I would like to tell you a story about my uncle Theo. He is my oldest uncle, a tall, thin, grey-haired man whose thoughts are always on learning and nothing else. He is quiet, gentle and absent-minded and with about as much sense as a child where money is concerned. Well, he applied a post in Camford University. It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates who applied for it, and about fifteen, including Theo, were asked to be interviewed.
Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and it was so full that they had to put many of the candidates two in a room. Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel. But he was a clever fellow all the same and had a good post in Iscaiot College, Narkover. Well, the Dean, who was the head of the department of the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview, the number of the candidates was reduced to two, Uncle Theo and Adams. The committee couldn’t decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each of the candidates had given a public lecture in the college lecture-hall. The subject they had to speak on was “The Civilization of the Ancient Summerians”; and the lecture had to be given in three days’ time.
Well, for these three days Uncle Theo never left his room. He worked day and night at that lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, almost without eating or sleeping. Adams didn’t seem to do any preparation at all. You could hear his voice and his laughter where he had a crowd of people around him. He came to his room late at night, asked Uncle Theo how he was getting on with his lecture, and then told him how he had spent the evening playing bridge, or at the music hall. He ate like a horse and slept like a log; and Uncle Theo sat up working at his lecture.
The day of the lecture arrived. They all went into the lecture hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform. And then, Theo discovered, to his horror,  that typewritten copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said they would call on the candidates on the alphabetical order, Adams first; and the despair in his heart, Theo watched Adams calmly take the stolen speech out of pocket and read it to the professors who were gathered to hear it. And how well he read it! Even Uncle Theo had to admit he couldn’t have read it nearly so eloquently himself, and when Adams finished there was a great burst of applause. Adams bowed and smiled, and sat down.
Now, it was Theo’s turn. But what could he do? He had put everything he knew into the lecture. His mind was too much upset to put the same thoughts in another way. With a burning face he could only repeat, word for word, in a low, dull voice, the lecture that Adams had spoken so eloquently. There was hardly any applause when he sat down.
The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be. Adams leaned across to Theo and patted him on the back and said, smilingly, “Hard luck, old fellow, but after all, only one of us could win”
Then the Dean and the committee came back, “Gentlemen”, the Dean said, “the candidate we have chosen is Mr. Hobdell.” Uncle Theo had won! The audience were completely taken by surprise, and the Dean continued, “ I think I ought to tell you how we arrived at the decision. We were all filled with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr. Adams. I was greatly impressed. But, you will remember, Mr. Adams read his lecture to us. When Mr. Hobdell’s turn came, he repeated that speech, word by word from memory, though, of course, he couldn’t have seen a line of it before. Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post; and what a memory Mr. Hobdell must have! This is why we decided that Mr. Hobdell was exactly the man we wanted! ”
As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Uncle Theo, who was so confused but so happy that he hardly knew whether he was standing on his head or heels; and as he shook Theo’s hand he said, “Congratulations, Mr. Hobdell! But, my fellow, when you are on our staff, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!”
【小题1】. Which of the followings best describes Uncle Theo?

A．The applicants had to sit for an examination.

B．There was much competition for the post.

C．The post requires a lot of teaching experience.

D．The post offered quite high salary.

A．he had a better memory than Adams.
B．he was more experienced than Adams.	C．the committee knew he was exactly the man they wanted.
D．the committee knew Adams had copied Theo’s speech.

  I came to study in the United States a year ago. Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor and go to court.

  After the accident，my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer .Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.

  But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time. The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215.

  My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I didn’t want to hire him. And he made me pay him $770.

  Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time and I left without getting a cent.

56. The author’s roommate offered to help him because________.

A. he showed sympathy to the author

B. he knew the author should find a good doctor

C. he knew the author needed his help

D. he thought it was a chance to make some money

57. A good doctor is necessary for the author to __________.

A. find out the person responsible for the accident

B. recover totally from the injury

C. eventually make the responsible party pay for his injury

D. be treated fairly before he leaves America

58. The word “charge” in the third paragraph means_________ .

A. give money  B. make money  C. offer money  D. ask money

59. Both the doctor and the lawyer in this passage are very__________.

A. helpful     B. professional   C. selfish       D. money-maker

60. What conclusion can you draw from the story?

A. One cannot be too careful while driving a car.

B. People value money most in the US.

C. Finding lawyers is something very common in America.

D. Having some selfless friends is more important than other things in the US.

I would like to tell you a story about my uncle Theo. He is my oldest uncle, a tall, thin, grey-haired man whose thoughts are always on learning and nothing else. He is quiet, gentle and absent-minded and with about as much sense as a child where money is concerned. Well, he applied a post in Camford University. It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates who applied for it, and about fifteen, including Theo, were asked to be interviewed.

    Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and it was so full that they had to put many of the candidates two in a room. Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel. But he was a clever fellow all the same and had a good post in Iscaiot College, Narkover. Well, the Dean, who was the head of the department of the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview, the number of the candidates was reduced to two, Uncle Theo and Adams. The committee couldn’t decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each of the candidates had given a public lecture in the college lecture-hall. The subject they had to speak on was “The Civilization of the Ancient Summerians”; and the lecture had to be given in three days’ time.

    Well, for these three days Uncle Theo never left his room. He worked day and night at that lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, almost without eating or sleeping. Adams didn’t seem to do any preparation at all. You could hear his voice and his laughter where he had a crowd of people around him. He came to his room late at night, asked Uncle Theo how he was getting on with his lecture, and then told him how he had spent the evening playing bridge, or at the music hall. He ate like a horse and slept like a log; and Uncle Theo sat up working at his lecture.

    The day of the lecture arrived. They all went into the lecture hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform. And then, Theo discovered, to his horror,  that typewritten copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said they would call on the candidates on the alphabetical order, Adams first; and the despair in his heart, Theo watched Adams calmly take the stolen speech out of pocket and read it to the professors who were gathered to hear it. And how well he read it! Even Uncle Theo had to admit he couldn’t have read it nearly so eloquently himself, and when Adams finished there was a great burst of applause. Adams bowed and smiled, and sat down.

    Now, it was Theo’s turn. But what could he do? He had put everything he knew into the lecture. His mind was too much upset to put the same thoughts in another way. With a burning face he could only repeat, word for word, in a low, dull voice, the lecture that Adams had spoken so eloquently. There was hardly any applause when he sat down.

    The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be. Adams leaned across to Theo and patted him on the back and said, smilingly, “Hard luck, old fellow, but after all, only one of us could win”

    Then the Dean and the committee came back, “Gentlemen”, the Dean said, “the candidate we have chosen is Mr. Hobdell.” Uncle Theo had won! The audience were completely taken by surprise, and the Dean continued, “ I think I ought to tell you how we arrived at the decision. We were all filled with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr. Adams. I was greatly impressed. But, you will remember, Mr. Adams read his lecture to us. When Mr. Hobdell’s turn came, he repeated that speech, word by word from memory, though, of course, he couldn’t have seen a line of it before. Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post; and what a memory Mr. Hobdell must have! This is why we decided that Mr. Hobdell was exactly the man we wanted! ”

    As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Uncle Theo, who was so confused but so happy that he hardly knew whether he was standing on his head or heels; and as he shook Theo’s hand he said, “Congratulations, Mr. Hobdell! But, my fellow, when you are on our staff, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!”

1.. Which of the followings best describes Uncle Theo?

A. Good-mannered    B. Modest     C. Childish      D. Bookish

2. What do we know about the post at Camford University?

   A. The applicants had to sit for an examination.

   B. There was much competition for the post.

   C. The post requires a lot of teaching experience.

   D. The post offered quite high salary.

3.. Adams did not bother to do any preparation because______.

   A. he was quite familiar with the subject.

   B. he knew the committee members well.

   C. he had a well-thought-out plan.

   D. he had full confidence in himself.

4. When Uncle Theo’s turn came, _______.

   A. he felt so angry that he couldn’t see a word.

   B. he felt so upset that he could not remember anything.

   C. he had to put the same thoughts in another way.

   D. he had to repeat the speech, word by word from memory.

5. When the committee went out to make a decision, Adams _______.

   A. could not help feeling worried.

   B. could hardly wait to show his joy.

   C. felt sorry for Theo and tried to cheer him up.

   D. felt ashamed and tried to chat with Theo.

6.Theo became successful because _______.

   A. he had a better memory than Adams.

   B. he was more experienced than Adams.

   C. the committee knew he was exactly the man they wanted.

   D. the committee knew Adams had copied Theo’s speech.