A job is more than just a job，especially to the older generation.“It’s not the money that matters，but the sense of self?worth，” 56?year?old Cheng Wonlan said.So，every day Ms Cheng carries a bag of parcels，letters and documents of all shapes and sizes and does her rounds in North Point.She’s a courier(快递人员)．

Five years ago，Ms Cheng was a nurse at a private clinic.She had worked there for almost 30 years but was made jobless when the doctor migrated(移居)．It was extremely difficult for her to find another job.“People do not trust my ability when they learn how old I am，” she said.After two years of searching，the mother of two eventually found another nursing job.But then after two years，she quit.Why?

“My colleagues were young and they didn’t understand me because of my age.They often asked me，‘You are so old；what are you working for？’ I was very unhappy.” she said.So while the rest of her family left for work，she was left to lonely boredom at home.The urge to work drove her to suffering.Then，one of Ms Cheng’s neighbours told her about Employee’s Retraining Board (ERB) offering retraining courses for older people on specific occupations，such as convenience store assistants，junior clerks and so on.

“I was interested in courier work.I didn’t think my age was a barrier because I was fit and healthy.So I thought why not give it a try.” she said.Upon graduation from the ERB，Ms Cheng was offered a job by the Speeding Shuttle Courier Service Company Limited.But then Ms Cheng was faced with a conflict：she was caught between honour and employment.It took Ms Cheng 24 hours to make up her mind and eventually came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong or embarrassing about doing the job.So she took heart and went off to work as a courier.

Ms Cheng’s employer is delighted with her，“Ms Cheng has been working with us for two months and has shown a good responsible attitude to work.”Anthony Chong，who runs the company，said.Currently，Mr Chong has 60 couriers working for his company：five of them are over fifty，four of whom have been through the ERB plan.Mr Chong said he hired older people because they were able and reliable.“Age is not an important factor but attitude is.Many old people are more capable than the youngsters.They will not run from difficulties but the young ones will，” he said.“It is not easy to recruit (招募) young people since they shy away from hardship and challenges.”

1.Why was it difficult for Ms Cheng to find another nursing job?

A．Nursing clinics were hard to find.

B．People thought that old people couldn’t be trusted.

C．People thought she was too old to take on a new job.

D．People didn’t think she had enough working experience.

2.Ms Cheng left her second nursing job because ________.

A．she was bored

B．it was too difficult

C．she was too old to do the job

D．the other staff made her feel uncomfortable

3.Employee’s Retraining Board is a plan for ________.

A．finding jobs for older people

B．teaching new skills to older people

C．training older people to be couriers

D．giving older people something to do in their spare time

4.When Ms Cheng was offered the courier job she ________.

A．took it straight away

B．thought it over and then accepted it

C．thought about it and then refused it

D．refused it straight away but then changed her mind

There is an old story about an army of frogs that went jumping through the forest one day when two of them suddenly fell into a deep   1 . All of the other frogs gathered around to look  2 at their two fallen friends. They all began to   3  shake their heads and croak out warnings. “It­­­’s too deep!”said one frog. Another said that there was no   4  they would ever be able to get out   5 .
The two fallen frogs began to continuously jump as they   6  to get out, but the frogs that were   7  kept croaking louder at them that they might as well stop   8  they were as good as dead and just   9  their time. One of the two frogs finally gave up,  10  their advice and died.
The other frog just kept on jumping harder than ever   11  all the loud croaks of disapproval from the frogs around the top of the hole. They kept croaking at him to   12  jumping and save himself from all the   13  and suffering as he jumped and fell back down to the bottom   14 .
Finally, to the   15  of all the other frogs, he jumped right out of the deep hole. The other frogs asked him, “Why did you keep jumping   16   we yelled and croaked at you to stop?” The frog explained to them he was   17  at that time and that he had thought they were cheering for him and yelling words of   18  to him the entire time!
A little encouragement can go a long way. We don’t often think about the   19   that our words have upon others. Our words do have the power to hurt or to   20 .

阅读下面短文并回答问题，然后将答案写到答题卡相应的位置上（请注意问题后的字数要求）。

[1]Usually, when your teacher asks a question, there is only one correct answer. But there is one question that has millions of correct answers. That question is “What's your name？”. Everyone gives a different answer, but everyone is correct. Have you ever wondered about people's names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?

[2]People's first names, or given names, are chosen by their parents. Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used. Some parents ___________________. A boy could be named George Washington Smith；a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.

[3]Some people give their children names that mean good things. Clara means “bright”； Beatrice means “one who gives happiness”；Donald means “world ruler”； Leonard means “as brave as a lion”．

[4]The earliest last names, or surnames, were taken from place names. A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near a brook (小溪); someone who was called Longstreet probably Lived on a long, paved road. The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.

