Julia Vassilyevna.
" But I made a note of it."
" Well…all right."
" Take twenty-seven from forty-one-that leaves fourteen."
Both eyes filled with tears. Perspiration appeared on the thin, pretty little nose. Poor girl!
" Only once was I given any money," she said in a trembling voice, " and that was by your wife. Three
rubles, nothing more."
" Really? You see now, and I didn"t make a note of it! Take three from fourteen… leaves eleven.
Here"s your money, my dear. Three , three, three, one and one. Here it is!"
I handed her eleven rubles. She took them and with trembling fingers stuffed them into her pocket.
" Merci," she whispered.
I jumped up and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger.
" For what, this-"merci"?" I asked.
" For the money."
" But you know I"ve cheated you, God"s sake-robbed you! I have actually stolen from you! Why
this "merci"?"
" In my other places they didn"t give me anything at all."
" They didn"t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach
you … I"m going to give you the entire eighty rubles! Here they are in an envelope all ready for you…Is it
really possible to be so spineless? Why don"t you protest? Why be silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws-to be such a nincompoop?"
She smiled crookedly and I read in her expression: " It is possible."
I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and , to her great surprise, gave her the eighty rubles. She
murmured her litter "merci" several times and went out. I looked after her and thought: "How easy it is to
crush the weak in this world!"
to do was _______
B. to criticize her for neglecting her duties as a governess.
C. to play a joke on her so as to amuse himself.
D. to teach her not to be so spineless.
B. he wanted to pay her as little money as possible.
C. he wanted to make her realize that she was being cheated and protest against it.
D. he wanted to make her feel miserable.
B. she was a very dumb girl.
C. she thought it was of no use to protest to her employer.
D. she loved the children she taught.
B. she didn"t protest to him.
C. he thought that by simply saying " Merci" she wasn"t polite enough.
D. he didn"t like the way in which she stuffed the money into per pocket and expressed her thanks.
B. how an employer tried to teach the governess a cruel lesson.
C. how a governess was fired by her employer for being a nincompoop.
D. how an employer punished the governess for not having done a good job.
often treated 2 . People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not give her good 3 ,
or take her seriously. 4 they pretended not to understand her, or even acted 5 they did not hear her.
My mother has long realized the 6 of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she 7 have me call
people on the phone to 8 I was she. I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who
had been rude to her. One time 1 had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人). I said in an adolescent voice that was not very 9 , "This is Mrs. Tan." And my mother was standing beside me, 10 loudly, "Why he don"t send me check, already two week late." And then, in perfect English I said, "I"m getting rather 11 . You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it 12 . "Then she talked more loudly. "What he
want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss. "And so I 13 the stockbroker again, "I can"t
14 any more excuse. If I don"t receive the cheek immediately, I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week. "
The next week we 15 in New York. While I was sitting there 16 , my mother,
the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English.
When I was a teenager, my mother"s broken English 17 me. But now, I see it differently. To me,
my mother"s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it,
is vivid, direct, and full of observation and 18 . It was the language that helped 19 the way 1 saw
things, expressed ideas, and made 20 of the world.
( )2. A. anxiously
( )3. A. checks
( )4. A. otherwise
( )5. A. even though
( )6. A. features
( )7. A. could
( )8. A. pretend
( )19. A. awkward
( )10. A. whispering
( )11. A. pleased
( )12. A. hasn"t arrived
( )13. A. turned to
( )14. A. accept
( )15. A. set off
( )16. A. red-faced
( )17. A. annoyed
( )18. A. value
( )19. A. set
( )20. A. sense
B. instantly
B. attitudes
B. therefore
B. as if
B. disadvantages
B. would
B. protect
B. convincing
B. shouting
B. irritated
B. doesn"t arrive
B. spoke to
B. hold
B. ended up
B. excited
B. embarrassed
B. importance
B. shape
B. fun
C. carefully
C. expressions
C. instead
C. now that
C. limitations
C. might
C. prevent
C. perfect
C. talking
C. concerned
C. didn"t arrive
C. came to
C. tolerate
C. settled down
C. bored
C. frightened
C. use
C. choose
C. use
D. unfairly
D. service
D. however
D. if only
D. effects
D. should
D. prefer
D. useful
D. crying
D. interested
D. isn"t to arrive
D. referred to
D. notice
D. called on
D. scared
D. amused
D. wisdom
D. build
D. comment
had just completed her first brain surgery to remove a tumor and was going through radiation treatment,
was now officially given a two percent chance of survival as this type of cancer had no cure.
My wife and I decided to take our daughter to lunch before continuing our afternoon conversation.
