My father woke up early one summer morning when I was fourteen and announced, “Get up, you’re going with me to cut the grass in the garden.”

The idea that my father thought I was old enough to help him in his business made me feel proud and excited. From sunup to sundown, my father, my younger brother and I worked in the large garden. By the end of the day I was too tired to say a word but I felt happy. This was my first time to help my father in his business. I got $6 for my work that day.

One day my father found some leaves I had missed and pulled me aside. “Take away these leaves!” he said. “And don’t make me have to tell you to do it again.” The message was clear. Today I value the importance of doing job well the first time. I will never fail to impress (留下印象) the person I’m working for.

After two years, my father told me and my brother that he felt we were old enough to cut the grass by ourselves. Every Saturday during my last two years of high school, we set off early in the morning with the same wish we had gained while working under our father.

Looking after the garden was neither exciting nor high paying, but that didn’t matter. It taught me that any job was a good job and whatever I was paid was more than I had before.

A newspaper reporter once asked me how someone could possibly live with hard work and low pay. “If you’re only thinking about hard work and money, you probably don’t want to do better than you are doing,” I answered. In every job, from cutting the grass to washing dishes, I’ve learned much. I’ve learned something that helps me in my next job.

If you work hard enough, you can learn from any job you do.

7. The writer ______ from working in the garden.

A. learned to work hard to get money

B. found he could be well paid

C. felt he could impress others by working hard

D. learned any job was good though he might be paid less

8. When the writer finished high school, maybe he was ______ years old.

A. fourteen             B. eighteen             C. twenty           D. twenty-two

9. The writer’s father was ______.

A. very strict but helpful

B. lazy and easy to get angry

C. careful and enjoyed working in the garden

D. funny and hard-working

10. Which is the most important to the writer according to the passage?

A. Finishing work as quickly as possible.

B. Asking no money for your work.

C. Keeping learning from any job you have.

D. Keeping on looking for different jobs.

When I was ten, my mother worked all day so I had to take care of my younger brother. At that time my little brother was about four years old and he missed mum all the time.
One day, after I had given him his dinner, he started crying for mum.He was so young and really needed mum. So I dressed him, put on his shoes, carried him on my back and walked out. Soon he fell asleep. About half an hour later, I found that he had lost a shoe while sleeping. I took him off my back and put him down. I knew we needed to find that shoe, for our mother couldn’t afford new shoes. We had to go back to find it, so I told my brother to wait right there. A man heard it and stopped me just before I walked off. He asked me, “You are leaving your brother here to find the shoe? What would you do if he is not here when you return?” I did not know how to answer that question. He continued, “It’s OK if you can’t find the shoe, but it is not OK to lose your brother.” Then he sent us to mum’s workplace by taxi.
My whole life I have depended on the kindness of many strangers, I feel regretful that I cannot find them and say thank you. I do not even remember what the man’s face looked like, but he taught me a lesson—people are more important than things.
【小题1】 Why did the younger brother cry for his mother?

Last Friday, a Tibetan(藏族的) postman became the first woman postal worker to give a speech at the World Postal Meeting in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. She was Nima Lamu, a postwoman of Yunling Post office, Yunnan Province.
She said, “I had to cross the Lancang River along a steel wire. My younger brother nearly died in the river before. I felt so afraid when I was asked for the first time to cross the river. But when I reached the other side, I found that I was flying.”
Her area is locked in (封闭) two snowy mountains and three big rivers. She said, “:What worries me most is the snakes on the way. Sometimes, I throw little stones toward them and I often tell my self ‘Keep going’. ”
Ten years ago, it took Nima five days to finish each week’s mail. She had to face snowstorms, floods, snakes and loneliness on her 350-kilometer journey. Nima said, “The situation has developed a lot these years. Now we have a bridge that was built across the Lancang River in 2006.”
Nima never dreamed she would become famous one day when she first look up her job, 12 years ago. Changes have been seen in recent years as more tourists visit Nima’s hometown. But one thing remains unchanged: she is still the carrier of the villagers’ hopes and dreams.
【小题1】Nima was invited to the meeting in Bern because she was _________.

A．he once fell into the river.	B．He was killed by a snake.
C．He died when swimming in the river.	D．He got hurt when building the bridge.

When I was young, I liked to play jokes on people I knew, especially on my parents and friends. One day my mother was cooking in the kitchen and my younger brother was playing near the window. I ran to my mother and said, “My brother has fallen from the open window!” She was very worried about my brother and then I said, “Don’t worry. I’m just joking.” And my mother shouted at me, “If you do it again, I’ll punish(惩罚) you.”
One day I went swimming with my friends in the sea. I wanted to play a joke on my friends. In the beginning, I went swimming alone, and I called to my friends, “ Help me!” All my friends came to help me, only to find out that I was joking. But the next time I wasn’t joking. I swam in deep water and I was so careless that I was almost drowned(淹死). I tried my best to call my friends for help, but this time nobody came to help me. In the end, they found I was telling the truth(真话). They came and saved my life. They took me to the emergency center. From then on, I haven’t joked on anyone. I think this is the best lesson in my life.
【小题1】What did the writer like to do when he was young ?
A. To fight with his friends.            B. To play with his mother.
C. To play jokes on others.
【小题2】How did the writer’s mother feel when she heard what he said about his brother ?
A. Interested.               B. Worried.    .           C. Excited.
【小题3】 When the writer shouted “Help me!” for the first time, his friends _______ .
A. came to help him           B. didn’t care about him    
C. stopped to look at him
【小题4】The underlined part “the emergency center” means “________” in Chinese.
A. 购物中心              B. 娱乐中心               C. 急救中心
【小题5】 Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? 
A. The writer’s mother was cooking when his mother fell from the open window.
B. The writer used to go swimming alone in the deep sea.
C. The writer hasn’t joked on others since he was saved by his friends.