He met her at a party．She was so outstanding，with many boys around her，while he was so normal, with nobody paying attention to him．

At the end of the party，he invited her to have coffee with him．She was surprised，but due to being polite，she agreed．

They sat in a nice coffee shop．He was too nervous to say anything，and she felt uncomfortable，thinking，“Please let me go home．”

Suddenly he asked the waiter，“Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee．”

Everybody stared at him——so strange! His face turned red，but，still，he put the salt in his coffee and drank it．

She asked him curiously，“Why do you have this hobby?”

He replied，“When I was a little boy，I was living near the sea．I liked playing in the sea, and I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee．Now every time I have the salty coffee．I always think of my childhood．I miss my hometown so much．I miss my parents who are still living there．”

While saying that tears filled his eyes．She was deeply touched．That's his true feeling，from the bottom of his heart．A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, and has responsibility of home．

Then she also started to speak，about her faraway hometown，her childhood, her family．That was a really nice talk，also a beautiful beginning of their story．

They continued to date．She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands；he was kind-hearted, warm and careful．He was such a good person but she almost missed him!

Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story，the princess married the prince, then they were living a happy life…And, every time she made coffee for him，she put some salt in the coffee．

After 40 years, he passed away，leaving her a letter which said，“My dearest，please forgive my whole life lie．This was the only lie I said to you—the salty coffee．

“Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time．Actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt．It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead．

“I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything．

“Now I'm dying, I'm afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth：I don't like the salty coffee．What a strange bad taste! But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life!

“Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you．Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life．If I can live for a second time，I still want to know you and have you for my whole life，even though I have to drink the salty coffee again．”

Her tears made the letter totally wet．

Someday，someone asked her,“What's the taste of salty coffee?”“It's sweet，”she replied．

After ordering some salt to put into the coffee, the young man must have felt     ．

A．touched     B．satisfied    C．disappointed    D．embarrassed

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Salt coffee is more delicious and sweeter than sugar coffee．

B．The man ordered the salt coffee in order to create a chance to date with the girl．

C．The man had to have salty coffee all his life to keep his word．

D．The woman hardly believed the man's explanation at their first date．

From the passage we can see that the man is         ．

A．caring and kind-hearted      B．shy and sly

C．dishonest but responsible     D．warm and understanding

It is implied in the passage that the woman _____ when reading the letter left by her husband．

 A．was cheated by his husband's behavior    B．was touched by his husband's white lie

 C．felt sorry to know the truth too late       D．felt angry about his dishonesty

The old couple who lived in a cottage on the edge of the village were envied for the happiness of their marriage． They never quarreled and were always affectionate to one another． Sadly, after thirty-four years of this happiness, the husband became ill and died．

The wife was overcome with grief． Her children tried to comfort her, but to no avail． Her neighbors tried to comfort her, but with similar lack of success． Weeks and months went by, and still the woman was grieving; tears fell down her cheeks from morning till night．

Then a holy man came to the village． People told him about the woman, and asked him to try to help her． The holy man went to the woman’s house． Dressed in his rough woolen robe, he sat down with the grieving widow and listened, carefully, to her story． When she had spilled out all her sorrow, he reached into one of the deep pockets in his robe, and drew out a tiny, little mustard（芥末） seed． “I think I may have a cure for your grief,” he said． “I want you to go round the people in this region, and look for a family that has no sorrows． When you find this family, give them this little mustard seed, and then come back to me．

The woman set off in search of such a family． She visited every home in the district, and talked to the people． She listened to their stories, just as the holy man had listened to hers． In time, she almost forgot about the mustard seed, because every single family she met was carrying some kind of sorrow．

One day, she happened to meet the holy man again, and he stopped to ask how she was feeling． She was surprised at first, at his question, and then she suddenly remembered the mustard seed, still safely in her purse． “I’m sorry, I haven’t found a family without sorrows yet,” she told him． “But you yourself are cured of your grief,” he smiled． “The mustard seed is a great healer!”

What does the underlined word “grieving” mean?

