My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.

  It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More importantly, I earned my pay, it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.

  I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person could have.

  When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dream of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.

  The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb (番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field--- except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick.

1.The writer’s first job was ___________.

A. to stand down the fairway at the golf course

B. to watch over the sugar-cane plantation

C. to drive the oxen that ploughed the cane fields

D. to spot the balls as they landed so the golfers could find them

2.The underlined word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means ___________.

A. difficult        B. boring        C. interesting        D. unusual

3.The writer learned that ________ from his first job.

A. he should work for those who he liked most

B. he should work longer than what he was expected

C. he should never fail to say hello to his owner

D. he should show respect and faith to the people he worked for

4.________ gave the writer self-esteem.

A. Having a family of eight people

B. Owning his own golf course

C. Bringing money back home to help the family

D. Helping his father with the work on the plantation

5.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. He wanted to be a successful golfer.

B. He wanted to run a golf course near his house.

C. He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation.

D. He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick.

 

Alice, my friend’s daughter, goes to an expensive private school where she has a friend, Jane, who is on a full scholarship at this school.Jane has      economic resources—her father has been dead for years and her mother works     a maid.Although her mother works very hard, she can      support the family.Jane is very bright and gifted at      and that’s how she has got the scholarship, which included a(n)      for things like lunch, school uniform and music lessons.

Alice became friends with Jane and would      talk to her at lunch.She did it that way in order to avoid the other kids      her.

On her birthday last month, she      so much that she      on her coming.Eventually, the girl said, “I don’t have any      clothes that I could wear at your birthday party.” After a brief pause, the girl remembered, “I have a     from my piano performance,” and asked, “Could I      a skirt from you?”

Alice was happy that her friend would be      to come and hurried home to ask her Mum      she could lend her friend one of her skirts.To her surprise, her Mum said, “No.” The daughter was very      and angrily said to her Mum, “     I could, I would give my friend all my clothes.” The Mother didn’t understand why her daughter should have had such an outburst as she’s normally very well    

Finally, Alice explained to her Mother her friend’s    . Her Mother immediately changed her mind and said, “Yes.” She also encouraged her daughter not to feel like she should secretly be friends with Jane but to feel proud of her     with her.

So the true friendship seeks to give, not to take; to help, not to be helped; to minister, not to be ministered unto.

A.personal      B.extra      C.limited     D.adequate

A.for        B.with        C.like       D.as

A.hopefully      B.obviously  C.hardly      D.temporarily

A.music    B.drawing    C.maths       D.biology

A.bonus    B.allowance        C.donation   D.pension

A.secretly        B.happily     C.quietly      D.eagerly

A.pointing at B.shouting at C.laughing at       D.glaring at

A.took      B.invited      C.accompanied    D.sent

A.happy    B.independent     C.confident        D.present

A.depended    B.insisted     C.focused     D.agreed

A.casual   B.comfortable     C.nice   D.tight

A.shirt    B.jeans C.handbag    D.necklace

A.get     B.copy       C.order       D.borrow

A.free    B.able   C.glad        D.willing

A.how  B.when      C.why D.whether

A.stubborn  B.upset         C.firm      D.enthusiastic 

A.If        B.When      C.Unless     D.Though

A.treated        B.controlled       C.educated         D.behaved

A.cleverness         B.character        C.circumstances D.competences

【小题20】A.study       B.friendship       C.sympathy       D.performance

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网