Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站)about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.

I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend's. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.

I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.

Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池)was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership - a shop selling cars - was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.

"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?" I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.

"Thank you" - two powerful words. They're easy to say and mean so much.

The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City_________.

A. to visit a friend

B. to see his parents

C. to pay at the cash register

D. to have more gas for his car

The words “took off” underlined in Paragraph 2 mean “______”.

A. turned off   B. moved off   C. put up   D. set up

What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?

A. He had it pulled back to the gas station.

B. The couple sent him a business card.

C. The couple offered to help him.    

D. He called his friend for help.

The battery of the author’s car was dead because_______.

A. something went wrong with the lights

B. the meeting lasted a whole day

C. he forgot to turn off the lights

D. he drove too long a distance

By telling his own experiences, the author tries to show______.

A. how to write a thank-you letter

B. how to deal with car problems

C. the kind-heartedness of older people

D. the importance of expressing thanks

As I was driving out of the store parking lot, they crossed in front of me．My first reaction was filled with   36   at being delayed for a whole ten seconds．But I quickly became   37   when I realized that it was an elderly   38    ．

       The man leaned on his   39   who walked in front of him．He not only used her for   40   but it was obvious that he was blind．The two of them  _41   as one—each needing the other to  42     in this fast-changing world．

   That little example of true strength   43   my whole personal perception(理解) of life that day．Suddenly I wasn’t so   44  having to work a few extra hours on Saturdays．I had my    45  ，and I was still   46   young．

   That picture of those two elderly people walking with dignity(尊严) and strength   47   me the entire week．My   48   wasn’t so bad after all．I had my health and a good job．I had a wonderful，          49   wife．I started to think—not only was I   50   to have these all, but so was that wonderful old couple，who， _51   the trials and sufferings of a long life，still had the love and support of each other to   52    them through this world．

   There are so many people out there just like that couple．My wife and I sometimes   53  ourselves in our old age, walking arm in arm into the sunset. That image always gives us a    54  feeling．Just remember, none of us would be here if it wasn’t for our elders．We all should spend a little extra time and patience,   55   helping our elder friends．

1.A . tension           B. anger            C. surprise             D. puzzle

2.A. nervous                B. worried          C. patient              D. satisfied

3.A. couple                 B. driver               C. policeman            D. truck

4. A. friend                B. daughter             C. wife                 D. mother  

5. A. fun               B. free                 C. support              D. care

6.A. worked             B. stood            C. thought              D. considered

7. A. warn              B. point                C. remind               D. function

8.A. ruin               B. remove           C. change               D. fail

9.A. sure of                B. mad about            C. excited with         D. curious about

10.A. courage           B. freedom          C. dream            D. strength

11.A. similarly             B. extremely        C. naturally        D. relatively

12.A. agreed with           B. stayed with     C. happened to     D. connected with

13.A. family                B. plan             C. life            D. salary

14.A. supportive            B. famous               C. active          D. pretty

15. A. lucky                B. fit             C. willing              D. eager

16.A. unless                B. despite              C. owing to        D. since

17.A. challenge             B. value            C. carry                D. arrange

18. A. picture              B. share            C. compare          D. teach

19.A. sad               B. bitter          C. serious            D. warm

20. A. in case of           B. regardless of        C. as a result of      D. when it comes to

My father was Chief Engineer of a merchant ship, which was sunk in World War Ⅱ. The book Night of the U­boats told the story.

Memories

In September ，1940，my mother ,sister and I went to Swansea ,where my father ‘s ship was getting ready to sail ,we brought him a family photography to be kept with him at all times and keep him safe .

Then I remember my mother lying face down ,sobbing .she had heard from a friend that the ship had been sunk by a torpedo (鱼雷).

I can remember the arrived of the telegram（电报），which in those days always brought bad news .my grandmother opened it ,it read ,safe .love ted.”

My most vivid memory is being woken and brought down to sit on my father’s knee, his arm in a bandage .

He was judged unfit to return to sea and took a shore job in Glasgow for the rest of the war, for as long as I can remember ,he had a weak heart ,mother said it was caused by the torpedoes .he said it was because of the cigarette ,whichever ,he died suddenly in his early 50s.

Ten years later I read night of the U-boat and able to complete the story .

A toast

In my room is the book and the photograph .often , glass in hand, I have wondered how I would have dealt with an explosion ,a sinking ship ,a jump into a vast ocean and a wait for rescue ?lest (以免 )we forget ,I have some more whisky and toast the heroes of the war.

1.We can infer that the mother and children went to Swansea ________.

A. to meet a friend               B. to see the father off

C. to take a family photo          D. to enjoy the sailing of the ship

2.What did the author learn about the father from the telegram?

A. he was still alive.              B. His knee was broken.

C. His ship had been sunk.         D. He had arrived in Glasgow.

3.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 6 refers to the father’s ________.

A. weak heart                   B. taking a shore job

C. failure to return to sea          D. injury caused by a torpedo

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. A group of forgotten heroes            

B. A book describing a terrifying battle.

C. A ship engineer’s wartime experience.      

D. A merchant’s memories of a sea rescue.

When Mike told me he was leaving I felt like a vase which had just broken. There were pieces of me all over the tidy floor. He kept talking, telling me why he was leaving,   31   it was for the best, I could do better, it was his   32   and not mine. I had heard it before many times and yet somehow was still hurt; perhaps one cannot   33   such pain.

He left and I tried to   34   my life. I filled the kettle (水壶), put it on to boil, took out my old red cup and   35   the coffee powder falling into the bone china. Somehow when the kettle piped its finishing warning, I   36   not to hear it. That’s what Mike’s leaving had been like, sudden and with a(n)   37   end. I would rather just   38   in uncertainty than have things finished. I laughed at myself. Just about a cup of coffee, I must be getting   39  .

And yet it was a young woman who   40   back at me from the mirror, a young woman full of   41   and hope, a young woman with bright eyes just waiting to see the world.  42  , there are more important things. More important than   43  , I insist to myself firmly. The lid goes back on the coffee just like closing on the whole Mike experience.