About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his shiny, black, Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.
He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child came out, but a brick sailed out and — WHUMP! — it hit the Jag’s shiny black side door! SCREECH...!!!! Immediately Josh stopped the car, jumped out, seized the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. “That’s my new car.  That brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"
"Please, mister, please....I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!" begged the boy. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" Tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car. "It’s my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled of the curb (路沿) and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up. "Sobbing, the boy asked the businessman," Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words, the young businessman tried hard to swallow (咽下) the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapers and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to the black, shining Jaguar XKE — a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you.
57. The boy threw a brick at the businessman’s car because ____________.
A. the businessman drove at a high speed                   B. he envied the new car very much
C. he wanted to ask for some money                         D. he wanted to get help from the driver
58. Which of the following is the right order of the story?
a. The younger brother threw a brick at Josh’s car.  b. The elder brother fell out of his wheelchair.
c. The younger brother begged Josh for help. 
d. Josh lifted the elder brother back into his wheelchair.   e. Josh shouted at the younger brother.
A.b, a, e, c, d        B. a, c, d, b, e          C. b, a, c, e, d    D. a, c, b, e, d
59. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Josh would accept the money from the kids.          B. The two kids were Josh’s neighbors.
C. Josh was a kind-hearted man.                               D. Josh’s new car broke down easily.
60. According to the passage, the underlined sentence in the last paragraph means ____________.
A. trying to get ready for the trouble in your future life
B. driving fast in a neighborhood street is dangerous
C. trying to be more understanding seeing others in trouble
D. protecting oneself from being hurt

Language is a major problem for the European Union (EU). The agreement or treaty (条约) which created the organization that eventually became the EU, the Treaty of Rome, stated that each country's language must be treated equally. The original six countries had only three languages between them: French. German and Dutch/Flemish. However, there are now 15 countries in the EU, with a total of 12 languages. EU documents must be translated into all these languages, and at official meetings the speeches must be translated into all the languages by interpreters.

All this translating is very expensive and time-consuming (费时的). it is said that nearly half of all employees of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches, and nearly half of the EU's administrative(管理方面的) costs are spent on this task. In the near future it is probably that several more countries, most of them having their own languages, will join the EU, thus making the situation even worse.

The problem is not just cost: there are practical difficulties as well. With 12 languages, there are 132 possible "translation situations" that might be needed. It is often' difficult to find people in the right place at the right time who can translate from (for example) Danish into Greek, or Dutch into Portuguese, at a high professional standard.

In practice the problem has been made less serious by the use of English in many contacts between EU officials, since almost all of them speak some English. However, any move to reduce the number of official languages (perhaps to four or five) would be a blow to the pride of the smaller countries. Another commonly suggested solution is to make English the official language for all EU business. However, powerful member countries like France and Germany are strongly against it.

1.What's the main purpose of this passage?

A. To give a solution to a problem.                       

B. To discuss a problem and show how serious it is.

C. To criticize the European Union for inefficiency(效率低).

D. To show that the problem cannot be solved.

2.According to the writer, the use of English in contacts among EU officials has ________.

A. angered the officials who don't speak English                 

B. reduced the number of official languages

C. made the problem less serious                        

D. been opposed by powerful member countries

3.In paragraph three, the writer mentions "Danish into Greek" as an example of ________.

A. a situation that might be difficult to deal with                           

B. a situation that occurs often

C. one of the 12 situations that requires an interpreter             

D.languages that are easy to translate

4.The writer suggests that if the number of official languages was reduced _______.

A. the EU would not know which official languages to choose

B. countries whose languages were not used officially would be unhappy

C. only languages that are easy to translate would be used officially

D. the smaller member countries would be pleased 

The medicine bought at a high price turned out to have no _____. 

The new studies show that fewer than half of the 9th graders in many of the nation’s largest cities, can ever graduate. The studies clearly show that the dropout rate isn’t dropping. And, in particular, the dropout rate isn’t dropping for poor and minority students.

    Amazingly, though so many regret the rising dropout rate, our schools continue to lack formal plans--or any plans--to teach students motivation(动机). Most schools have no game plan to ensure that students understand that school will be completely necessary. Schools expect youth and children to act as though school is important, but they never teach them to believe that.

    Years ago, families ensured that the offspring recognized the value of school. But in many modern families, the children may fail to recognize the importance of school life just because these families may actually tell the child that school is not important. Since many families are not motivating their children to be interested students, youth professionals, like teachers may need to provide this training. Otherwise, it is likely the dropout rate will continue not to drop, but only worsen.

    Here are some strategies to convince even the most apathetic (无动于衷的) students that they must stay in school.

    Ask students if they will ever need to work: The world has changed. 100 years ago, factory work was the booming job, and it required no education. Today, factories are increasingly automated. Most computer-related jobs require education and at least a high school diploma.

    Ask students which century they will be prepared for: In 1900, the most common jobs were farm laborer and domestic servant—education not needed. Now, the most common jobs are office and sales worker—education and diploma usually needed. An amazing 6 out of 10 people today work in a store or office.

    Ask students to devise a way that the employee could be replaced. For example, the coming trend in fast food is to use computers rather than people to run the restaurant. A prototype is apparently already being tested. The students should discover that most jobs that lack education and diploma requirements may be ripe for automation.

What does the underlined part mean in Paragraph1?

  A. Few students can afford to go to school in large cities.

  B. A large number of the 9^th grades can graduate now.

  C. There are still quite a few 9^th graders leaving school early.

  D. Most schools in large cities have fewer and fewer students.

Without the help of youth professionals,_____.

   A. more and more families will gradually recognize the value of school.

   B. some parents will be more convinced of their children’s future.

   C. it is likely that the dropout rate in schools won’t continue to drop.

   D. the schools will make proper plans to solve the problems with dropout.

The author takes factory work for example mainly to ______.

   A. tell us that many jobs requires certain education in the past

   B. show that there are more factory work and employment in modern society

   C. show that employment in the computer field grows at a high rate

   D. emphasize that modern jobs require education and schools are necessary

It can be inferred that______.

  A. both schools and families should answer for the high dropout rate

  B. many new jobs don’t need children’s high school diploma

  C. working in a store doesn’t require a high school diploma

  D. most schools are ready to help students recognize the importance of study

If students play the “Replace Me” game, the result would be “______”.

A. They will know that they can ‘always’ do without a diploma

B. More of them will drop out early to go to work

C. They will discover that lack education is a disadvantage in choosing jobs

D. They will become better at using computers to hunt for a job

Balzac was good at buying things at its lowest price. One day he wanted to buy a vase in a shop window that was much more expensive than he could offer. Not being able to make the shopkeeper cut down its price very much, he left without further talking. Collecting a half dozen of his friends, he explained his wish to them and they worked a plan. The first would enter the shop and make an offer, lower than the marked price. Not getting the vase at his price, he would walk out. Shortly after another would enter and ask for a price lower than the first. In this way, each of the others would offer a price lower than the one before, and the last of his friends made a great effort to attempt to get it at the lowest price. Before long Balzac himself would return, offer more than the last two or three persons made and trust to luck. The plan worked--- Balzac got the vase at his price!
【小题1】Which of the following is true according to the passage?