   A． amused     B． sad         C． angry       D． astonished

What did the holy man ask her to do to end her sorrow?

   A． to go to church for help．

   B． to live with the family that has no sorrows with the mustard seed．

   C． to help others so that she can feel the happiness from the bottom of her heart．

   D． to find a family that is always happy and give them the mustard seed before returning to him．

How did the woman treat the families she visited?

   A． She was a good listener．

   B． She helped them to solve the problems they met．

    C． She gave every family a mustard seed．．

   D． She told them her unfortunate story．

Who on the earth heals the woman’s grief?

   A． The mustard seed                B． Her children   

    C． The families in the district        D． She herself

The old couple who lived in a cottage on the edge of the village were envied for the happiness of their marriage． They never quarreled and were always affectionate to one another． Sadly, after thirty-four years of this happiness, the husband became ill and died．

The wife was overcome with grief． Her children tried to comfort her, but to no avail． Her neighbors tried to comfort her, but with similar lack of success． Weeks and months went by, and still the woman was grieving; tears fell down her cheeks from morning till night．

Then a holy man came to the village． People told him about the woman, and asked him to try to help her． The holy man went to the woman’s house． Dressed in his rough woolen robe, he sat down with the grieving widow and listened, carefully, to her story． When she had spilled out all her sorrow, he reached into one of the deep pockets in his robe, and drew out a tiny, little mustard（芥末） seed． “I think I may have a cure for your grief,” he said． “I want you to go round the people in this region, and look for a family that has no sorrows． When you find this family, give them this little mustard seed, and then come back to me．

The woman set off in search of such a family． She visited every home in the district, and talked to the people． She listened to their stories, just as the holy man had listened to hers． In time, she almost forgot about the mustard seed, because every single family she met was carrying some kind of sorrow．

One day, she happened to meet the holy man again, and he stopped to ask how she was feeling． She was surprised at first, at his question, and then she suddenly remembered the mustard seed, still safely in her purse． “I’m sorry, I haven’t found a family without sorrows yet,” she told him． “But you yourself are cured of your grief,” he smiled． “The mustard seed is a great healer!”

1.What does the underlined word “grieving” mean?

   A． amused        B． sad           C． angry         D． astonished

2.What did the holy man ask her to do to end her sorrow?

   A． to go to church for help．

   B． to live with the family that has no sorrows with the mustard seed．

   C． to help others so that she can feel the happiness from the bottom of her heart．

   D． to find a family that is always happy and give them the mustard seed before returning to him．

3.How did the woman treat the families she visited?

   A． She was a good listener．

   B． She helped them to solve the problems they met．

    C． She gave every family a mustard seed．．

   D． She told them her unfortunate story．

4.Who on the earth heals the woman’s grief?

   A． The mustard seed                B． Her children   

    C． The families in the district                      D． She herself

Charles and I used to hang out all the time, together with a few other guys, but he seemed too cool for us recently．We couldn’t understand the   1  , and we didn’t ask him for an explanation． 2  , we decided to   3  him a lesson in the way he treated us．

Once we started giving Charles the  4 shoulder, almost everyone was taking no notice of him．He looked so  5  , especially at lunchtime when he sat alone in the cafeteria．Now and then he nodded and said, “Hey!” when  6  passed his table, but all he got  7  return were mean looks and silence．

At first I was glad my plan had  8 ．I only wanted him to know  9  it felt like to be blown off, but I hadn’t thought about how badly my “lesson” would  10  him．

During one lunch period, Charles  11  glanced at his watch, obviously 12   the minutes until he could leave the cafeteria．I suddenly realized I had done wrong．“Hey! Man．I’m terribly sorry．” I called out．“Oh, so you are talking to me now?” he asked．

“I’m sorry,   13  I had thought that you wanted to end our   14  ．” I said．

“What?” he nearly shouted, looking much   15 ．

“I’ve left you alone because I thought that was what you wanted．”

