Our quarrel with efficiency is not that it gets things done, but that it is a thief of time when it leaves us no leisure to enjoy ourselves, and that it strains our nerves when we try to get things done perfectly. In building bridges, American engineers calculate so finely and exactly as to make the two ends come together within one-tenth of an inch. But when two Chinese begin to dig a tunnel from both sides of a mountain both come out on the other side. --The Chinese’s firm belief is that it doesn’t matter so long as a tunnel is dug through, and if we have two instead of one, why, we have a double track to boot.
　　The pace of modern industrial life forbids this kind of glorious and magnificent idling. But, worse than that, it imposes upon us a different conception of time as measured by the clock and eventually turns the human being into a clock himself. (This sort of thing is bound to come to China, as is evident, for instance, in the case of a factory of twenty thousand workers. The luxurious prospect of twenty thousand workers coming in at their own sweet pleasure at all hours is, of course, somewhat terrifying.)Nevertheless, such efficiency is what makes life so hard and full of excitement. A man who has to be punctually at a certain place at five o’clock has the whole afternoon from one to five ruined for him already. Every American adult is arranging his time on the pattern of the schoolboy - three o’clock for this, five o’clock for that, six-thirty for change of dress, six-fifty for entering the taxi, and seven o’clock for arriving at the destination. It just makes life not worth living.
【小题1】The writer objects to efficiency mainly on the grounds that it ____.

We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. but most mistakes are about people. "Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen?" "When I got that great job, did Jim, as a friend, really feel good about it? Or did he envy my luck?" "And was Paul friendly just because I had a car? " When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad.
But when we look back, it is too late.
Why do we go wrong about our friends, or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meanings. And if we do not really listen, we miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose someone tells you, "You're a lucky dog!"(你真幸运!) Is he really on your side? If he says, "You're a lucky guy!", that is being friendly. But "a lucky dog?" There is a bit of envy in those words. What he may be saying is that he does not think you deserve your luck.
"Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for" is another phrase that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem. But this phrase contains the thought that your problem is not at all important.
How can you tell the real meaning behind someone's words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Is what he says shown by the tone of voice? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people say to you may save your another mistake.
57.When the writer recalls(回想) some of the things that happened between him and his friends, he _______.
A. feels happy, thinking how nice his friends were to him
B. feels he might not have understood his friends' true feelings
C. think it a mistake to have broken up with his girl friend
D. is sorry that his friends let him down
58.When the writer talks about someone saying, "You're a lucky dog!", he is saying that
_____.    
A. the speaker is just friendly
B. this sentence suggests the same as "You're a lucky guy!"
C. the word "dog" should not be used to apply to people
D. sometimes the words show that the speaker is a bit envious
59.This passage tries to tell you how to ______.
A. avoid mistakes about money and friends
B. get an idea of friendly people
C. avoid mistakes in understanding what people tell you
D. keep people friendly without trusting them
60.The writer suggests that ______ be trusted.
A. everybody   B. nobody    C. all the people  D. all the people not

Onceupon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the sea to do his writing. Hehad a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.One day he waswalking along the shore. As he looked down at the beach, he saw a human figuremoving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought that someone woulddance on the beach. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, hesaw that it was a young man and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he wasreaching down to the shore, picking up something and throwing itinto the ocean. As he got closer, he called out, “Good morning! What are youdoing?’’

Theyoung man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwingstarfishes(海星)in theocean.”

“I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfishes in the ocean?”

“The sun is up and the tide is going out.And if I don’t throw them in, they’ll die”

“But, young man, don’t you realize thatthere are miles and miles of beach and starfishes all along it. You can’tpossibly make a difference!”

Theyoung man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked another starfish andthrew it into the sea, and said, “It made a difference for that one.”Thereissomething very special in each and every one of us. We have all beengifted with the ability to make a difference. And if we can know that gift, wewill gain through the strength of our vision the power(力量) toshape the future.

We musteach find our starfish. And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the worldwill be better. 

1.One day, the wise man saw a young man _______.

2.The underlined words “something very special” refers to ________. 

3.From the last two paragraphs, we can learn that ________.

4.The writer told this story to show us _____.      

My wife Julie and I were out on the road that runs around where we live, when we saw an old worn-out dog stumbling (蹒跚) painfully up the road. We stopped, bent down, talked gently to the dog and patted it. I checked and there was a collar with a phone number. I called but no one answered.

The dog was painfully thin. So Julie ran home to get some of our dog’s food while I tried to encourage the dog. After Julie came back, we sat down on the sidewalk while our new friend made short work of the food. Eventually we got her home.

After trying for many times we got a response from the number. A lady came around with a bunch of flowers for us. She explained that Tara had been her father’s dog. She was very old and got lost that morning. So, Tara was safely returned home.

Here is the truth of the story:

Actually Julie and I were out that morning because I was leaving. She was trying to persuade me to come back, but I wasn’t hearing anything that made that sound likely.

I was about to turn and go when an old black dog walked between us and almost fell down. Suddenly we had something more important than our problem to worry about. There was a creature in need right before us and we had to work together to help it.

We did help it. And here I am writing the story in my own home, in my own family.

In the song “Love Is Not a Fight” Warren Barfield talks about marriage. At one point he sings, “And if we try to leave, may God send angels (天使) to guard the door.”

Sometimes angels come disguised (伪装) as dogs.

1.How was the dog when found?

A. Too weak to walk.                                       B. Thin and worn out.        

C. Unable to eat food.                                             D. Homeless but gentle.

2. We can infer from Paragraph 2 that         .

A. the dog didn’t go with the writer                    

B. the writer had his own pet dog

C. Julie bought some food for the dog                

D. the dog didn’t eat any of the food

3.The underlined part “our problem” in the passage refers to the fact that         .

A. the writer didn’t want to take Julie’s advice

B. an old black dog appeared in front of them

C. Julie disagreed with the writer’s travel on business

D. the couple had some trouble with their marriage

4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. An Angel Dog        B. A Helpful Couple   C. Saving the Dog                D. A Famous Song

Love and Friendship
They are both so much related to each other. And both are so dissimilar! What are the differences between friendship and love? Is platonic(柏拉图式的) friendship possible between persons of the opposite sex? ___【小题1】____
What is friendship? Why do we call a person our friend? When do we call someone a very good friend? If we care for a person, if we are always ready to help that person and if we share most of our thoughts with a person, they are our good friends. We can always count upon our good friends in an emergency. We are always sure that our friends will understand why we acted in a certain way. ___【小题2】 ___ The friendship is so deep and the relationship is so intimate, that most of the things are automatically understood by our friends.
__【小题3】____ In a relationship of deep love, all the sharing that we discussed above is taken for granted. But love transcends(超出) all this. During love, we are attached with a particular person, while in friendship, one may have many friends. A loving relationship makes one so much attached to the other that one gets pained if his/her beloved is hurt! Love also involves a physical element. ____【小题4】____ This is a vital difference. Nature gives us love so that the species can go forward. Nature does not give us friendship.
Your heart beats will never increase in anticipation of meeting your friend. ___【小题5】_____ You will not feel totally lost, if you don’t meet your friend for a few days. You will not have dreams in your eyes thinking about your friend. But in love, you will do all this and much more. Indeed, there is no comparison between love and friendship.