Everywhere you will always find “the white—haired boy”, sometimes called “the fair-haired boy” He gets special treatment, as if he were above everybody else. You will find him in school, in college, at home, or where you work.

  In school, he is the teacher’s pet, her darling who can do nothing wrong. Sometimes she lets him do little jobs for her. He comes to class in the morning, all shiny and clean, He is always raising his hand, ready with an answer to the teacher’s questions. And he knows all the answers. He “gets into your hair”, especially if you are at the bottom of the class and the teacher thinks you are stupid. How you hate the white-haired boy!

  In college, he walks—more often strides—across the school grounds as if he owned them. Sometimes he wears a colorful football or basketball shirt or sweater, with a bright red, or green or yellow college letter proudly worn on the front of it—as a big B, for Bullfinch University. What broad shoulders, what muscles he has! He makes the girls happy by just smiling at them. He has the mark of success on him.

  At home, “the fair-haired boy” is mother’s choice, her favorite. Sometimes, he is the oldest son—at times, the youngest. If you are in between, you are out of luck.

  On the job, you might meet another of these “white-haired boys”; you cannot escape him. For some strange reason, he is the man who always moves ahead. He gets better and better jobs, with more and more money. But you stand still, wondering why, and trying to explain to your-self why you hate him so much.

  Then, you discover that there are others who share your feelings, ready to “let their hair down” —to tell you their private thoughts. One of them asks: “What does he have that I haven’t got?” You ask yourself the same question.

  Finally, there comes a day when you decide to stop hating him. Is it perhaps because he has been made boss and you find yourself working for him?

From the passage we can know that “the white-haired boy” refers to      

A. a child who is mother’s favorite   B. a student who is hated by everybody

C. a pet who is hated by everybody    D. a person who is lucky all the time

What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 2 mean?

A. He sets a shining example to you    B. He makes you a little angry.

C. He cuts your hair too short.       D. He does up your hair.

In the author’s opinion, the reason why you finally stop hating the white-haired boy is that   

A. you have no choice but to face the facts  B. you decide to try your best to be better than him

C. you have been made boss by him       D. you are beginning to admire him

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Try to Be Attractive             B. Let Your Hair Down

C. The White-haired Boy           D. The Top Student

While I was on my way to Walmart, I was greeted by an elder woman who was working at the door as a greeter, I had a return to make so she stopped me and asked to tag my bag. Usually I would have gotten annoyed because I know I don’t steal, so why does my bag need to be tagged? I’d just witnessed someone ahead of me being not so nice, and treating the lady like she was a nobody. I could see this lady looked to be at retirement age, trying to make ends meet. The look on her face and the energy she gave was that of someone afraid and not knowing where they stood in life. Not to mention the person ahead of me who’d just snatched(夺) a bag back from her and stormed off without even saying thank you. I could tell this woman was hurt by that, and no one knows how many people had been treating her that way all day long.

What if she was a grandmother who’d recently taken care of her grandchildren for whatever season? What if her husband she had to support recently fell sick and they couldn’t afford the medical expenses, so she had to go back to work? What if she just lost everything she had in her retirement and now she had to go back to work?

All she wants is to do her job and do it well. All she wants is to serve customers the way she was trained. All she needs is to be appreciated. Can I be that someone she needs, just for the moment?

I looked her in her eyes as she scanned my bag, smiled and said, “Your hair is beautiful and fits you well!” Her face lit up and she smiled back and began to tell me how much easier it is to manage. It was salt-and-pepper hair and was cut in the prettiest style. She handed my bag back, smiled and told me the service desk was straight down to my left. I said “Thank you!”

1.At the door of Walmart, the old woman_____.

A.asked every customer for money to feed her family

B.was made to welcome customers and check their bags

C.was asked to keep the door open all the time

D.worked as guide to give customers direction

2.Seeing the look of the old woman and the treatment she received, the author_____.

A.became annoyed                       B.showed sympathy

C.was puzzled                            D.turned generous

3.It could be learned from paragraph2 that the author_____.

A.didn’t understand why the old woman did such a job

B.insisted the old woman should stay at home comfortably

C.was sure the old woman was respected by people

D.supposed the old woman might be in trouble for some reason

4.By saying “Your hair is beautiful and fits you well.” the author wanted to ____.

A.make the old woman feel appreciated

B.please her so as not to let her bag tagged

C.praise her for her hair style and clothes

D.confirm her hard work and special beauty

 

Museums have changed. They are no longer places that one “should” go to but to enjoy.

At a science museum in Canada, you can feel your hair stand on end as harmless electricity passes through your body. At the Children’s Museum in New York, you can play an African drum. There are no “Do Not Touch” sign in some other museums in the USA.

More and more museum directors have realized that people learn best when they can become part of what they are seeing. In many science museums, the visitors are encouraged to touch, listen, operate and experiment so as to discover scientific rules for themselves.

The purpose is not only to provide fun, but also help people feel at home in the world of science. If people don’t understand science, they will be afraid of it; and if they are afraid of science, they will not make the best use of it.

One cause of all these changes is the increase in wealth and spare time. Another cause is that the number of young people grow in the population. Many of them are college students or college graduates. They see things in a new and different way. They want art that they can take part in. The same is true of science and history.

The old museums have been changing and the government is encouraging the building of new, modern museums. In the States and Canada, there are more than 6000 museums, twice as many as there were 25 years ago.

 

Title: 1. __________________________

2._________________

Science Museums

Children’s Museums

Changes

3._________________

Rules

Number

In the past

Not allowed to touch

4._________________

Nowadays

encouraged to experience

6000+

5.___________________

Providing fun→having a good time

6. _________________→Making full use of science

7.________________

Wealth and spare time

8. _________________ of young people→wanting to experience art, science and history

9.____________

The government 10. ______________ new and modern museums.

 

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