One stormy night many years ago, an elderly man and his wife entered the hall of a small hotel in Philadelphia. Trying to get out of the rain, they came to the front desk hoping to get some shelter for the night.

“Could you possibly give us a room here?” the husband asked.

The clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile, looked at the couple and explained that there were three conventions in town.“All of our rooms are taken,” the clerk said.“But I can’t send a nice couple like you out into the rain at one o’clock in the morning. Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It’s not exactly a suite, but it will be good enough to make you folks comfortable for the night.”

When the couple declined, the young man pressed on.“Don’t worry about me; I’ll make out just fine.” the clerk told them. So the couple agreed.

As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the clerk,“You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I’ll build one for you.” The clerk looked at them and smiled. The three of them had a good laugh. As they drove away, the elderly couple agreed that the helpful clerk was indeed exceptional, as finding people who are both friendly and helpful isn’t easy.

Two years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the old man. It recalled that stormy night and enclosed a round—trip ticket to New York, asking the young man to pay them a visit.

The old man met him in New York, and led him to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th street. He then pointed to a great new building there, a pale reddish stone, with turrets and watchtowers thrusting up to the sky.“That,” said the older man,“is the hotel I have just built for you to manage.”“You must be joking,” the young man said.“I can assure you I am not,” said the older man, a sly smile playing around his mouth.

The older man’s name was William Waldorf Astor, and that magnificent structure was the original Waldorf—Astoria Hotel. The young clerk who became its first manager was George C.Boldt. This young clerk never foresaw the turn of events that would lead him to become the manager of one of the world’s most glamorous hotels.

1.The purpose of the author writing this story is to_______.

A．give people a good laugh                 B．cover some facts

C．promote the business of Waldorf—Astoria Hotel    D．deliver a lesson

2.Which of the statements about the story is NOT true?

A．The story took place at about one a.m..

B．The old couple was too poor to afford a luxurious room.

C．The clerk was willing to help those in need.

D．The clerk received an unexpected invitation from the old man.

3.The underlined word “conventions” in Para.3 can be replaced by_______?

A．rooms            B．suites             C．meetings          D．hotels

4.Which of the following proverbs suits the story the best?

A．Every little thing helps.

B．Make hay while the sun shines.

C．Man proposes； God disposes(处理,决定).

D．One good turn deserves another.

Dear Aunty,
I work at a supermarket, and another girl and I share tasks we must finish before leaving. But she takes half an hour to do something I can do in ten minutes. She always has a story to tell me and stops working when she does. My boss is angry at both of us, but It’s not my fault. I don’t want to rat on her, but what else can I do?
Flustered
Dear Flustered,
Let me propose a better way. Make a log of all the tasks you share, then suggest to your boss that for efficiency your duties could be divided into two separate checklists. If he’s reluctant, go to plan B: the next time this girl starts telling you a story, stop working to listen and call your boss over to hear what a great storyteller she is. I’m sure he’ll take it from here.
Aunty
Dear Aunty,
I’m a college student in the Philippines who wants to be wise with money. I’m not an economics or business major student and I don’t know anything about stocks. But I really want to buy assets and invest. I receive about 15,000 pesos（比索）every school term from my education plan. I don’t have any idea how I should spend it. I don’t want to just buy new clothes, or hang out with my friends because it would not be wise. I want my money to grow. Please enlighten me.
Fastbreakplay
Dear Fastbreakplay,
Being wise with money is the No. 1 thing to learn. Start with a disciplined and systematic savings plan. When your savings reach a sizeable amount, then you may start investing. In the meantime, invest in yourself by reading up on stock markets and capital markets. Follow the news. Before I started investing during my senior high school years, I had already studied stock market data of the past century as I believe markets tend to repeat themselves. If you master this skill, you will master your reading of the markets.
Aunty
【小题1】When Flustered’s boss isn’t willing to separate their work, Flustered can _____.

单词拼写：根据所提供的首字母，写出符合句意的单词。一个空只能填一个单词。（共10小题；每小题0.5分，共5分）

1. The Big House of Qiao Family (乔家大院) is a perfectly p__________________ old house.

2. It suddenly o_____________ to her that she had once seen the man somewhere before.

3. Bank cards are p________________ useful when travelling and there are often insurance benefits if you pay for your travel with them.

4. The police want those who have w____________ the accident to call them and provide them with enough evidence.

5. More often than not, it is difficult to c______________ the exact meaning of a Tang poem in English.

6. She wrote several letters to the government about the air pollution, but got no r_____________.

7. Today, the boss announced that smoking was f__________________ during office hour.

8. Akitt was u_______________ about the time of the recovery so he looked very depressed.

9. Though rich, she lives a simple life. She r____________ wears expensive jewellery.

10. I was very d_________________ by the failure, but I still hoped we could find a solution.

单词拼写 (每小题1分)

根据所给汉语注释，写出所缺单词的正确形式(每空限写一词)。

⒈ She works very hard, and she is a great _________(安慰) to her parents.

⒉ It’s ______________ (不必要的) for you to have a talk with her.

⒊ _____________ (雷雨) is common in summer.

⒋ The girl enjoys singing and dancing, and she is _______ (敏锐) at music.

⒌ He is the __________ (冠军) of the boys’ 200-meter race at the sports meet.

⒍ He likes playing the piano a lot and wants to be a ______ (钢琴家) in the future.

⒎ The boss is ____________ (乐观的) about his factory.

⒏ Did you get seasick during the __________ (航海)?

⒐ Please _______ (加热) the milk until it boils.

⒑ Wool is one of the chief _________ (出口物) of Australia.

【小题1】The boss seems __________（有偏见）against the female employees wearing jewelry at work.
【小题2】 The sky was high and soft and light outside with the leaves moving ________（轻柔）in the breeze.
【小题3】 Aware of a thunderstorm on the way, the farmers made the valuable things ________（转移）to safe places.
【小题4】 The dictionary is edited in the order of ________（字母表）.
【小题5】Kent is a constant reminder of Pip’s shabby beginnings, so he made a decision to move from it to the bright lights of London without any             （同伴）.
【小题6】The two numbers sound so alike on the phone that it’s hard to d___________ one from the other.
【小题7】My husband has been a_______ to smoking for several years. It is really hard for him to stop now.
【小题8】 This boy is very g___________ --- he often buys things for other people.
【小题9】 After months of overworking, Jack was suffering from physical and m         exhaustion.
【小题10】 The ability to use a language can be a_________ only by the practice of using the language.