Do you remember the game “Telephone”? A message gets passed from person to person, and everyone laughs at how distorted(曲解) it becomes. As a game, telephone can be fun. In real life, sending messages through third parties fouls things up. It is important for family members who have “business” with other family members to take it up directly.
When tension arises in a relationship between two people, a frequent way of dealing with this is to send messages through a third person. Family doctors refer to the process as ‘triangulation”. Following a quarrel, a mother may say to her son, “Tell your father to pass the salt”, which may be answered by, “Tell your mother to get her own salt.” In many long cases of triangulation, the middleman becomes severely disturbed.
Two years ago, Ruth and Ralph Gordon brought their 17-year-old daughter for treatment. Lucille was not doing well in school, using drugs heavily. When I began to work with her, she was uncommunicative and aggressive. After some time, however, she opened up and told me her parents rarely talked to each other, but both used her as a middleman. Mrs. Gordon was sexually unsatisfied and suggested to Lucille that she ask her father to go for marriage advice. Mr. Gordon told Lucille that he was seeing another woman, and he urged Lucille to speak to her mother about improving her behaviour. Caught in this confusing situation, Lucille became more and more troubled. It wasn’t until she refused to play middleman that she began to improve. When either parent began to send a message through her, she learned to say, “Tell him/her yourself!”
You’ll find that when family members learn to dial each other directly, there’s rarely a busy signal or wrong number. With direct dialing, a sense of freshness is created.
【小题1】The underlined words “foul things up” in the 1st paragraph means ________.

Hilary Smith belonged to a good family. But by the age of twenty, he had spent all the money the good old family had. He then had some trouble with the bank and was put in prison. He escaped from the prison and ran to Australia without delay.

Hilary did not like Australia and Australia did not like Hilary. What he could do seemed to be one of two things: die or work. The thought of neither of these gave him any pleasure. Then he remembered that he was not alone in the world. He possessed an aunt.

She was his father’s only sister, but his father used to say she brought no glory to the family. Hilary, of course, tried to discover what she had done. It seemed that she had failed to marry a nobleman. Instead, she had chosen a husband who was connected with trade. Of course as soon as she became “Mrs Parks”, her brother considered her dead. Later on, Mr. Parks died and left her a lot of money; but that did not bring her back to life in her brother’s opinion.

Hilary discovered his aunt’s address. Fortunately she remained faithful and honest to him even after she fell ill. So Hilary’s star shone again. When he was feeling honest, he could talk attractively. He frequently visited his aunt’s house; and soon he was living comfortably in the building which the profits of trade had provided.

One thing was soon clear: his aunt was seriously ill, and nothing could cure her illness. Hilary was very worried. Fate had found a home for him, and was now going to throw him out of it. There was only one thing that could save him: her will.

“Will?” she said, “yes, I have made one. That was when I was a girl and had not much money. I left all my money to some religious people.”

“Didn’t you make another will when you were married?” Hilary asked.

His aunt shook her head. “No,” she said in a low voice, “There was no need. When I finally had a lot of money I found I had no relations.”

On the next day he went to the public library and examined a book of law. It told him what he already believed. When a woman is married, an earlier will loses its value. A new will must be made. If no new will is made, the money goes to the nearest relation. Hilary knew that he was his aunt’s only relation. His future was safe.

After a few months had passed, Hilary’s problems became serious. He badly needed money. He had expensive tastes, and owed a lot of money to shopkeepers. They trusted him because his aunt was rich; but the debt was terrible.

Unfortunately his aunt did not want to discuss money matters at all. In the end they had a quarrel about the small amount of ten pounds. Hilary was now very angry. He began to wonder about a new problem. Was it kind to want his aunt to live any longer? Was it not better for her to die now? While he was considering what to do, his aunt told him that she was going to send for her lawyer. So she was going to make a new will. Hilary thought she might leave all her money to someone else. Soon he reached a clear decision．He must do a great kindness to the poor old woman.

One night when the old servant who had been nursing his aunt went off, he doubled the amount of some medicine. The total amount was too great and it could just put her to sleep forever.

“Thank you,” his aunt took the glass from his hand with a grateful look. “I want, more than anything, to sleep, and never to wake up again. Is that what you wish, Hilary? I have given you your chance. Don’t blame me if I have some doubts about what you intended to do. Sick people get these ideas, you know. One thing I ought to explain to you. Mr. Parks never married me. He already had a wife and couldn’t marry again. That made your foolish father very angry with me… Well, if I am alive tomorrow I shall make another will in your favor. If I die tonight, you’ll get nothing… No, Hilary, don’t try to take the glass away. If you do that, I shall know; and I don’t want to know. Good night, Hilary.”

Then, very carefully, she raised the glass to her mouth and drank.

1.From the story, we learn that Hilary’s aunt was ______.

A. bad-tempered and lonely                    B. kind-hearted and wise

C. careless about money                       D. cruel to her nephew

2.Why did Hilary’s father consider his aunt dead?

A. Because they lost contact with each other after her marriage.

B. Because she married a businessman.

C. Because she broke away from the family for a better life.

D. Because he thought she was a shame to the family.

3.The underlined sentence “He must do a great kindness to the poor old woman” in Paragraph 11 suggests that Hilary Smith ______.

