It all began with a stop at a red light．

       Kevin Salwen was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, back from a sleepover in 2006 While waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes Coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other．

"Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal," Hannah protested． The light changed and they drove on, but Hannah was too young to be reasonable．She pestered （纠缠）her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something．

       "What do you want to do?" her mom responded．"Sell our house?"

Warning! Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager．Hannah seized upon the idea of selling the luxurious family home and donating half the proceeds to charity, while using the other half to buy a more modest replacement home．

Eventually, that's what the family did．The project —crazy, impetuous （鲁莽的） and utterly inspiring —is written down in detail in a book by father and daughter scheduled to be published next month: "The Power of Half．" It's a book that, frankly, I'd be nervous about leaving around where my own teenage kids might find it．An impressionable child reads this, and the next tiling you know your whole family is out on the street。

At a time of enormous needs in Haiti and elsewhere, when so many Americans are trying to help Haitians by sending everything from text messages to shoes, the Salwens offer an example of a family that came together to make a difference —for themselves as much as the people they were trying to help．In a column a week ago, It described neurological （神经学的）evidence from brain scans that unselfishness lights up parts of the brain normally associated with more primary satisfaction．The Salwens' experience confirms the selfish pleasures of selflessness．

Mr．Salwen and his wife, Joan, had always assumed that their kids would be better off in a bigger house．But after they downsized, there was much less space to retreat to, so the family members spent more time around each other．A smaller house unexpectedly turned out to be a more family-friendly house．

50．The best title for the passage should be "______"．

       A．The Less, the Better                  B．An Expected Satisfaction

       C．Something We Can Live Without        D．Somewhat Crazy but Inspiring

51．What does the underlined word "inequity" most probably mean in Paragraph 3?

       A．Unfairness                           B．Satisfaction

       C．Personal attitude                        D．Reasonable statement

52．What does the underlined sentence " Never suggest a grand gesture to an idealistic teenager．" （in paragraph 5） means? ______

       A．Never give a quick answer to an idealistic teenager

       B．Unless a child is realistic, never give an answer immediately

       C．Give an answer if the child is reasonable

       D．Don't respond to a child's demands firmly without consideration

53．What can we learn from the last paragraph?

       A．The Salwens regretted selling their house．

       B．The relationship between the family members of the Salwens is much closer．

       C．Small houses can bring happiness．

       D．The Salwens intend to buy another big house．

54．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．Mercedes Coupe is only an ordinary car which is quite cheap．

       B．Unselfishness has nothing to do with people's primary satisfaction．

       C．Hannah asked her parents to do something charitable and they sold their house．

       D．The writer's children asked him to sell their house．

China has a growing love affair with the cars．This is clear at the Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange, where more and more people come to look and increasingly to buy．
Alice Wu is an editor at a Chinese Internet publication．She takes the subway to work, but she is certain she can cut her commute time if she drives herself．Wu says it takes her three hours to get to work now．If she had a car, she says, the same trip would only take her two hours．
The Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange is the biggest car dealership in Beijing．General manager Guo Yong says the business sells more than two thousand cars each week．Guo says it is much easier for Chinese consumers to buy a car now．In the past, it would take them several years to earn enough money to buy a new car．Now, he says, many people only need to save for one year．Also, the emergence of less expensive domestic brands like Chery and BYD means more Chinese can afford cars．
For decades, most Chinese city residents got about by bicycle or public buses and trains．Now, in many areas, the number of new cars is growing faster than the road system, leaving city streets jammed with traffic．Guo Liang has wanted to buy a car for a decade, and he will be the first in his family to own one．He is not deterred by Beijing's traffic jams．Guo says if the traffic is too bad, he will use the car for leisure or holidays with his family．Another customer, Zhang Menxin, works in Beijing, but is from Xi'an, more than 900 kilometers away．Zhang says it is very difficult to get a train ticket to return home for Chinese New Year．She adds that train is not convenient．If she had her own car, she says, she could go anytime she wanted to．
World Bank transportation specialist Shomik Mendhiratta says, “Getting a car makes people feel like they have arrived to the middle class, and it's got a huge status associated with it．It's a fantastic thing to have．”
【小题1】The underlined word "deterred" in the 4^th paragraph probably means           .

