I remember a time l went shopping on my first visit to Hung Kong．Coming from cold and cloudy England，I was prepared for the sun and dressed in a T-shirt and a short skirt．Not having much chance to enjoy the sun in the UK and having naturally fair skin(白皙皮肤)，my legs were very white．In the UK this is not a fashionable look at all．Most women spend every sunny day out in the suit trying to get darker skin．The darker the shin，the better the look．I have tried to get darker but nothing works for me!

    As I walked around one shop，two shop girls didn’t take their eyes off me the whole time，talking quietly to each other in Chinese．I began to feel uncomfortable and asked my friend if we could leave．After we left the shop, she asked me what was wrong．I complained(抱怨)about the shop girls being very rude and always looking at my legs．I was embarrassed(尴尬) that they were talking about my white skin．My friend laughed，“They weren’t laughing at you．They were saying how nice your legs are．Many Chinese women want to have white skin like yours．In fact，there are many beauty products in the shops to make skin whiter and a lot of money is spent on them．”

    It just goes to show that we are never happy with what we have．The grass is always greener on the other side．If the women of the West and East thought the same way，western women wouldn’t spend so much money on cream that makes skin darker and women from the East wouldn’t need to use cream that makes skin whiter．

    根据短文内容，选择最佳答案

1．The writer is telling about her first shopping ___________．

    A．in the East    B．in England    C．in Hong Kong D．in the West

2．What did the writer prepare to do during her visit?

  A．She prepared to buy a T-shirt．

  B．She prepared to enjoy the sun and get darker skin．

  C．She prepared to show some beauty products．

  D．She prepared to make her skin whiter．

3．The writer had white legs because __________．

  A．she lived in a cold and cloudy country

  B．she wanted them to be that way

  C．she didn’t like dark skin

  D．she spent so much money on her legs

4．Why did the writer think the shop girls were laughing at her?

  A．Because the writer was talking with her friend loudly．

  B．Because the writer had no money with her．

  C．Because they talked and laughed at her friend．

  D．Because they didn’t take their eyes off her the whole time．

5．In Chinese．the sentence“The grass is always greener on the other side．”implies(深层含义为)“__________”．

  A．另一边的草地要比这边的绿．

  B．那座山上的草总是绿的。

  C．这山望着那山高。

  D．这山比那山高。

-- I need to get some money for the summer camp.

--Why not _______some from your brother?

A. borrow　　　 B. lend 　　 C. lending 　　D. borrowing

When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelon was expensive. One of my father’s friends, Bernie, was a rich businessman, who owned a large store in St. Paul.
Every summer, when the first watermelons arrived, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernie’s place. We’ d sit on the edge of the dock（码头）, feet dangling（摇晃）, and got ready for a big meal.
Bernie would take his knife, cut our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then we’d bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart—the reddest, juiciest, firmest, sweetest, most seed-free part—and throw away the rest.
Bernie was my father’s idea of a rich man. I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that it was not Bernie’s wealth itself but his way of dealing with it that my father liked. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eat only the heart of the watermelon.
What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. If you don’t take the time to dangle your feet over the dock and enjoy life’s small pleasure, your work is probably hurting your life.
For many years, I forgot that lesson I’d learned as a kid on the loading dock. I was too busy making all the money I could.
Well, I’ve relearned it. I hope I have time left to enjoy the success of others and to take pleasure in the day. That’s the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away.
【小题1】 We learned from the second paragraph that the writer and his father were feeling ______.