In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue skies. One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet （小鹦鹉）on my finger, I wanted to show Perky   36   the sky looked like. Maybe he could make a little bird   37  out there. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my   38  , Perky flew off. The enormous（巨大的）, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue   39  and suddenly he had gone, clipped wings and all.

Kathy managed to   40  me. With fake optimism（乐观）, she even tried to reassure（安慰）me that Perky would find a new   41  . But I was far too clever to   42  that such a thing was possible.

Forty years later, I watched my own   43  growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the   44  of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the   45  of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed（宣称）to   46  the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog.   47  Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and   48  that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.

"The best thing   49  Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the   50  we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just   51  down and landed on my finger."

When I was finally able to   52  , we examined the amazing evidence（证据）. The dates, the locations and the pictures of the bird all   53  . It seems our two families had been  54   long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were   55   ! Perky lived!"

1. A. what              B. how              C. which            D. where

2.A. food               B. nest             C. friend           D. family

3.A. joy                B. horror           C. disappointment   D. satisfaction

4. A. pleasure          B. sadness          C. treasure         D. sense

5.A. forgive            B. comfort          C. help             D. delight

6.A. parent             B. home             C. master           D. life

7.A. imagine            B. suppose          C. doubt            D. believe

8. A. birds             B. happiness        C. worries          D. children

9.A. parents            B. birds            C. interests        D. games

10.A. first             B. best             C. last             D. happiest

11. A. catch            B. find             C. buy              D. have

12.A. Suddenly          B. Fortunately      C. Then             D. However

13.A. announced         B. said             C. told             D. hoped

14. A. in               B. about            C. of               D. on

15. A. day              B. place            C. way              D. story

16. A. floated          B. slipped          C. settled          D. went

17. A. think            B. speak            C. interrupt        D. explain

18.A. came up           B. turned up        C. turned out       D. matched up

19. A. known            B. fastened         C. connected        D. introduced

20.A. right     B. wrong            C. silly            D. mad

  When you are at odds with someone close to you, the One-Minute Drill can show you how to express your feelings effectively – and how to listen more skillfully. All it requires is two individuals who are committed to improving their relationship.

Set aside at least ten minutes, and then sit facing each other. Decide who will be the Talker and who will be the Listener. It makes no difference, because later you will change roles.

How to perform the One-Minute Drill

For approximately 30 seconds, the Talker can say anything he or she wants. Your job will be to express your thoughts and feelings. You can discuss problems you've had a hard time talking about. Remember to limit yourself to about 30 seconds. When the Talker finishes, the Listener will summarize what the Talker just said, as well as how the Talker was feeling inside, as accurately as possible.

The Talker now gives the Listener a grade between 0 and 100 per cent to indicate how accurate the summary was. If the rating is 95 per cent or more, you can change roles; the new Talker can continue with the same topic or move on to something entirely new.

However, if the grade is below 95 per cent, the Talker should point out what the Listener missed or got wrong, and repeat the process until the overall rating is 95 per cent or more. Then you can change roles and repeat the exercise for as long as you both like.

How it works

Thirty seconds of emotionally charged information is sufficiently challenging for anyone. Express your feelings in strong, clear, direct language, but as your partner will be listening attentively, you won't need to shout, exaggerate or put your partner down.

The Listener should sit and listen respectfully without interrupting. Look into your partner's eyes, but avoid using negative body language. If you like, take a few notes.

So the Talker might say: "When I come home from work, I feel tired and I need some quiet time. But you tell me I'm supposed to spend time with the kids. This makes me feel frustrated. I work hard and I'm exhausted at the end of the day. I feel like I deserve a little time to relax, not listen to more demands."

In response, the Listener might summarize like this: "You just told me that you feel exhausted when you come home at night because you've been working hard all day. When I tell you I want you to spend time with the kids, you feel frustrated and ticked off because you're tired and you need time to relax. You see me as very demanding, and you're probably feeling like I don't appreciate you."

The first time you attempt the One-Minute Drill, you may get a low score. Don't worry, because you'll get up to speed quickly. Once you've tried this exercise a few times, you'll find that you can nearly always get ratings of 95 per cent or better on the first or second try.

1. Who is the One-Minute Drill intended for?

2.Which of the following is NOT true?

3.From the example given in “How it works,” we can guess that the talk might be between _____.

4.What does the underlined part “ticked off” probably mean in this reading?

