It’s easy to see how to help others, but what about those whose needs aren’t so obvious? This story may have happened a while back, but it was a lesson which has stayed with me and helped me ever since.
It was Thanksgiving and I was volunteering with my parents at a shelter for the poor. We stood behind the counter dishing out hot food to whoever came in. most of our dinners looked like they had been having hard times, their clothes old, worn and dry. In short, they looked poor!
Then, a man came in, who looked anything but poor. He was well dressed, wearing an expensive suit. I wondered what he was doing there and my jaw dropped in amazement when he joined the line for food. The closer he came to my service station, the more I muttered. What was this man doing? I wanted to know. Surely he wasn’t gong to take food.
Then my mother quietly took me to one side. She said, “You have assumed that the needs of the people who come here must be purely physical: hunger, inadequate shelter and needs are emotional? What if he needs comfort, friends, or just to be among other human beings?” her words hit me like a ton of bricks! I felt like I should apologize to the man, but I didn’t.
About a week later the shelter received a large donation from an anonymous source. I can’t help but wonder if it came from that man.
Now, whether I meet others, I remember my mother’s words and try to send kindness and blessings to them, regardless of how they look.
Needs aren’t always visible. But kindness always makes a difference.

1. 1.

   The task of the author at the shelter was to_______.

   1. A.
      decide whether dinners looked poor
   2. B.
      learn life experience there
   3. C.
      serve hot food to the poor
   4. D.
      help parents order dishes
2. 2.

   When the man waited in line, how did the author feel?

   1. A.
      Surprised
   2. B.
      Pitiful
   3. C.
      Excited
   4. D.
      Angry
3. 3.

   The author felt he should apologize to the man, because he_______.

   1. A.
      was asked to do so by his mother
   2. B.
      gave the man food much less than others
   3. C.
      realized something was wrong with the man
   4. D.
      knew later that the man went there to donate
4. 4.

   What can we infer from the last paragraph?

   1. A.
      We should show others kindness whatever their needs are
   2. B.
      Some needs can’t be known clearly at times
   3. C.
      Needs can always be met by kindness
   4. D.
      We should find out others’ needs

It’s not polite to arrive at a dinner more than 15 to 20 minutes late. The host or hostess usually waits for all the ___1___ to arrive before serving the meal. If someone is late, the food may be spoiled(变味), and ___2___ may the host or hostess’ spirits. If you have to be ___3___ call and tell them to start ___4___ you.

It’s even worse to be early! The host or hostess will probably not be ___5___. If you are early, drive or walk around the block a few times, or just sit in your car until the right time.

Though it’s often ___6___ to arrive at a party on time, on the other hand, the host or hostess ___7___ guests to arrive and leave between certain times, so you can ___8___ at any time between the times he or she gives you.

It’s nice to bring an empty stomach, but it’s even nicer to bring ___9___ present. The present should not cost a lot, or you might make the host or hostess ___10___. Flowers, wine, or a box of candy will be fine. ___11___ bring money as a present. In an introduction, the ___12___ of a name is: (1) the given name; (2) the family name. In other ___13___, the given name comes ___14___. It’s important not only to learn and remember ___15___, but to repeat them often in conversation. After the introduction, we usually call friends by their ___16___ names. Older people may want you to call them by their titles and family names, such as “Mrs Smith”, “Mr Johnson”, “Dr. Brown”.

A maiden(闺女) name is a ___17___ family name at birth. In the United States and Canada, after a woman ___18___, she takes the family name of her ___19___ in place of her maiden name. It is now becoming common, however, for women to ___20___ their maiden names after they get married.

1. A. guests     B. visitors       C. customs      D. passengers

2. A. or   B. so       C. but     D. yet

3. A. tired       B. hungry       C. late     D. early

4. A. without  B. for      C. with    D. after

5. A. awake    B. ready  C. up      D. friendly

6. A. useless    B. impossible  C. unable D. important

7. A. forces     B. invites C. begs    D. orders

8. A. play       B. fly      C. arrive  D. start

9. A. a big      B. a small       C. a good       D. an expensive

10. A. pleased B. satisfied     C. interested   D. uneasy

11. A. Never   B. Always       C. Do      D. Be sure to

12. A. spelling       B. calling       C. order  D. pronunciation

13. A. words   B. letters C. idioms       D. sentences

14. A. last       B. first    C. finally D. in the middle

15. A. expressions  B. appearances       C. names D. addresses

16. A. given    B. family C. middle       D. pen

17. A. gentleman’s  B. boy’s  C. woman’s    D. man’s

18. A. works   B. marries      C. bears   D. dies

19. A. husband       B. mother       C. father  D. sister

20. A. stop      B. give up      C. keep   D. find

It was a lovely day at the park and Stella Bianchi was enjoying the sunshine with her two children when a young boy, aged about four, approached her two-year-old son and pushed him to the ground.

“I’d watched him for a little while and my son was the fourth or fifth child he’d pushed,” she says. “I went over to them, picked up my son, turned to the boy and said, firmly, ‘No, we don’t push.’” What happened next was unexpected.

“The boy’s mother ran toward me from across the park,” Stella says, “I thought she was coming over to apologize, but instead she started shouting at me for blaming her child. All I did was let him know his behavior was unacceptable. Was I supposed to sit back while her kid did whatever he wanted and hurt other children?”

Getting your own children to play nice is difficult enough. Dealing with other people’s children has become a hidden danger.