China has a growing love affair with the cars．This is clear at the Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange, where more and more people come to look and increasingly to buy．

Alice Wu is an editor at a Chinese Internet publication．She takes the subway to work, but she is certain she can cut her commute time if she drives herself．Wu says it takes her three hours to get to work now．If she had a car, she says, the same trip would only take her two hours．

The Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange is the biggest car dealership in Beijing．General manager Guo Yong says the business sells more than two thousand cars each week．Guo says it is much easier for Chinese consumers to buy a car now．In the past, it would take them several years to earn enough money to buy a new car．Now, he says, many people only need to save for one year．Also, the emergence of less expensive domestic brands like Chery and BYD means more Chinese can afford cars．

For decades, most Chinese city residents got about by bicycle or public buses and trains．Now, in many areas, the number of new cars is growing faster than the road system, leaving city streets jammed with traffic．Guo Liang has wanted to buy a car for a decade, and he will be the first in his family to own one．He is not deterred by Beijing's traffic jams．Guo says if the traffic is too bad, he will use the car for leisure or holidays with his family．Another customer, Zhang Menxin, works in Beijing, but is from Xi'an, more than 900 kilometers away．Zhang says it is very difficult to get a train ticket to return home for Chinese New Year．She adds that train is not convenient．If she had her own car, she says, she could go anytime she wanted to．

World Bank transportation specialist Shomik Mendhiratta says, “Getting a car makes people feel like they have arrived to the middle class, and it's got a huge status associated with it．It's a fantastic thing to have．”

60．The underlined word "deterred" in the 7^th paragraph probably means            .

       A．encouraged       B．attracted              C．discouraged         D．astonished

61．The reason why Zhang Menxin wants to buy a car is that           .

       A．she doesn't like to go to work by subway．

       B．she wants to use the car for leisure or holidays with her family

       C．the place where she works is far from her house

       D．it is hard and inconvenient for her to go home in Xi'an by train．

62．The best title for the passage should be "          "

       A．China is developing rapidly in the past few years．

       B．More Chinese Hitting the road in their own cars．

       C．More cars sold by the Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange

       D．Cars made China a country on wheels．

63．According to what Shomik Mendhiratta in the last paragraph, the car is ____ for the person who owns it．

       A．a status symbol                       B．a means of transportation

       C．of little value                           D．a heavy burden

The day was Thankful Thursday. It's a weekly tradition that my two little girls and I began years ago. Thursday has become our day to go out and make a positive contribution. On this particular Thursday, we had no idea exactly what we were going to do. At noon, I drove to a McDonald’s with my daughters because they kept complaining that they hadn’t had enough to eat at breakfast. There we saw some homeless people in the street and we bought lunch for them.
We were about to complete when we found a small woman standing at the corner, asking for change. We handed her some food, and then started to head home. Suddenly from the mirror of the car, I saw the woman waving at us, so I had to turn around and stopped where the small woman stood. She walked to our car, and said, "Thank you, lady! No one has ever done anything like this for me before." I replied, "Well, I'm glad that we were the first." Feeling uneasy, and wanting to move the conversation along, I asked, "So, when do you think you'll eat your lunch?"
She just looked at me with her huge, tired brown eyes and said, "Oh honey, I'm not going to eat this lunch." I was confused, but before I could say anything, she continued. "You see, I have a little girl of my own at home and she just loves McDonald's, but I can never buy it for her because I just don't have the money. But you know what…tonight she is going to have McDonald's!"
I don't know if the kids noticed the tears in my eyes. So many times I had questioned whether our Acts of Kindness were too small to have effect on those poor people. Yet at that moment, I realized the truth of Mother Teresa's words: "We cannot do great things — only small things with great love."
【小题1】
According to this passage, the small woman was ______.

FOR many young people, having to attend school with a parent would be their worst nightmare. However, Senior 1 student Li Qinmei is happy taking her father with her as long as she can go to classes. He is disabled and unable to take care of himself.
The 16-year-old country girl in Zhucheng, Shandong Province has experienced one disaster after another in her short life. Li lost her mother at three. Four years later, her father became paralyzed after a tractor accident. At 12, her misfortune returned with the death of her grandma. Since then she has been forced to shoulder all the responsibility for her broken family.
Li learnt to cook and managed to live a life with an allowance of only 24 yuan per month. The most difficult thing she had to deal with was helping her father bathe, dress and use the toilet as he could hardly move.
"I felt embarrassed, and so did my dad. It was really hard at the beginning," she recalled.
During most of her junior school years, Li went to classes only once a month as her father was seriously ill at the time.
"I taught myself at home and asked teachers for help on my school days," she explained.
Li's hard work paid off this fall. She was admitted by Zhucheng No 1 High School, a local key school, based on her good performance in the entrance exams.
The school offered Li and her father a room on campus to live in so she could look after him during breaks.
Once in a while, Li felt sad when she saw her classmates going shopping or hanging out with friends.
"I envy them sometimes because they have both mum and dad to look after them. However, I soon feel relieved as I still have my dad with me," she said.
Li admitted that the difficulties in life had taught her to be strong.
"I believe I will go on and continue my studies at a good university," she said, in a confident tone.
Her teacher Mr. Wang has the same belief. Li made great progress in the recent monthly exams. "She works hard and is always eager to excel (好强的). It's not easy for her never to be late for school, but she has managed to make it work," Wang said.
【小题1】Li Qinmei has to shoulder the family because ________.