A man named Smith was sitting on his roof during a flood, and the water was up to his feet. Before long a fellow in a canoe passed and shouted, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?"

　　"No, thanks," said Smith. "I have faith in God and he will save me."

　　Soon the water rose to Smith's waist. At this point a motor boat pulled up and someone called out, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?"

　　"No, thanks, I have faith in God and he will save me."

　　Later a helicopter flew by, and Smith was now standing on the roof with water up to his neck. "Grab the rope, "shouted the pilot. "I'll pull you up."

　　"No, thanks," said Smith. "I have faith in God and he will save me. "But after hours of struggling with water, poor exhausted Smith drowned and went to his reward. As he arrived at the Pearly Gates, Smith met God and complained about this. "Tell me, God, "he said, "I had such faith in you to save me and you let me drown. What happened?"

　　To which God replied, "What do you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter."

　When the pilot asked Smith to grab the rope, ______.

　　　　A. Smith pulled the pilot up　　　　　 B. Smith did so

　　　　C. Smith didn't do so　　　　　　　　 D. Smith didn't hear him

At last, poor exhausted Smith drowned and ______.

　　　　A. went to his reward　　　　　　　　B. passed away

　　　　C. went to heaven　　　　　　　　　 D. all of the above

　What do we know about Smith? ______.

　　　　A. He was a lazy man

　　　　B. He was a lucky man who believed in God

　　　　C. He was a poor man

What do you think of this passage? This passage is very ______.

　　　　A. moving　　　　B. humorous　　　C. depressing　　　D. surprising

　　　　　D. He was a silly man who believed in God

阅读理解

　　Old Americans are separating into two classes. Retirement can be either heaven or hell. “I do believe on the whole the retirees(退休者)of tomorrow will be wealthier and healthier than the same group of 30 years of age.” says Robert Friedland, director of the National Academy on Ageing, “But that's only part of the picture. There's also a large group whose household income(收入)hasn't been growing very much. For them the future is unhappy. ”

　　“Nature is not always kind. ”says Dr. Robert Butler, an expert in medical care of old people, who was a founding director of the National Institute on Ageing. “The relationship between socio-economic position and life expectancy(估计寿命)has been known for a long time. Race (种族)is also connected. And education is powerful, too in lengthening life.”

　　“The reality is that poor people get sick easily as they age because they live in duty neighborhoods and have dirty jobs, they are left unprotected(保护)from environmental pollution(环境污染), and the pressure of being poor wears down people's health.” according to Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, which studies health problems .

　　“Cigarette smoking has a great effect because it is more common in lower socio-economic groups. ” says Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, “If you live in a state of hopelessness and helplessness and don't think about the future, you are more likely to take up life-threatening habits.”

　　“Race and income have large effects on death. ” a team of researchers reported in the New English Journal of Medicine in 1996, after researching on 24 million whites and 2.1 million blacks.

　　With the exception of black women, the highest income group had the lowest death rates and the lowest income group had the highest death rates regardless of race . For black women there was no consistent pattern across income group.

1．The sentence “ Retirement can be either heaven or hell . ” means ________.

[　　]

A．If a man is out of work, he or she will feel unhappy.

B．If an American retires from his job ( post), he or she will lead a miserable life.

C．Old people in America have to choose a life style.

D．Some old people in America lead a hard life, or others may lead a happy life.

2．According to Dr. Robert Butler's opinion, ________ plays the most important role in people's life expectancy.

[　　]

3．The reason why poor people are more likely to get ill as they grow old is that ________.

[　　]

A．they live in the countryside

B．they work with their hands

C．their families are too large

D．they suffer a lot from being poor

4．What Elizabeth Whelan says means that ________.

[　　]

A．smoking makes people poor and hopeless

B．smoking is popular among poor people

C．poor people should give up smoking

D．rich people in America never smoke

5．Which is the best title for the story?

[　　]

A．Terrible life leads to short expectancy .

B．Income differences produce life expectancy .

C．The life expectancy can be decided by race.

