It had been a very disheartening day. The doctors had given us the worst of news. Our daughter, who had just completed her first brain surgery to remove a tumor (肿瘤) and was going through radiation treatment, was now officially given a two percent chance of survival as this type of cancer had no cure.

       My wife and I decided to take our daughter to lunch before continuing our afternoon conversation. We went to a local restaurant where we sat in silence waiting for the waitress. I noticed a very elderly couple sitting a few booths away, who were also in silence and did not speak a word. I couldn’t help but wonder what challenges they had faced in their life and if they ever faced such terrible news about a child of theirs.

       We eventually ordered our lunch and still sitting in silence we ate what we could. At some point I became intrigued by the old couple. I thought to myself that they hadn’t yet spoken to each other and I wondered if it was the peace they were enjoying or the food or maybe both. However, at some point I lost interest and put my focus back on my lunch.

       Molly was still talking away and enjoying her meal. Her mom and I both listened and tried to be happy in her presence but it wasn’t going very well. All of a sudden I saw a hand come out of nowhere. It was huge and I could tell that it had been afflicted with arthritis (关节炎). I couldn’t take my eyes off that hand. It landed on my daughter’s tiny six-year-old hand and as it did I looked up; it was the old woman who had been sitting with the old man in silence eating their lunch.

       I looked into her eyes and she spoke, but not to me. She looked at my daughter and simply whispered, “If I could do more for you I would…” and then she smiled and moved away to join her husband, who had moved towards the door.

       “Look, a whole dollar,” Molly spoke with excitement as she discovered a crumpled one dollar bill left behind by the old lady. I looked up to thank her, but she was gone. I sat stunned, not sure what had just happened and then I looked over at my wife. In almost unison, we broke out into a smile. The sadness of the day had been wiped out by the crippled hand and generous touch of the old lady. The dollar, although exciting to Molly, was not what made us smile; it was the offer from the old lady, who felt our suffering. The crippled hand symbolized a healing touch and made us realize that we did not have to fight this battle alone.

41. The author was _______, when he first caught sight of the old couple in the restaurant.

   A. curious          B. confused             C. upset                  D. indifferent

42. By saying “If I could do more for you I would…”, the old woman means_______.

   A. she had the ability to cure the disease of Molly

   B. she had the responsibility for the safety of Molly

   C. she was an old friend of the author and can lend some money to them

   D. she would like to help Molly as much as possible

43. What can we inferred from the passage?

   A. The author and his wife were not satisfied with the food in the restaurant.

   B. The old couple had once gone through the same trouble as the author did.

   C. The one dollar bill made the author feel touched by the warmth from others.

   D. The old woman sympathized with Molly because she suffered from serious arthritis herself.

44. What would be the best title of the text?

   A. A girl with cancer                    B. A touch of heaven

   C. A crippled hand                           D. A kind-hearted couple

The next morning Alex was waiting in the FMA president’s suite when Jerome Patterton arrived. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. Then he said, “I want you to give an order to the trust department to sell every share of Supranational we’re holding.”
“I won’t!” Patterton’s voice rose. “Who do you think you are, giving orders-----“ “I’ll tell you who I am, Jerome. I’m the guy who warned the board against in-depth involvement with SuNatCo. I fought against heavy trust department buying of the stock, but no one-----including you -----would listen. Now Supranational is caving in.” Alex leaned across the desk and slammed a fist down hard. “Don’t you understand? Supranational can bring this bank down with it.”
Patterton was shaken. “But is SuNatCo in real trouble? Are you sure?”
“If I weren’t, do you think I’d be here? I’m giving you a chance to salvage something at least.” He pointed to his wristwatch. “It’s an hour since the New York  stock market opened. Jerome, get on the phone and give that order!”
Muscles around the bank president’s mouth twitched nervously. Never decisive, strong influence often swayed him. He hesitated, then picked up the telephone.
“Get me Mitchell in the trust department… Mitch? This is Jerome. Listen carefully. I want you to give a sell order immediately on all the Supranational stock we hold… Yes, sell every share.” Patterton listened, then said impatiently, “Yes, I know what it’ll do to the market. And I know it’s irregular.” His eyes sought Alex’s for reassurance. The hand holding the telephone trembled as he said, “There’s no time to hold meetings. So do it! Yes, I accept responsibility.”
He hung up and reached for a glass of water. “The stock is already down. Our selling will depress it more. We’ll be taking a big beating.”
“It’s our clients-----people who trusted us-----who will take the beating. And they’d have taken a bigger one still, if we’d waited. Even now we’re not out of the woods. A week from now the SEC may disallow those sales. They may rule we had inside knowledge that Supranational was about to be bankrupt, which we should have reported and which would have halted trading in the stock.
【小题1】 Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. The sentence means:

The next morning Alex was waiting in the FMA president’s suite when Jerome Patterton arrived. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. Then he said, “I want you to give an order to the trust department to sell every share of Supranational we’re holding.”

“I won’t!” Patterton’s voice rose. “Who do you think you are, giving orders-----“ “I’ll tell you who I am, Jerome. I’m the guy who warned the board against in-depth involvement with SuNatCo. I fought against heavy trust department buying of the stock, but no one-----including you -----would listen. Now Supranational is caving in.” Alex leaned across the desk and slammed a fist down hard. “Don’t you understand? Supranational can bring this bank down with it.”

 Patterton was shaken. “But is SuNatCo in real trouble? Are you sure?”

 “If I weren’t, do you think I’d be here? I’m giving you a chance to salvage something at least.” He pointed to his wristwatch. “It’s an hour since the New York  stock market opened. Jerome, get on the phone and give that order!”

 Muscles around the bank president’s mouth twitched nervously. Never decisive, strong influence often swayed him. He hesitated, then picked up the telephone.

 “Get me Mitchell in the trust department… Mitch? This is Jerome. Listen carefully. I want you to give a sell order immediately on all the Supranational stock we hold… Yes, sell every share.” Patterton listened, then said impatiently, “Yes, I know what it’ll do to the market. And I know it’s irregular.” His eyes sought Alex’s for reassurance. The hand holding the telephone trembled as he said, “There’s no time to hold meetings. So do it! Yes, I accept responsibility.”

 He hung up and reached for a glass of water. “The stock is already down. Our selling will depress it more. We’ll be taking a big beating.”

 “It’s our clients-----people who trusted us-----who will take the beating. And they’d have taken a bigger one still, if we’d waited. Even now we’re not out of the woods. A week from now the SEC may disallow those sales. They may rule we had inside knowledge that Supranational was about to be bankrupt, which we should have reported and which would have halted trading in the stock.

1.  Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. The sentence means:

A. He filled his name on the Jax report quickly.                         

B. Alex signed his name to the Jax report quickly.

C. He offered the FMA president the Jax report smartly.      

D. He prepared the Jax report for Patterton to sign smartly.

2.  From the context we can infer that ________.

A. SuNatCo would bring the stock market down if it sold all the Supranational stock they              held.

B. The president was stubborn and would never listen to others.

C. Alex will take the place of Patterton in the future.

D. the clients would take a bigger beating than the bank

3.  The New York stock market is the place where_____.

A. the old stock can be bought and sold                                   

B. shares can be bought and sold

C. paper stock can be bought and sold                                     

D.some of the stock can be taken without being paid for

4.  In the sentence “Even now we’re not out the woods.” The phrase “out of the woods”       means     _____.

A. free from danger                                                                      B. short of wood                               

C. running out of wood                                                       D. set free

5. In the writer’s opinion, the president is _____.

A. good leader of the U.S.A                                                B. a good manager of a company

C. headmaster                                                                         D. banker, an indecisive sort of person