It was getting dark and snow was coming down. Joe was driving home. He'd been unemployed since the factory closed. Most of his friends had left, but he stayed on. After all, he was born here. Suddenly he saw a lady standing on the side of the road and then he pulled up. She was worried. No one had stopped to help her. Was he going to hurt her? He looked poor and hungry. Joe knew how she felt and said, “My name is Joe and I'm here to help you.” All she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe changed the tire, but he got dirty and his hands were hurt.

She wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right. Joe never thought twice about the money and there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed. Later the lady went in a small restaurant to take a bite to eat. The cash register was like the telephone of an out-of-work actor-it didn't ring much. The waitress, who was nearly eight months pregnant (怀孕) brought a clean towel to her with a sweet smile. The old lady remembered Joe. After the waitress brought the change from a 100-dollar bill, she found the lady gone and something written on a piece of paper “Someone once helped me out-the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don't let the chain of love end with you.” That night the waitress gave her sleeping husband a soft kiss and whispered, “Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”

1.What did Joe do that dark snowy evening?

2.The underlined sentence “she wanted to pay Joe and...”suggests that ________.

3.We can learn from this passage that ________.

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

I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.

“Mom, come here! There’s this lady here my size!”

The mother rushed to her son; then she turned to me to apologize.

I smiled and told her, “It’s okay.” Then I talked to the boy, “Hi, I’m Darryl Kramer. How are you?”

He studied me from head to toe, and asked, “Are you a little mommy?”

“Yes, I have a son,” I answered.

“Why are you so little?” he asked.

“It’s the way I was born,” I said. “Some people are little. Some are tall. I’m just not going to grow any bigger.” After I answered his other questions, I shook the boy’s hand, and left.

My life as a little person is filled with stories like that. I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.

It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness. I stand three feet nine inches tall. I was born an achondroplasia dwarf. Despite this, I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.

I didn’t realize how short I was until I started school. Some kids picked on me, calling me names. Then I knew. I began to hate the first day of school each year. New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.

But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life. I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage. What I lacked in height, I made up for in personality.

I’m 47 now, and the stares have not diminished as I’ve grown older. People are amazed when they see me driving. I try to keep a good attitude. When people are rude, I remind myself, “Look what else I have — a great family, nice friends.”

It’s the children’s questions that make my life special. I enjoy answering their questions. My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers (a person of the same age, class, position, etc.), whatever size and shape they come in, and treat them with respect.

1... Why did the mother apologize to the author?

   A. Because the boy ran into the author.

   B. Because the boy laughed at the author.

   C. Because the boy said the author was fatter than him.

   D. Because she thought the boy’s words had hurt the author.

2..  When did the author realize that she was too short?

   A. When she began to go to school.       B. When she was 47 years old.

   C. When she grew up.             D. When she met the boy in the supermarket.

3..  Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word “diminished”?

   A. dismissed       B. increased       C. decreased      D. discriminated

4.. How does the author feel about people’s stares?

   A. Angry.         B. Calm.          C. Painful.        D. Discouraged.

John was waiting for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose. Thirteen months ago, in a Florida library he took a book off the ___36___and found himself interested in the notes in the margin. The soft handwriting ___37___a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.
In front of the book, he ___38___the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he ___39___her address. He wrote her a letter ___40___himself and inviting her to correspond.
During the next year and one-month the two grew to know each other ___41___the mail. A Romance was budding. John requested a（an） ___42___, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like. Later they ___43___their first meeting—7：00 pm at Grand Central Station in New York
“You’ll ___44___me, ”she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel. ”So at 7：00 he was in the ___45___looking for the girl with the red rose.
A young woman in a green suit was coming toward him, her ___46___long and slim and her eyes were blue as flowers. Almost ___47___he made one step closer to her, and just at this moment he saw Hollis Maynell—a woman well past 40. The girl was walking quickly away. He felt as though he split in two, so keen was his ___48___to follow her, and yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose ___49___had truly companioned him and upheld his own.
He did not ___50___. He squared his shoulders and said, “I’m John, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me；may I take you to ___51___?”
The woman smiled. “I don’t know what this is about, son, ”she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit ___52___me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I ___53___tell you that she is waiting for you in the ___54___across the street. She said it was some kind of ___55___!”
It’s not difficult to admire Miss Maynell’s wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in it’s response to the unattractive.