“Oh, my God! Why would I want  16  ?” He shouted, completely puzzled．

Clearly, we both had been  17  each other wrong．At first Charles couldn’t accept my  18 ．I knew he needed time to   19 all the hurt I’d caused him．But eventually, he did forgive me．We even started   20   out together again．And our friendship wasn’t destroyed at all．

1．A．situation              B．change            C．action              D．appearance

2．A．Besides              B．Therefore          C．Instead           D．But

3．A．take                 B．teach             C．give                D．have

4．A．serious            B．friendly            C．warm             D．cold

5．A．sad                  B．angry            C．happy             D．joyful

6．A．he                      B．anyone            C．they               D．someone

7．A．at                  B．in               C．on                D．by

8．A．helped               B．operated          C．worked           D．affected

9．A．what               B．that            C．which            D．how

10．A．worry             B．touch            C．hurt             D．disappoint

11．A．unexpectedly     B．worriedly        C．excitedly         D．repeatedly

12．A．counting           B．guessing         C．waiting            D．checking

13．A．and                   B．so                   C．thus              D．but

14．A．relationship     B．emotion           C．love               D．friendship

15．A．interested         B．pleased          C．surprised        D moved

16．A．one             B．those             C．that                D．such

17．A．understanding     B．regarding          C．knowing        D treating

18．A．explanation       B．attitude          C．suggestion         D．apology

19．A．get through       B．get over        C．get across      D．get along

20．A．leaving            B．looking           C．hanging          D．standing

Charles and I used to hang out all the time, together with a few other guys, but he seemed too cool for us lately．We couldn’t understand the  1   , and we didn’t ask him for an explanation．  2  ，we decided to  3  him a lesson in the way he treated us．

Once we started giving Charles the  4  shoulder, almost everyone was taking no notice of him．He looked so  5  , especially at lunchtime when he sat alone in the cafeteria．Now and then he nodded and said, “Hey!” when  6  passed his table, but all he got  7  return were mean looks and silence．

At first I was glad my plan had  8  , but Charles’ unhappiness made me upset．I only wanted him to know  9  it felt like to be blown off, but I hadn’t thought about how badly my “lesson” would  10  him．

During one lunch period, I  11 as Charles repeatedly glanced at his watch, obviously 12   the minutes until he could leave the cafeteria．I suddenly realized I had done wrong．

“Hey! Man．I’m terribly sorry．” I called out．

Charles turned around   13  , clearly wanting to avoid eye contact．

“Oh, so you are talking to me now?” he asked．

“I’m sorry,   14   I had thought that you wanted to end our friendship．” I said．

“What?” he nearly shouted, looking much   15  ．

“I’ve left you alone because I thought that was what you wanted．”

“Oh, my God! Why would I want  16  ?”I shouted, completely puzzled．

Clearly, we both had been  17  each other wrong．

At first Charles couldn’t accept my  18  ．I knew he needed time to   19 all the hurt I’d caused him．But eventually, he did forgive me．We even started hanging out together  20  ．And our friendship wasn’t destroyed at all．

1．A．situation               B．change               C．action                D．appearance

2．A．Besides             B．Therefore           C．Instead              D．Opposite

3．A．take                B．teach                C．give                 D．attend

4．A．serious              B．friendly              C．warm                D．cold

5．A．sad                 B．angry               C．happy                D．high

6．A．nobody             B．anyone               C．they                  D．someone

7．A．at                  B．in                  C．on                   D．by

8．A．helped              B．operated             C．worked              D．done

9．A．what                  B．that                C．as                    D．how

10．A．worry               B．touch               C．hurt                  D．disappoint

11．A．imagined           B．listened             C．recalled             D．watched

12．A．counting           B．guessing            C．waiting             D．checking

13．A．immediately        B．slowly              C．finally              D．willingly

14．A．and                 B．so                    C．thus                D．but

15．A．interested          B．pleased              C．surprised           D moved

16．A．it                    B．those                C．that                  D．such

17．A．understanding     B．regarding            C．knowing           D treating

18．A．explanation         B．attitude              C．suggestion         D．apology

20．A．seldom            B．once                 C．again                D．also