I feel it enormous responsibility, as a mother of two little girls, to lead you down a path that is relatively healthy when it comes to beauty and self-image.

????????????? In a lot of women’s eyes I’ve probably already failed in that respect due to the amount of pink princess Barbie (芭比娃娃) mess cluttering up (堆满) Vera’s room. But I will say something about Barbie: I played with that stuff for a solid decade when I was growing up and here I am now at a healthy weight with a healthy outlook on my body and image. I have a successful career. If Barbie was really so damaging to my femininity (女性气质) and self-image I highly doubt I could list all of the accomplishments.

But I get it too. It’s hard for women to maintain a healthy self-image. I have girlfriends around whom I have to brace myself to see, because just being around them makes me self-conscious. I look at old pictures of my mother and wonder why I’ve never been able to be as skinny as she was. And then I have friends who are thinner than their mothers ever were. We women go round and round in circles, holding hands and trying to be one another sometimes. Men like to think we dress and style ourselves for them, but why would we when they hardly notice? I’ve never tried so hard to look good when I know I’m about to meet up with a stylish girlfriend. It’s she who will notice my slimmed-down waist or the thinnest, little bracelet on my arm.

And I have no doubt that the two of you, Veronica and Juliette, will endlessly compare yourselves to each other. You will wonder why one of you got longer legs or shinier hair. The thing I’ll tell you is this: not even the prettiest of us feel settled. The girl you think looks the most perfect in the world is probably the girl who wants to change herself more than anyone else.

Don’t take these on. You are not worthless. You are so full of love and light and you should let it shine through your every second. If someone pushes you down for standing tall then just push yourself back up and stand even taller. And know that the reason they push you down in the first place is just because they’re scared.

1.From the second paragraph, we can infer that the author _____.

A. regrets buying so much Barbie stuff for her daughters

B. thinks loving Barbie makes her not confident about her self-image

C. owes her beauty and success to playing with Barbie

D. thinks playing with Barbie caused no damage to her beauty and success

2.In the third paragraph, the author intends to show that _____.

A. women tend to be proud of their beautiful friends

B. she cares much about her appearance

C. she feels proud of her mother’s beauty

D. women tend to admire others and compare with each other

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The author is disappointed that few men take notice of her slim figure.

B. The author cares more about looking good before her girlfriends.

C. Girls should constantly compare themselves with others to improve their beauty.

D. Only the prettiest girl can feel confident about her beauty.

4.The author advises her daughters that _____.

A. they should be cautious not to be pushed down by others

B. they should care much about their strong points instead of appearances

C. they should try to grow taller than others

D. they should care more about others’ opinions

    The first thing I do when I wake up is make a mental list of all things I have to do that day : I’m very organised ! Then I get up and have my bath．Often my best matchmaking ideas come while I’m in the bath．Sometimes I have a really good idea about who might be good with whom．

    Before I did matchmaking （媒人） , I was a social worker, but I knew I wanted to do something without bosses telling me what to do and that I am good at dealing with people．Also I had seen too many broken marriages and too many people go downhill because they were so lonely．So I gave up my job, did a bit of research and started the matchmaking business in 1970．

    Over the last few years we’ve been doing introductions throughout Europe as well as here in Britain．Europeans went to meet British people．For every 100 people who come to us, about 65 will settle down．We keep going until clients （委托人） find someone that they get on very well with．We’re great triers．Of course there are impossible people, those who will never settle…

    Sometimes I end up giving advice to clients．A few months ago, we had a highly paid scientist with a very nice face, but every woman refused to meet him a second time, It soon became clear that he did not like changing his shirts．So I had to be very honest and frank and told him, “But a woman can’t start to love you if your shirt smells．” The job is most satisfying when I get a call from a couple telling me they have fallen in love．

1．What does the author mean by saying “I’m very organised”? ______．

[    ]

A．She is especially capable of organising things．

B．She has a fixed plan for her everyday activities．

C．She likes to remember things she has to do．

D．She always finishes what she does on time．

2．What was the personal factor that made the author change her job? ______． 

[    ]

A．She was warm and kind-hearted

B．She could understand people better than others

C．She liked to make her own decisions

D．She was interested in social problems

3．The author’s description of her work in the third paragraph suggests that ______．

[　　]

A．She worked hard and would not give up easily．

B．She tried hard in doing introductions throughout Europe．

C．She tried hard in doing introductions throughout Europe．

D．She liked the British people to get married with the Europeans．

4．Who are those people who are “impossible” and “will never settle”? ______．

[　　]

A．Those who make things impossible for themselves

B．Those who always travel around

C．Those who find it hard to live in one place

D．Those who can never find a partner for marriage

 One stormy night many years ago, an elderly man and his wife entered a small hotel in Philadelphia. Trying to get out of the   36 _, the couple went to the front desk hoping to  37 for the night.

“Could you   38   give us a room here?” the husband asked.

The clerk, a   39   man with a winning smile, looked at the couple and   40   that there were three conventions(大会) in town.

“All of our   41   are taken,” the clerk said. “But I can’t send a   42   couple like you 43   into the rain at 1 o’clock in the morning. Would you please be   44   to sleep in my room? It’s not exactly a suite（套房）, but it will be good enough to make you   45   for the night.”

The couple said no politely.

“Don’t   46   me. It is just fine with me,” the clerk told them.

As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the clerk, “You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel. Maybe someday I’ll build   47   for you.” The three of them had a good   48  .

Two years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten it   49   he received a letter from the old man. It recalled(使回忆) that stormy night and contained a round-trip（双程的）   50   to New York, asking the young man to pay them a visit. The old man met him in New York, and   51  him to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34^th Street.

He then pointed to a great new   52   there,  a palace of reddish stone. “That,” said the old man, “is the hotel I have just built for you to   53_ .”

“You must be   54  ,” the young man said.

“I am sure I am not,” said the old man, the name of   55   was William Waldorf Astor, and the magnificent structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The young clerk, George C. Boldt became its first manager.

1.A. rain             B. anger          C. snow           D. hunger

2. A. leave           B. go             C. stay           D. look

3. A. surely          B. possibly       C. really         D. freely