A father sat at his desk poring over his monthly bills when his young son rushed in and announced, "Dad, because this is your birthday and you're 40 years old, I'm going to give you 40 kisses, one for each year!" When the boy started making good on his word, the father cried out suddenly, "Oh, Andrew, don't do it now; I'm too busy!"

The youngster immediately fell silent as tears welled up in his big blue eyes．Apologicaliy the father said, "You can finish later．"

The boy said nothing but quietly walked away, disappointment written over his face．That evening the father said, "Come and finish the kisses now, Andrew!" But the boy didn't respond．

Unfortunately, a few days later after this incident, the boy had an accident and was drowned．His heartbroken father wrote．．．

"If only I could tell him how much I regret my thoughtless words, and could be sure that he knows how much my heart is aching．"

Love is not only giving．Any loving act must be warmly accepted or it will be taken as rejection and can leave a scar．If we are too busy to give and receive love, we are too busy! Nothing is more important than responding with love to the cry for love from those who are near and precious to us, because there may be no chance at all as in the case of the little boy．

What does the underlined phrase "poring over" mean?

       A．looking in on                       B．looking out for

       C．looking through                     D．looking around

The boy is going to give his father 40 kisses because ______．

       A．his father is very busy

       B．this is the boy' birthday

       C．the boy wants to play with his father

       D．this is his father' birthday and he's 40 years old

What happened to the youngster later?

       A．His heart was broken．            B．．He died unexpectedly．

       C．He ran away from home．        D．He fell silent all the time．

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

       A．A Love Story                    B．Love Your Son

       C．A Father and a Son                D．Love is a Two-way Street

I was born and raised in Hong Kong．For the past six years, I've been living in the United States．I work as a salesgirl in a large department store．Right now I'm going through a difficult period of my life which is hard for me to talk about．

A few months ago, I went to Hong Kong for a visit．It was the first time I'd gone back there since coming to the United States．I was eager to see my parents, my brothers, my sisters and my friends．

I really got a shock when I arrived．Hong Kong was not the same city as I left six years ago．Things had changed so much that I didn't recognize parts of it．My primary school was gone．The houses on the street where I used to live had been torn down and replaced by office buildings．

The shock from the physical changes in the city, however, was nothing compares to the confusion and hurt I soon began to feel in my parents' home．My family greeted warmly when I arrived．While my mother was busy preparing a special dinner in my honor, the rest of the family eagerly asked me questions about my life in the United States．I felt happy that day and for a couple of days after, but then I began to feel that something was wrong．I noticed that my family, especially my mother, would sometimes glance at me in a strange way when I was speaking．They gradually became less warm and friendly towards me, I became uncomfortable and confused as to why they were behaving that day．

I decided to talk to my mother．She asked me, "Have you forgotten your Chinese way?" I asked her what she meant．She asked, "You've forgotten the place of women in a Chinese home．You talk when you should remain silent．You speak on matters that of concern only to men．You speak openly of your inner feelings and desires．That's not the way of a Chinese woman．We keep our thoughts and feelings to ourselves．

1.I was born and raised in Hong Kong．Here raise means______．

A．bring up       B．stay           C．become higher   D．live

2.What shocked the author most during her visit in Hong Kong?

A．The physical changes in Hong Kong．

B．Her primary school didn't exist any longer．

C．She couldn't recognize parts of Hong Kong．

D．The confusion and hurt she experienced in her parents' home．

3.Why did the author's family become less warm and friendly towards her?

A．She had forgotten her role as a woman．

B．She didn't follow the Chinese custom about how a woman should behave at home．

C．She spoke of her inner feelings and desires directly．

D．She talked about matters that were not concerned with women．

4.The best title for this passage is _______．

A．My Trip in Hong Kong                               B．The Changes in Hong Kong

C．Caught Between Two Cultures                        D．The Chinese Way

Once there was a man who had two children, a boy and a girl. The boy was good-looking but the girl was not.

One day they found a mirror for the first time and they saw what they looked like. The boy was very pleased and he said to his sister, "How handsome I am! I look much nicer than you!"

The girl did not like what her brother said and gave him a hard push.

"Go away!" she said.

Their father saw what was happening. He went up to them and said to the boy,

"You must always BE good as well as LOOK good."

Then to the girl he said, "My dear, if you help everyone and do your best to please him, everyone will love you. It does not matter that you are not as good-looking as your brother."

1. Once a man had ____.

2. The boy saw what he looked like in the mirror and was pleased because he ____.

3.The girl gave the boy a hard push because ____.

4.Father told the girl that ____.

5.What can we learn from this story?