D．Americans don't like to retire .

If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.

    Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.

    The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration（登记）card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.

    The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.

    With so many loopholes （漏洞） in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”.  But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.

1. The underlined words in this passage means to “______”.

　　A. be ready to help others         B. make good use of one’s friends

　　C. be a little ahead of others       D. gain something at other’s expense

2. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

　　A. While taking a taxi in Finland, you can get off without first paying your fare.

　　B. In a big hotel in Finland, you can enjoy free meals if you’re living in the hotel.

　　C. The bosses in Finland pay the employees according to registration of their working hours.

　　D. The workers are always honest with their working hours.

3.We can learn from the passage that ______.

　　A. the Finnish society is of very high moral （道德） level

　　B. there are many loopholes in everyday life in Finland

　　C. in Finland, most taxi drivers will not charge you anything

　　D. everyone in Finland is like a gentleman, for they have faith in themselves

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

　　A. Life in Finland       B. A Society with “Foolish” People

　　C. What a Life          D. Honest accounts of the Finns

Make Up Your Mind to Succeed

Kind-hearted parents have unknowingly left their children defenseless against failure．The generation (age) born between 1980 and 2001 grew up playing sports where scores (marks) and performance (show) were played down because “everyone's winner.” And their report cards sounded more positive than ever before．As a result, Stanford University professor Carol Dweck, PhD, calls them “the overpraised generation.”

Dweck has been studying how people deal with failure for 40 years．Her research has led her to find out two clearly different mind-sets that have a great effect on how we react to it．Here's how they work:

　　A fixed mind-set is grounded in the belief that talent is genetic – you're a born artist, point guard, or numbers person．The fixed mind-set believes it's sure to succeed without much effort and regards failure as personal shame．When things get difficult, it's quick to blame (liability), lie, and even stay away from future difficulties.

　 On the other hand, a growth mind-set believes that no talent is entirely heaven-sent and that effort and learning make everything possible．Because the ego (自尊) isn't on the line as much, the growth mind-set sees failure as a chance rather than shame．When faced with a difficulty, it's quick to rethink, change and try again．In fact, it enjoys this experience.

　　We are all born with growth mind-sets．(Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to live in the world.) But parents, teachers, and instructors often push us into fixed mind-sets by encouraging certain actions and misdirecting praise．Dweck's book, Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success, and online instructional program explain this in depth．But she says there are many little things you can start doing today to make sure that your children, grandchildren and even you are never defeated by failure.

1.What does the author think about the present generation?

A．They don't do well at school.

B．They are often misunderstood.

C．They are eager to win in sports

D．They are given too much praise.

2.A fixed mind-set person is probably one who ___ .

A．doesn't want to work hard

B．cares a lot about personal safety

C．cannot share his ideas with others

D．can succeed with the help of teachers

3.What does the growth mind-set believe?

A．Admitting failure is shameful.

B．Talent comes with one's birth.

C. Getting over difficulties is enjoyable.

D．Scores should be highly valued.??

A man had a little daughter—an only and much-loved child. He lived ___21__ her—she was his life. So when she became ill, he became like a man moving 22 and earth to bring about her restoration to  23  .
　　His best efforts,  24 , proved 25 and the child died. The father became a bitter loner, 26  himself away from his many friends and refusing every   27 that might restore his calm and bring him back to his normal self. But one night he had a   28  .
　　He was in heaven,  29 a grand presentation of all the little child angels. They were  30  in a line passing by the Great White Throne. Every white-robed angelic child  31 a candle. He noticed that one child’s candle was not lighted. Then he saw that the child with the  32 candle was his own little girl. 33 to her, he seized her in his arms,  34  her tenderly, and then asked, “ 35 is it, darling, that your candle alone is unlighted?”“Daddy, they often relight it, but your tears always  36 .”
　Just then he awoke from his dream. The lesson was clear, and its effects were  37 . From that hour on he was not a loner, but associated freely and 38  with his former friends and colleagues. 39 would his darling’s candle be extinguished(熄灭) by his  40  tears.