A. was determined to put his aunt’s life to an end

B. decided to do his aunt a favor to call in a lawyer

C. made up his mind to take good care of his aunt

D. would help his aunt to donate all her money to religious people

4.Which of the following is the focus of the story?

A. Hilary’s aunt’s money.                    B. Hilary Smith’s debts.

C. The intended murder.                     D. Hilary’s aunt’s marriage.

5.Which part of what Hilary’s aunt said finally might make Hilary frustrated?

A. She wanted to sleep and never to wake up again.

B. She never got married to Mr. Parks.

C. Mr. Parks had a wife.

D. She would make a new will tomorrow.

6.Which detail from the story is the climax（高潮）of the story?

A. Hilary escaped from the prison.

B. Hilary quarreled with his aunt about ten pounds.

C. Hilary’s aunt drank the medicine her nephew prepared for her.

D. Hilary’s aunt made a will to leave all her money to someone else.

Elizabeth and I are 18 now, and about to graduate．I think about our elementary-school friendship, but some memories have blurred （模糊）．What happened that day in the fifth grade when Beth suddenly stopped speaking to me? Does she know that I've been thinking about her for seven years? If only we could go back, and discover what ended our relationship．

    I have to speak with Beth．I see her sometimes, and find out school is "fine"．It's not the same．It never will be．Someone says that she's Liz now．What happened to Beth?

    I can't call her．Should I write? What if she doesn't answer me? How will I know what she's thinking?

    Yes, I'll write her a letter．These things are easier to express in writing．" Be-," no, " Li-," no, " Elizabeth," I begin．The words flow freely, as seven year old memories are reborn．I ask her all the questions that have been left unanswered in my mind, and pray she will answer．I seal my thoughts in the perfect white envelope, and imagine Beth looking into her mailbox．Will she know why I'm writing? Maybe she once thought of writing the same letter．

    As the mailman takes my envelope from me forever, I wonder if I've made the right decision．Do I have the right to force myself into Beth's life again? Am I simply part of the past? I have taken the first step．Beth has control of the situation now．

    One day has passed．Are my words lying on the bottom of the post office floor?

    Two days are gone．I'm lost in thought and don't even hear the phone ting．

    "Hello? It's Elizabeth．"

1.What can we learn about Beth?

    A．She had a quarrel with the author in the fifth grade．

    B．She moved to another school in the fifth grade．

    C．She is now called Liz instead of Beth．

    D．She hasn't seen the author for seven years．

2.Why does the author decide to write a letter instead of calling?

    A．She is sure that Beth will not answer．

    B．She's afraid that they'll quarrel on the phone．

    C．She doesn't know Beth's telephone number．

    D．It is easier to express her feelings in writing．

3.Which of the following the author might NOT mention in her letter?

    A．Their elementary-school friendship．

    B．Her future plan after graduation．

    C．Her expectations for Beth's reply．

    D．The questions about the endings of their friendship．

4.What might happen at the end of the story?

    A．Beth answers her letter two days later．

    B．The letter doesn't reach Beth at all．

    C．They make up their friendship．

    D．Beth refuses to make peace with her．

Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank did not want to be a farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.
Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people’s interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends（小商品）for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said “FIVE CENTS EACH’. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.
Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities directly from the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.
By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always ran his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was : ‘THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”
【小题1】Frank took a short business course in order to __________.

Once upon a time，there was a father and a son.The son was very rude and often hurt others’feelings with bitter words.So he had no friends and got more and more fretful(烦躁的)day by day.The father had been trying to persuade him to change his bad manner but father’s efforts made no difference on the wild son.

One day，the father got an idea.He set up a wooden board and called his son over and gave him a hammer and a box of nails.He told the young man to hammer a nail every time when he had a quarrel.The son did so.After a day，he himself saw the board was filled with nails whose quantity was so huge which looked so ugly that he was shocked and finally made up his mind to be a nice guy.The father suggested he pull out one nail every time when he checked his bad temper and avoided talking impolitely.He did that.When the last nail was drawn out the son was so excited that he couldn’t help showing the board to his father.However，his cheer trailed_away and slowly he grew frustrated(沮丧的)while he was staring at the board which was actually as disagreeable as a water?sapped (被水侵蚀的)stone deep on the seabed.The father pointed to the holes left in the board and told him that sometimes the hurt just like the holes stuck in one’s mind forever.The boy cried and regretted being such an impudent(轻浮的)guy.Since then，he was polite and kind and made a lot of friends，and turned happily.

1．Many people didn’t like the son because he used to ________ them.

A．beat 　　　　　B．hurt　　　　　　 C．fight with 　　 D．laugh at

2．At first the son was ________ to listen to his father.

A．happy 　　　　 B．sorry　　　　　　 C．ready 　　　　　D．unwilling

3．Why did the father tell his son to hammer a nail?

A．Because his son had nothing to do.

B．Because his son liked to have a quarrel.

C．In order to change his son’s bad manner.

D．In order to love his son.

4．What does the underlined phrase“trailed down”mean?

A．减弱 　　　　　B．放过 　　　　　 C．抛开 　　　　 D．出轨

5．What’s the best title of the passage?

A．The Father and the Son　　　　　　　 B．The Son Had Quarrels with Others

C．A Great Father　　　　　　　　　　　 D．How a Father Taught His Son