We went to a local restaurant where we sat in silence waiting for the waitress. I noticed a very elderly
couple sitting a few booths away, who were also in silence and did not speak a word. I couldn"t help but
wonder what challenges they had faced in their life and if they ever faced such terrible news about a child
of theirs.
We eventually ordered our lunch and still sitting in silence we ate what we could. At some point I
became intrigued (好奇的) by the old couple. I thought to myself that they hadn"t yet spoken to each
other and I wondered if it was the peace they were enjoying or the food or maybe both. However, at
some point I lost interest and put my focus back on my lunch.
Molly was still talking away and enjoying her meal. Her mom and I both listened and tried to be happy
in her presence but it wasn"t going very well. All of a sudden I saw a hand come out of nowhere. It was
huge and I could tell that it had been afflicted with arthritis (关节炎). I couldn"t take my eyes off that
hand. It landed on my daughter"s tiny six-year-old hand and as it did I looked up; it was the old woman
who had been sitting with the old man in silence eating their lunch.
I looked into her eyes and she spoke, but not to me. She looked at my daughter and simply
whispered, "If I could do more for you I would…" and then she smiled and moved away to join her
husband, who had moved towards the door.
"Look, a whole dollar," Molly spoke with excitement as she discovered a crumpled one dollar bill left
behind by the old lady. I looked up to thank her, but she was gone. I sat stunned, not sure what had just
happened and then I looked over at my wife. In almost unison, we broke out into a smile. The sadness of
the day had been wiped out by the crippled hand and generous touch of the old lady. The dollar, although exciting to Molly, was not what made us smile; it was the offer from the old lady, who felt our suffering.
The crippled hand symbolized a healing touch and made us realize that we did not have to fight this battle
alone.
B. didn"t need any more operations.
C. was likely to die soon.
D. had been treated by radiation.
B. confused
C. upset
D. indifferent
B. she had the responsibility for the safety of Molly.
C. she was an old friend of the author and can lend some money to them.
D. she would like to help Molly as much as possible.
B. The old couple had once gone through the same trouble as the author did.
C. The one dollar bill made the author feel touched by the warmth from others.
D. The old woman sympathized with Molly because she suffered from serious arthritis herself.
B. A touch of heaven
C. A crumpled dollar bill
D. A kind-hearted couple
- 1“补钙新观念,吸收是关键。”小丽的妈妈一直给她喂钙粉,可是医生说小丽患了佝偻病,原因是在于喂钙粉时没有加喂A.维生素AB
- 2已知一个多项式除以的商为余式为,求这个多项式.(本题6分)
- 3根据下图所示装置和所给信息回答有关问题(装置填序号).(1)写出图中编号为①、②的仪器名称:①______②______
- 4化学就在我们身边,它与我们的生活息息相关.从石灰石、氧气、二氧化碳、食盐四种物质中选出与下列用途相对应的物质,填写在空白
- 5阅读《一只乌鸦口渴了》完成下列题目。(16分)他是听着《乌鸦喝水》的故事长大的。三岁多的时候,他睡觉不好,总难以哄入睡,
- 6“夫商君为孝公平权衡,正度量,调轻重,决裂阡陌,教民耕战,是以兵动而地广,民休而国富,故秦无敌于天下。”这段史料可以提供
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- 8某几何体正视图与侧视图相同,其正视图与俯视图如图所示,且图中的四边形都是边长为2的正方形,正视图中两条虚线互相垂直,则该
- 9下列描述与实际情况相符的是( )A.电视机的功率为1000WB.一张纸的厚度约为1cmC.一名中学生的质量约为500g
- 10亚洲的东部和南部地区气候类型的共同点都是A.季风气候类型B.海洋性气候类型C.大陆性气候类型D.热带气候类型
- 1如图甲所示为某同学“验证碰撞中动量守恒”实验的装置示意图.已用游标卡尺测得小球直径为2.14cm,实验中小球的落点情况如
- 2下列表述,最能体现第二次工业革命特征的是( )A.钢铁时代电气时代B.蒸汽时代火车时代C.蒸汽时代棉花时代D.电气时
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- 4Her success was due to________she had been working hard.[
- 5You stepped into the lab with your shoes on? You"re _____ to
- 6Can you guess _____?[ ]A. what it is B. what is it
- 7化简20的结果是( )A.52B.25C.210D.45
- 8下列对有机物结构或性质的描述,错误的是( )A.一定条件下,Cl2可在甲苯的苯环或侧链上发生取代反应B.苯酚钠溶液中通
- 9对一切实数x,若一元二次函数f(x)=ax2+bx+c(a<b)的值恒为非负数,则M=a+b+cb-a的最小值为( )
- 10___小题1:____ One of the best things you can possibly do is to