Even though it was only October, my students were already whispering about Christmas plans. With each passing day everyone became more __36__wthting for the final school bell. Upon its _37____everyone would run for their coats and go hone, everyone except David  

David was a small boy in ragged clothes. I had often _38___what kind of home life David had, and what kind of mother could send her son to school dressed so __39__for the cold winter months, without a coat, boots, or gloves. But something made David __40__I can still remember he was always __41____a smile and willing to help. He always __42__after school to straighten chairs and mop the floor. We never talked much He__43___just smile and ask what else he could do ,then thank me for letting him stay and slowly__44___home  

Weeks passed and the __45___ovre the coming Christmas grew into restlessness until the last day of__46__before the holiday break. I smiled in ___47 __as the last of them hurried out the door. Turning around I saw David ___48___standing by my desk.

“I have something for you” he said ____49____from behind his back a small box. __50___it to me, he said anxiously. “Open it “I took the box from him, thanked him and slowly unwrapped it. I lift the lid and to my __51__saw nothing I looked at David‘s smiling face add back into the box and said. “The box is nice, David, but it’ s__52__”  

“Oh no it isn’t” said David “It’s full of love, my mum told me before she died that love was something you couldn’t see or touch unless you know it’s there”  

Tears filled my eyes ___53___Iooked at the proud dirty race that I had rarely given____54___to. After that Christmas, David and I became good friends and I never forgot the meaning ___55___the little empty box set on my desk       

36. A. anxious  B. courageous C. serious         D. cautious  

37. A. warning          B. ringing C. calling  D. yelling  

38. A. scolded B. wondered    C. realized        D. learned  

39. A. modestly        B. naturally      C. inaccurately         D. inappropriately  

40. A. popular B. upset   C. special D. funny  

41. A. expressing     B. delivering     C. wearing        D. sharing  

42. A. practised       B. wandered    C. studied         D.  stayed  

43. A. would    B. should C. might   D. could  

44. A. aim at    B. turn to C. put off D. head for  

45. A. argument      B. excitement  C. movement           D. program  

46. A. school    B. year    C. education   D. program  

47. A. relief      B. return  C. vain      D. control  

48. A. weakly   B. sadly    C. quietly D. helplessly  

49. A. searched        B. found C. raised  D. pulled  

50. A. Holding B. Handing       C. Sending        D. Leaving  

51. A. delight   B. expectation C. appreciation         D. surprise  

52. A. cheap    B. empty  C. useless         D. improper  

53. A. as  B. until     C. because       D. though  

54. A. advice B. support        C. attention     D. command  

55. A. from       B. behind C. over     D. towards  

Your teenage daughter is supposed to be doing homework, but you catch her chatting online. She tells you that she’s talking about the math test tomorrow. Before your eyes start rolling, listen up: teens are using social networking sites for more than just gossip, according to a new study by the National School Boards Association.
The students who took part in the online survey, aged 9 to 17, said they spent almost as much time on social networking online as they did watching television. And it is what these kids are talking about online that is causing such a cheer: education. Of the students who took part in the study 60 percent reported that some of the most popular social networking topics were college planning, learning outside of school, careers, and schoolwork. They also reported posting writing and art projects that might have nothing to do with schoolwork.
Ann Flynn, director of education technology for the National School Boards Association, says incorporating (合并) social networking tools into educational curriculum (课程) is the way forward. Flynn says a school in Cleveland, Ohio is posting students’ book reports on a blog for students of their own ages, parents and other teachers to read and comment on. “If someone reacts other than the teacher, a child is much more likely to take an assignment seriously,” Flynn says.
Not only students but also parents can benefit. Now parents can go online and know what the class is doing. So, next time your child says her blog is educational, get curious, sit down and check out the blog with her. You might just learn something new yourself.
【小题1】We can infer from the text that Ann Flynn       .