In my house, jumping on the sofa is not allowed. In my sister’s house it’s encouraged. I find myself saying “no” a lot when her kids are over at mine. That’s OK between sisters but becomes dangerous when you’re talking to the children of friends or acquaintances.

“Kids aren’t all raised the same,” agrees Professor Naomi White of Monash University.” But there is still an idea that they’re the property of the parent. We see our children as a mirror of ourselves, so if you’re saying that my child is behaving improperly, then that’s somehow a criticism(批评) of me.”

In those situations, it’s difficult to know whether to approach the child directly or the parent first. There are two opinions.

“I’d go to the child first,” says Andrew Fuller, author of Tricky Kids. “Usually a quiet reminder that ‘we don’t do that here’ is enough. Kids have antennae (直觉) for how to behave in different settings.”

He points out bringing it up with the parent first may make them feel careless, which could cause problems. Of course, approaching the child first can bring its own headaches, too.

This is why White recommends that you approach the parents first. Raise your concerns with the parents and ask them to deal with it,” she says.   

Asked how to approach a parent in this situation, psychologist Meredith Fuller answers: “Explain your needs as well as stressing the importance of the friendship. Start with something like: ‘I know you’ll think I’m silly but in my house I don’t want…’” 

What did Stella Bianchi expect the young boy’s mother to do when she talked to him?

       A. Make an apology             B. Come over to stop her     

       C. Blame her own boy          D. Take her own boy away

What does the author say about dealing with other people’s children?

       A. It’s important not to hurt them in any way

       B. It’s no use trying to stop their wrongdoing

       C. It’s advisable to treat them as one’s own kids

       D. It’s possible for one to get into lots of trouble

According to professor Naomi White, when one’s kids are criticized, their parents will probably feel ______.

       A. discouraged       B. hurt    C. puzzled      D. affected

What should one do when seeing other people’s kids misbehave according to Andrew Fuller?

       A. Talk to them directly in a mild way  B. Complain to their parents politely

       C. Simply leave them alone            D. Punish them lightly

You're busy filling out the application form for a position you really need. Let's assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn't it appealing to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University? More and more people are turning to cheat like this to land their job or to move ahead in their careers, for personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university.

Registrars（登记员） at most well-known colleges say they deal with deceitful claims like these at the rate of about one per week. Personnel officers do check up on degrees listed on application forms, then. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are unwilling to accuse the applicant directly. One Ivy League school calls them "cheats"; another refers to them as "special cases". One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says that these claims are made by "no such people". To avoid outright(彻底的) lies, some job-seekers claim that they "attending" means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that "being associated with" a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of the century—that's when they began keeping records, anyhow. If you don't want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a false diploma.

　　One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of nonexistent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from "Smoot State University". The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the "University of Purdue". As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.

The main idea of this passage is that ______.

　　A. employers are checking more closely on applicants now

　　B. lying about college degrees has become a widespread problem

　　C. college degrees can now be purchased easily

　　D. employers are no longer interested in college degrees

According to the passage, "special cases" refers to cases that ______.

　　A. students attend a school only part-time

　　B. students never attended a school they listed on their application

　　C. students purchase false degrees from commercial firms

　　D. students attended a famous school

We can infer from the passage that _______.

　　A. performance is a better judge of ability than a college degree

　　B. experience is the best teacher

　　C. past work histories influence personnel officers more than degrees do

　　D. a degree from a famous school enables an applicant to gain advantage over others in job competition

This passage implies that ______.

　　A. buying a false degree is not moral

　　B. personnel officers only consider applicants from famous schools

　　C. most people lie on applications because they were dismissed from school

D. society should be greatly responsible for lying on applications

We were on our way home from Houston one Saturday morning. We decided to stop at a local gas station to get coffee and something to snack on since it was a good hour and a half before we got home.

When we were done, we got back into our car and before I started it, we noticed a man standing outside in front of the building. He was a homeless man with worn clothes and it looked like he had gone in and gotten himself some coffee or something warm to drink since it was cold this time of the year. He must have not had enough money to get something to eat.

Then a dog walked up to the front of the building. I could tell she was a “she”, because you could tell that she had baby dogs. She was terribly in need of something to eat and I felt so bad for her. I knew if she didn’t eat soon, she and her baby dogs would not make it.

I and my wife sat there and looked at her. We noticed that people walked by and didn’t even pet her, like most people do when they walk by an animal in front of a store. We still did not do anything. But the homeless man, who I thought did not buy himself anything to eat, went back into the store. And what he did brought tears to me and my wife. He had gone into the store and with what money he may have had, bought a can of dog food and fed that dog.

This story plays a great part in our lives. You see, that was Mother’s Day weekend. And a lot of people forget that some animals are parents too.

It took a homeless man, to show me what I should have done. He make me a better man that day.

The homeless man only had something to drink because _______.

A. he didn’t have enough money for food           B. he was thirsty only

C. the store only provided drinks                       D. he felt cold that day

Seeing what the poor man did for the dog, the author and his wife ________.

A. were puzzled                                              B. were greatly moved

C. regretted they hadn’t done anything                      D. were indifferent

If the homeless man hadn’t given the dog food to eat, she and her babies would ________.

A. not survive                                                B. have to attack people

C. not have to die                                           D. lose their homes

Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?

A. A kind Homeless Man                                 B. A Lucky Mother Dog

C. Mother Day’s Weekend                               D. Animals Are Parents Too