Yesterday my grandfather told me about his early days．  1   he left school，he found a job in a post office．He worked hard in the   2  ．Soon he had more money than his friends  3  his hard work．It seemed that he would have a bright future．

When he was 25 years old，however，he began to   4   his job．He wanted a more exciting one，so he left the post office．Two months   5  he found a new job in a big company．Workers in this company   6   travelled a lot．At first he really enjoyed the travelling．But after a year，he began to bate   7  ．He had to   8   and he was always in a car or on a train．The worst thing was that he  9   make any new friends! Even so，his boss was not satisfied with him．Two years later be had to leave the company．

He was   10   at that time so he sold his house．He bad to accept（接受）a part-time job in a book shop．He was surprised to find that he loved it! He made new friends every day and he enjoyed   11   books．Three years later，he   12   the shop owner's daughter．Soon they had their first child．In the next ten years，they had another three   13   and four more book shops! He became very rich indeed．

“Life is wonderful，” he   14   me．“The   15   important thing is that you should always try your best．Never give up!"

1．A．While             B．When                  C．Until                      D．If

2．A．factory                  B．theatre                 C．bank                      D．post office

3．A．because                 B．because of                  C．as                          D．since

4．A．dislike            B．1ike                     C．love                       D．be crazy about

5．A．ago                       B．before                  C．later                       D．after

6．A．almost            B．usually                 C．seldom                   D．never

7．A．it                   B．him                     C．her                        D．us

8．A．stay in one place      B．move around        C．make noise             D．make a wish

9．A．can't                     B．was able to           C．couldn't                 D．could

10．A．happy                  B．energetic              C．rich                       D．poor

11．A．to read                 B．read                     C．reading                  D．reads

12 A．married                  B．understood           C．met                       D．visited

13．A．sisters                 B．brothers               C．children                 D．cousins

14．A．said                     B．spoke                  C．talked                     D．told

15．A．best                     B．much                   C．more                     D．most

I know nothing about it                      he told me.

       A．because                 B．since                      C．until                       D．after

You want to know about my staying in America, right? Well, to tell you the truth, it is really an eye-opening experience to study here.
In China, I had English classes five times a week since fifth grade. However, I didn’t know how different textbook English could be from everyday English until I came to Hotchkiss School, Connecticut.
When I first studied English, I was told to say,” I am fine” when people say “How are you?” But in the US, I found that people say, “I am good” or “I’m tired”.
One day, someone greeted me with “What’s up?” It made me confused . I thought for a moment and then smiled because I didn’t know what to say.
Since then, I have discovered more and more differences between Chinese and US cultures.
To my surprise, US girls spend a lot of time in the burning sun to get a tan(晒黑). However, in China, girls try every possible way to get their skin paler, or “whiter”.
I was also surprised by how hardworking US students are.  In China, schoolwork is almost everything, so we study hard and that’s it. But here, a “good” student gets good grades, does a lot for the public and plays sports or music.
The kids here are so talented, I am starting to be sorry that I gave up playing the piano at an early age and that I have never thought about sports.
【小题1】 What does the word “confused” in the fourth paragraph mean in Chinese ?