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(咕哝着). What was this man doing? I wanted to know. Surely he wasn’t going 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, no enough shelter and needs are excitable? 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(匿名的) 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.
【小题1】The task of the author at the shelter was to_______.

I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”

    At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket．

    I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth… ?

    She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room – if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”

    Then she turned to me, kissed me and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control. ” With that, she left the room．

    After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly．

We can infer from the passage that ________．

       A. the secretary didn’t care about the writer 

       B. the writer was bad-tempered

       C. the agent was not responsible for his own work

       D. the wife of the writer was not sensible

Why did the author shout at the telephone?

       A. He was angry with his agent．          

       B. He was mad at the telephone．

       C. He was impatient with the secretary．  

       D. He was anxious about his wife．

What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?

       A. She was speechless．         

       B. She threw the phone away．  

       C. She shouted at him．         

       D. She called the agent in person and scolded him．

What made the author laugh?

A． His changeable feelings． B. His wife’s suggestion．

   C． His own behavior．      D. His wife’s sweet kiss．

What does the underlined word “antics” refer to?

   A． Smart words      B. Anxious feelings

   C． Surprising looks   D． Unusual actions

　　Some time ago, a friend of mine who worked in a part of the city I didn't know very well invited me to call on him. It took me hours to get there and I took great trouble to find a proper spot to park my car. As I was already three quarters of an hour late, I parked my car quickly.

　　At noon, just as I was leaving my friend's office it suddenly struck me that I had no idea where I had parked my car. I could hardly go up to a policeman and tell him that I had lost a small green car somewhere! Walking down street after street, I examined each car closely and was very happy to see a small green car just behind an old car. But how disappointed I was to discover that though the car was exactly like my own, it belonged to someone else! Feeling quite tired now, I went off for lunch. Some time later, I left the restaurant and walked down the street. Turning the corner, I nearly jumped for joy: my car was right in front of me, and there was no problem this time.

　　To tell the truth, driving in a crowded city is far from being a pleasure and it is much easier to walk than to drive.

(1)What did the writer do the other day?

[　　]

A．He went to telephone his old friend.

B．He paid a visit to his friend.

C．He called on a friend, who he didn't know well.

D．He visited a friend and had lunch with him.

(2)“It suddenly struck me”in the second paragraph probably means“________”.

[　　]

A．a stick suddenly hit me

B．a stone suddenly hit me

C．I suddenly found out

D．I suddenly thought

(3)Which of the following statements is true according to this story?

[　　]

A．The writer had not much difficulty in finding a parking-place.

B．It took him forty-five minutes to find a place to park his car.

C．It was very difficult for the writer to find a parking-place.

D．He got a parking-place right away and parked his car in a hurry.

(4)How did he look for his car?

[　　]

A．He asked a policeman for help.

B．His friend called a policeman.

C．He examined every car in the street.

D．A waiter helped him to do this.

The cars were honking （鸣叫） on the road one morning as I was walking to the park．I walked on and soon found the cause — a little taxi that had got stuck in the middle of the road．There was sweat on the driver's face as he tried to start the engine again and again — nothing happened．"No petrol,"

       I said to myself and then found myself getting angry．"Why doesn't the fool move his taxi to the side?" I thought, so did all the others who honked and shouted．

       He got up tiredly, and the passenger in the taxi got out．He was a young man in a white shirt, who watched the driver try to push it to the side．"Stupid guy!" I said．"Can't he lend a helping hand? "

       I watched as the poor driver pushed it to the side．Cars, buses and trucks went past cursing （咒骂 ） the poor man．The young man took another taxi and went off．

      The taxi driver began mending his taxi．"Stupid passenger!" I said to him．"He didn't help you!" The taxi driver slowly got up．"Sir!" he asked, "Did you?" I looked at him guiltily, then looked away, and walked away fast, asking myself, "Did I help the poor man push his taxi?"

       What had I been doing as the traffic jam took place? How had I helped deal with the problem? Did I help the poor man push his taxi? I’d done my bit, with my mouth．But never had I moved to solve the problem．I was shocked with guilt as I heard him asking, "Sir! Did you?"

Why did a traffic jam happen on the road when the author was walking to the park?

       A．There was too much traffic in the street．

       B．Truck drivers attempted to go ahead of others．

       C．A taxi driver couldn't start his engine．

       D．A young man wasn't good at driving．

The author's attitude toward the passenger is that of __________．

       A．anger       B．respect              C．sympathy  D．guilt

Why did the author feel guilty?

       A．Because he blamed the driver wrongly．

       B．Because he didn't help the driver, either．

       C．Because he tried to help but failed in the end．

       D．Because he didn't persuade the passenger to help．

From the incident, the author learnt a lesson that we should     _________．

       A．criticize those who don't help

       B．hurt the self-respect of others no more

       C．think more of those who are in need

       D．stop talking and start to help

A Strange Greeting, a True Feeling Last week I was invited to a doctor’s meeting at the Ruth hospital for incurables. In one of the wards a patient, an old man, got up shakily from his bed and moved towards me. I could see that he hadn't long to   1   , but he came up to me and placed his right foot close mine on the floor.

“Frank！” I cried in astonishment. He couldn’t   2  , as I knew, but all the time   3   his foot against mine.

My   4   raced back more than thirty years to the   5   days of 1941, when I was a student in London. The   6   was an air-raid shelter, in which I and about hundred other people slept every night. Two of the regulars were Mrs. West and her son Frank.

  7   wartime problems, we shelter-dwellers got to   8   each other very well. Frank West   9   me because he wasn’t   10  , not even at birth. His mother told me he was 37 then, but he had   11   of a mind than a baby has. His “  12  ” consisted of rough sounds——sounds of pleasure or anger and   13   more. Mrs. West, then about 75, was a strong, capable woman, as she had to be, of course, because Frank   14   on her entirely. He needed all the   15   of a baby.

One night a policeman came and told Mrs. West that her house had been flattened by a 500-pounder. She   16   nearly everything she owned.

When that sort of thing happened, the rest of us helped the   17   ones. So before we   18   that morning, I stood beside Frank and   19   my right foot against his. They were about the same size. That night, then, I took a pair of shoes to the shelter for frank. But as soon as he saw me he came running and placed his right foot against mine. After that, his   20   to me was always the same.

1. A. work     B. stay    C. live     D. expect

2. A. answer   B. speak  C. smile         D. laugh

3. A. covering        B. moving      C. fighting      D. pressing

4. A. minds     B. memories   C. thoughts     D. brains

5. A. better     B. dark    C. younger            D. old

6. A. cave      B. place   C. sight          D. scene

7. A. Discussing       B. Solving  C. Sharing            D. Suffering

8. A. learn from       B. talk to   C. help          D. know

9. A. needed          B. recognized  C. interested          D. encouraged

10. A. normal         B. common       C. unusual     D. quick

11. A. more           B. worse  C. fewer         D. less

12. A. word          B. speech C. sentence           D. language

13. A. not             B. no      C. something         D. nothing

14. A. fed             B. kept    C. lived          D. depended

15. A. attention       B. control   C. treatment          D. management

16. A. lost             B. needed       C. destroyed          D. left

17. A. troublesome   B. unlucky   C. angry         D. unpopular

18. A. separated      B. went       C. reunited            D. returned

19. A. pushed        B. tried       C. showed      D. measured

20. A. nodding        B. greeting  C. meeting            D. acting