It was one of the happiest times of my life. I was 29 and had just received my bachelor’s degree, graduating with honors despite working two jobs and being a wife and mother. My parents and five-year-old son were in the audience when I walked onto the stage at Ashland University to get my diploma. I was so excited and proud to be starting a teaching career and contributing more to my family’s well-being.
But when I got home that evening, there was a note from my husband written on the back of an envelope. It basically said he had come to get his clothes and wouldn’t be back. We’d been having trouble, but the finality of that note still came as a shock. He had emptied our bank account. We were horribly in debt. I had quit my previous jobs in expectation of interviewing for a teaching position. Plus, I was eight months pregnant.
I had my son, and I was about to bring a new life into the world, so despite my deep sadness, I had to go on. The next morning, I woke up, put my feet on the floor, took a deep breath, fixed breakfast, and basically did everything I always did. I used my routine to keep me moving. After being in the military for six years, I guess you can say I relied on my training, like all good soldiers do in tough situations. One small step after one small step was the way I bounced back(恢复原状).
And in the seven years since, I’ve continued moving forward. I got a job as a kindergarten teacher, earned a master’s degree in education, and watched my babies grow to twelve and seven. I certainly would never have chosen to put them through this, but looking back, I’m glad it happened to me when it did. It helped me find my voice and myself a lot sooner. It helped me grow independent, confident, and strong—things I’m hopefully instilling(灌输) now in my children.

1. 1.

   After getting her bachelor’s degree, the author expected to ________.

   1. A.
      become a teacher
   2. B.
      be a wife and mother
   3. C.
      work two jobs
   4. D.
      get divorced
2. 2.

   What do we know about the author from Paragraph 2?

   1. A.
      Her husband wrote a note to congratulate her on her graduation.
   2. B.
      She had just been to a job interview when her husband left her.
   3. C.
      Her husband paid off all the debts from the bank.
   4. D.
      She was going to have another baby soon.
3. 3.

   The author’s hardships in life made her ________.

   1. A.
      become confident and independent
   2. B.
      work harder in the kindergarten
   3. C.
      use her routine to move forward
   4. D.
      feel pleased with what happened to her
4. 4.

   It can be inferred from the passage that __________.

   1. A.
      The author’s parents helped her a lot
   2. B.
      The author received further education later
   3. C.
      The author earned a master’s degree when she was 29
   4. D.
      The author didn’t know how to deal with marriage
5. 5.

   What helped the author to pull through her hard time?

   1. A.
      The divorce with her husband.
   2. B.
      Her fellow soldiers in the army.
   3. C.
      Her decision to find a new job.
   4. D.
      A strong mind and love for her kids.

He met her at a party．She was so outstanding，with many boys around her，while he was so normal, with nobody paying attention to him．

At the end of the party，he invited her to have coffee with him．She was surprised，but due to being polite，she agreed．

They sat in a nice coffee shop．He was too nervous to say anything，and she felt uncomfortable，thinking，“Please let me go home．”

Suddenly he asked the waiter，“Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee．”

Everybody stared at him——so strange! His face turned red，but，still，he put the salt in his coffee and drank it．

She asked him curiously，“Why do you have this hobby?”

He replied，“When I was a little boy，I was living near the sea．I liked playing in the sea, and I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee．Now every time I have the salty coffee．I always think of my childhood．I miss my hometown so much．I miss my parents who are still living there．”

While saying that tears filled his eyes．She was deeply touched．That's his true feeling，from the bottom of his heart．A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, and has responsibility of home．

Then she also started to speak，about her faraway hometown，her childhood, her family．That was a really nice talk，also a beautiful beginning of their story．

They continued to date．She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands；he was kind-hearted, warm and careful．He was such a good person but she almost missed him!

Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story，the princess married the prince, then they were living a happy life…And, every time she made coffee for him，she put some salt in the coffee．

After 40 years, he passed away，leaving her a letter which said，“My dearest，please forgive my whole life lie．This was the only lie I said to you—the salty coffee．

“Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time．Actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt．It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead．

“I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything．

“Now I'm dying, I'm afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth：I don't like the salty coffee．What a strange bad taste! But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life!

“Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you．Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life．If I can live for a second time，I still want to know you and have you for my whole life，even though I have to drink the salty coffee again．”

Her tears made the letter totally wet．

Someday，someone asked her,“What's the taste of salty coffee?”“It's sweet，”she replied．

After ordering some salt to put into the coffee, the young man must have felt     ．

A．touched     B．satisfied    C．disappointed    D．embarrassed

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Salt coffee is more delicious and sweeter than sugar coffee．

B．The man ordered the salt coffee in order to create a chance to date with the girl．

C．The man had to have salty coffee all his life to keep his word．

D．The woman hardly believed the man's explanation at their first date．

From the passage we can see that the man is         ．

A．caring and kind-hearted      B．shy and sly

C．dishonest but responsible     D．warm and understanding

It is implied in the passage that the woman _____ when reading the letter left by her husband．

 A．was cheated by his husband's behavior    B．was touched by his husband's white lie

 C．felt sorry to know the truth too late       D．felt angry about his dishonesty

He only finished fourth in this year's Super Boy talent show. But it didn't stop him capturing (俘获) the hearts of thousands of fans. He can hit high notes with ease. And he is very modest. Zhang Jie,25,shed(流) sweat and tears all the way through the competition, but he never gave up.

“No matter how life treats him, he always fights back bravely ,”said Wu Chunyan, a Senior 2 student in Hubei.“He has never lost his dream of being a singer.”The road to fame is always rocky, and Zhang is no exception. As a college student he was majoring in tourism. He was considering becoming a tourist guide after graduation until he entered a singing competition.

His life changed after he competed in My Show. He won first place and signed with a record company.“I was very excited and regarded it as a way to take me closer to my dream,” he said. But the company gave him little money to make music and slowly began to ignore him. Zhang even borrowed money to buy costumes.“Life has its ups and downs. But the tough (艰难的) reality only makes me stronger,” he said.

He forgot he was once a champion of a talent show and joined Super Boy. His decision got support from his family who worked hard to make ends meet. His mother sold rice noodles on a street in his hometown, but she said she would “support him forever.”

“I have the dream to buy a large house for my parents, where my mom can get a large window sill (窗台) to grow flowers,” said Zhang.

Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

   A. An easy way to success            B. A rocky path to success

   C. A clever boy                     D. A successful boy  

From the passage, we can know that _________.

   A. he once won the first place in Super Boy talent show.

   B. he finished fourth in My Show.

   C. he is an exception on his way to fame.

   D. after signing with a record company, he didn’t get much money.

When he met with difficulty in a record company, he decided to _______.

   A. join Super Boy                  B. tell the others he was a champion  

   C. give up on his way to success       D. quarrel with the boss

Before he joined in a singing competition, his dream was to become________.

   A. a great scientist                  B. a good college student 

   C. a famous singer                  D. a tourist guide

It was the old lady’s eightieth birthday. She was sure Myra wouldn’t forgot her mother’s birthday, even if she was busy. After all, eighty was a special birthday. Perhaps Myra might come. Even if Myra did not come, she would send a present. The old lady was sure of that. Two spots of colour brightened her cheeks. She was excited like a child.

    Mrs. Morrison had brought a card and a bunch of flowers when she came to do the breakfast. Mrs. Grant downstairs had made a cake. Johnnie, the little boy next door, was now up with her with a packet of sweets.

    “I guess you’ll get lots and lots of presents, ” he said. “I did last week when I was six.”

    What would she like? A pair of slippers, perhaps. A blue new cardigan. Or a table lamp. Or a little clock, with clear black numbers. So many lovely things.

    She stood by the window, watching. The postman turned round the corner on his bicycle. Her heart beat fast. Johnnie had seen him too and ran to the gate.

    “Granny, granny, ” Johnnie returned. “I’ve got your post!”

    He gave her four envelopes. Three were from old friends. The fourth was in Myra’s writing.

    “No parcel(包裹), Johnnie?”

    “No, granny.”

    Almost reluctantly, she tore the fourth envelope open. Folded in the card was a check. Written on the card was a message: Happy Birthday—Buy yourself something nice with the check, Myra and Harold.