[5]Other early surnames came from people's occupations. The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past, smiths were very important  workers in every town and village. Some other occupational names are：Carter—a person who owned or drove a cart；Potter—a person who made pots and pans. The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbours in their native village. The Carpenter's great­great­great­grandfather probably built houses and furniture.

[6]Sometimes_people_were_known_for_the_colour_of_their_hair_or_skin，or_their_size，or_their_special_abilities. When there were two men who were named John in the same village, the John with the gray hair probably became John Gray. Or the John who was very tall could call himself John Tallman. John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.

[7]Some family names were made by adding something to the father's name. English­speaking people added ­s or ­son. The Johnsons are descendants of John;  the Roberts family's ancestor was Robert. Irish and  Scottish people added Mac or Mc or O. Perhaps all of  the MacDonnells and the McDonneils and the O'Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell.

1.What is the best title of the passage? (no more than10 words)

_______________________________________________________

2.Please fill in the blank in the 2nd paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence.(no more than 10 words)

_______________________________________________________

3.According to the passage, what job did the ancestors of the Potter family most probably do?

_______________________________________________________

4.List three aspects that the surnames cover in the passage.

(1)___________　(2)___________　(3)___________

5.Translate the underlined sentence in the 6th paragraph into Chinese.

_______________________________________________________

There is an old story about an army of frogs that went jumping through the forest one day when two of them suddenly fell into a deep   1 . All of the other frogs gathered around to look  2 at their two fallen friends. They all began to   3  shake their heads and croak out warnings. “It­­­’s too deep!”said one frog. Another said that there was no   4  they would ever be able to get out   5 .

The two fallen frogs began to continuously jump as they   6  to get out, but the frogs that were   7  kept croaking louder at them that they might as well stop   8  they were as good as dead and just   9  their time. One of the two frogs finally gave up,  10  their advice and died.

The other frog just kept on jumping harder than ever   11  all the loud croaks of disapproval from the frogs around the top of the hole. They kept croaking at him to   12  jumping and save himself from all the   13  and suffering as he jumped and fell back down to the bottom   14 .

Finally, to the   15  of all the other frogs, he jumped right out of the deep hole. The other frogs asked him, “Why did you keep jumping   16   we yelled and croaked at you to stop?” The frog explained to them he was   17  at that time and that he had thought they were cheering for him and yelling words of   18  to him the entire time!

A little encouragement can go a long way. We don’t often think about the   19   that our words have upon others. Our words do have the power to hurt or to   20 .

1.                A．hole           B．river           C．well D．valley

2.                A．up            B．down          C．over D．around

3.                A．violently        B．gently          C．sadly D．doubtfully

4.                A．wonder        B．doubt          C．Problem  D．way

5.                A．alone          B．alive           C．aware    D．awake

6.                A．attempted      B．chose          C．preferred D．failed

7.                A．helping         B．jumping         C．watching  D．cheering

8.                A．if             B．because        C．though   D．until

9.                A．saving          B．spending        C．killing    D．wasting

10.               A．ignored        B．offered         C．followed   D．rejected

11.               A．in spite of       B．as a result of     C．in terms of D．instead of

12.               A．try            B．practise        C．imagine   D．quit

13.               A．stress          B．pain           C．panic D．trouble

14.               A．here and there   B．now and then    C．over and over  D．neck and neck

15.               A．delight         B．disappointment  C．embarrassment D．surprise

16.               A．even though     B．now that        C．as though  D．in case

17.               A．blind          B．deaf           C．numb D．clumsy

18.               A．warning        B．trust           C．wisdom   D．encouragement

19.               A．pressure       B．magic          C．effect D．force

20.               A．help           B．protect         C．prevent   D．create

根据下列句子所给单词的首字母，在答题纸上按题号写出各单词正确的完全形式（每空限写一词）

1．In the o__________ of many people, the film is well worth seeing.

2．The life boat was sent out to r__________ the sailors from the sinking ship.

3．C __________ should complain if they are not satisfied with the products they buy or the service they receive.

4．Nowadays more and more Chinese students choose to further their study a__________.

5．It’s hard to get all the villages together, because they live s__________.

6．It’s bad m__________ to break in when others are talking.

7．More natural resources should be developed to meet the i__________ need of energy.

8．The shy girl won the speech contest. It was really a c__________ surprise to me.

9．He has d___________ all his life to helping the poor in Africa.

10．You can hardly imagine the difficulty the woman had b__________ up her children.