A few years ago, I was with a close woman friend in a grocery store in California．As we walked along the aisle (过道), we saw a mother with a small boy moving in the opposite direction and met us head-on (正面的) in each aisle．The woman barely noticed us because she was so angry with her little boy, who wanted to pull items off the lower shelves．As the mother became more and more annoyed, she started to yell at the child and several aisles later had progressed to shaking him by the arm．k+s-5#u 

At this point my friend spoke up．A wonderful mother of three and founder of a progressive school, she had probably never once in her life treated any child so harshly(严厉地)．I expected my friend would give this woman a solid mother-to-mother talk about controlling herself and about the effect this behavior has on a child．Instead, my friend said, “What a beautiful little boy．How old is he?” The woman answered cautiously, “He’s three．” My friend went on to comment on how curious he seemed and how her own three children were just like him in the grocery store, pulling things off shelves, so interested in all the wonderful colors and packages．“He seems so bright and intelligent,” my friend said．

The woman had the boy in her arms by now and a shy smile came upon her face．Gently brushing his hair out of his eyes, she said, “Yes, he’s very smart and curious, but sometimes he wears me out．” My friend responded sympathetically(表示同情地), “Yes, they can do that; they are so full of energy．”

As we walked away, I heard the mother speaking kindly to the boy about getting home and cooking his dinner．“We’ll have your favorite — macaroni(通心面) and cheese,” she told him．

The mother was angry with her baby because 　  　　．

A．the mother was very tired k+s-5#u 

B．the baby asked for more things

C．the baby ran madly in the store

D．the baby was pulling the goods off the shelves

We can learn from the passage that the author’s friend 　　   　．

A．treated her children well only     

B．was probably good to any child

C．liked the boy very much         

D．always wanted to help others

The author’s friend talked with the mother in that way to 　  　　．

A．show her sympathy for the woman

B．know something about the boy first

C．show her anger with the woman k+s-5#u 

D．make the woman realize children’s natural quality

With the story, the author most probably intends to tell us that 　　　  ．

A．we should respect a child’s nature

B．we should never blame a child

C．mothers usually share the same interest

D．mothers should try to be gentle and polite k+s-5#u 

Barbara is easy to recognize as she’s the only of the women who ____ evening dress.

　　A.  wear  B.  wears  C.  has worm  D.  have worm

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 .