    The six-figure check fell to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. Slowly the old lady bent to pick it up. Her present, her lovely present. With trembling fingers she tore it into little bits.

As can be inferred from the passage, _______.

    A. the old lady lived alone in a flat away from her daughter

B. the friends sent the old lady many lovely presents by post

C. Myra was stopped by her husband from seeing her mother

D. the neighbours cared little about the old lady in daily life

The old lady felt _______ when she saw no packet came with her daughter’s card.

    A. excited      B. happy                C. disappointed     D. impatient

Which of the following might serve as the best title for the passage?

    A. The Present      B. The Check            C. The Birthday     D. The Daughter

The reason why the old lady tore the check into small pieces was that _______.

    A. she was sure her daughter would come, not the check

B. she didn’t notice there were six figures on the check

C. she didn’t think the check was large enough for a present

D. she would prefer a present with love from her daughter

It was a beautiful day at the beach—blue sky, gentle wind, calm sea．I knew these things because a man sitting five feet from me was shouting them into his mobile phone, like a play-by-play announcer （实况解说员）.

“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY,” he shouted．“THE SKY IS BLUE, AND THERE’S A GENTLE WIND, AND THE WATER IS CALM, AND…”

Behind me, a woman, her mobile phone pressed to her ear was walking back and forth.

“She DIDN’T,” she was saying．“No．She DIDN’T．She DID? Really? Are you SERIOUS? She did NOT．She DID? No she…”

And so on．This woman had two children, who were playing in the sea．I found myself watching them, because the woman surely was not．A huge squid could have caught and snatched the children, and this woman would not have noticed．Or, if she had noticed, she’d have said, “Listen．I have to go, because a huge squid just……No! She didn’t ! She DID? No! She……”

And next to me, the play-by-play man would have said: “…AND A HUGE SQUID JUST ATE TWO CHILDREN, AND I’M GETTING A LITTLE SUNBURNED, AND …”

It used to be that the major trouble at the beach was the fellow who brought a boom box （便携式录音机） and turned it up so loud that the bass notes caused seagulls to explode．But at least you knew where these fellows were; you never know which beachgoers have mobile phones．You’ll settle next to what appears to be a sleeping sunbather, or even （you hope） a corpse , and you’ll lie happily on your towel, and you’ll get all the way to the second sentence of your 467-page book before you fall asleep to the hypnotic surge of the surf （催人入梦的潮声）, and …

BREEP! BREEP! The corpse sits up, feels urgently for its mobile phone, and shouts “Hello! I’m at the beach! Yes! It’s nice! Very peaceful! What? She did? No, she didn’t! She DID? No, she…”

Loud mobile-phoners never seem to get urgent calls．Just once, I’d like to hear one of them say, “Hello? Yes, this is Dr．Johnson．Oh, Dr．Smith．You’ve opened the abdominal cavity （腹腔）? Good! Now the appendix should be right under the … What? No, that’s the liver．Don’t take THAT out, ha ha! Oh, you did? My God! OK, now listen carefully…”

From the passage we can know that the writer of the passage _____.

       A．had a wonderful holiday at the beach

       B．must have suffered a lot because of the terrible weather

       C．is only interested in talks by doctors about operation

       D．experienced an unhappy holiday at the beach

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

       A．The writer often spends his holidays at the beach.

       B．A huge squid ate two children while their mother was not watching.

       C．Some people used to play boom box while spending their holidays at the beach.

       D．Some people often make loud mobile phone calls without caring for others.

The underlined word“ corpse”in this passage has the closest meaning to________.

       A．a dead body           B．a loud mobile phone        

       C．a sound sleeper        D．a sleep lover

In the past the fellow who brought a boom box_________.

       A．turned it up to make the seagulls happy

       B．turned it up to cause the seagulls to explode

       C．might cause less trouble than the beachgoers with mobile phones

       D．might cause more trouble than the beachgoers with mobile phones

We can infer from the passage that _______.

     A．the writer is interested in mobile phone.

     B．the writer hates people using mobile phone

     C．the writer hates to be disturbed while enjoying holidays on the beach.

     D．the writer seldom finishes reading a book before going to sleep.