He's an old cobbler  (修鞋匠)  with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris. When I took him my shoes, he at first told me: “I haven't time. Take them to the other fellow on the main street ; he'll fix them for you right away.”

     But I'd had my eye on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman  (手艺人).  “No,” I replied, “the other fellow can't do it well.”

      “The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys “while-U-wait” -- without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap (鞋带) you might as well just throw away the pair.

      My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled. He wiped his hands on his blue apron ( 围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week.”

      I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf.

      “See what I can do?” he said with pride.  “Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work.. ”

      When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me. He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty felt hat, his funny accent from who-knows-where and, above all, his pride in his craft.

      These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old, way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption  (消费) rather than a way to realize their own abilities. In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done.

1.Which of the following is true about the old cobbler.'?

     A. He was equipped with the best repairing tools.

     B. He was the only cobbler in the Marais.

     C. He was proud of his skills.

     D. He was a native Parisian.

2.The sentence “He was something out of an ancient legend.” ( paragraph 7 ) implies that       

     A. nowadays you can hardly find anyone like him

     B. it was difficult to communicate with this man

     C. the man was very strange

     D. the man was too old

3.According to the author, many people work just to           .

     A. realize their abilities     B. gain happiness    C. make money   D. gain respect

4.This story wants to tell us that            .

     A. craftsmen make a lot of money          B. whatever you do, do it well

     C. craftsmen need self-respect              D. people are born equal

“How did Norman know, Sister Emma?”

“He overheard you and Aryan arguing. I suspect that he purposely overheard on you. Norman knew or concluded what profession Aryan practiced. He might well have followed Aryan on his explorations. Whether he did or not is beside the point. When Aryan came back yesterday afternoon, Norman certainly decided that he had made some find, for Aryan told Norman that he would be leaving for the capital to meet the detective the next morning. He probably followed Aryan to your room and overheard what passed between you.

“Since you could not act against the law of man and God, he would serve a natural justice in his own way. He took the jar of poison hemlock from the chemistry shop and when Aryan asked for a drink, he supplied it. Norman did not know the precise quantity needed and so Aryan did not suffer the full effects until after the bell called the community into the dining hall for the evening meal.”

Abbess was following Sister Emma closely.

“And then?”

“Then I began my investigation, and then the detective arrived seeking Aryan for an explanation for his death.”

“But who killed Norman?”

“Norman knew that sooner or later he would be discovered. But more importantly in his guileless (坦率的) mind there was also the guilt of having taken a man’s life to be considered. Norman was a simple man. He decided that he should accept the punishment—the honor-price of a life. What greater honor-price for the life of Aryan could he offer than his own? He also took a draught of poison hemlock.”

There was a pause.

1.What may have happened to Aryan?

A. He was killed by poison.                                              B. He was found missing.

C. He was poisoned but saved.                                       D. He went away with what he had found.

2.What did Abbess do according to Sister Emma when Aryan came back?

A. She talked with Aryan about Norman’s strange actions. .

B. She secretly discussed with Aryan about something secret.

C. She followed the two men and found what they were doing.

D. She let Sister Emma help find out the two men’s secret.

3.What can we conclude from the above story?

A. Abbess served the detective.

B. Emma knows all the people mentioned.

C. Aryan was sent to kill Abbess but failed.

D. Norman seemed very devoted to Abbess.

4.Which of the following might be true according to the above passage?

A. Abbess hired Norman to fight against Aryan.

B. Norman told everything to Emma.

C. Aryan worked for the detective.

D. All the people came from the capital.

I was walking along the deserted main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to get in touch with the Automobile Association .Low gray clouds were drifting across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea. It had rained in the night and water was dripping from the bare trees that lined the street. I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat.

There was no sign of a call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his job, but the town was completely dead.

Then suddenly I found what I was looking for. There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street next to it was the town's only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint, I hurried forward but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside. He was very fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat and rubber boots. I could not see his face - he was bending forward over the phone with his back pressed against the glass and didn't even raise his head at the sound of my coming nearer and nearer. Carefully and surprisedly, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the call box door.

The author was walking through the small seaside town__________.

A. late morning        B. early morning

C. before midnight     D. late evening

The weather of the day was ____, when the story happened.

A. windy, cold and cloudy    B. stormy, damp and clear

C. rainy, cold and clear      D. rainy, windy and cold

Why was the author astonished when he saw that there was a man in the call box? Because____.

A. the man inside was still wearing a raincoat

B. he didn't expect it to be taken up

C. the man had his back with him

D. the man did not seem to be moving

The author waited, standing a few feet away from the box because____.

A. it was not safe to be close to the box

B. the man didn't notice his coming

C. he wanted to have a cigarette to calm himself down

D. it was bad manners to overhear other's phone calls

What do you suppose happened to the man in the call box?

A. He slept.

B. He had most probably been killed.

C. He was lost in his important phone call.

D. He was too fat to move around.

Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis Cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless, “he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.

It was a mountain bike he received for his 15^th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.

The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.

Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many peiole dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy,’”Saunders says.

In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.

Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.

This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.

1.The turning point in Saunders’life came when _____

A. he started to play ball games

B. he got a mountain bike at age 15

C. he ran his first marathon at age 18

D. he started to receive Ridgway’s training

2.We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.

A. dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy

B. built up his body together with Saunders

C. hired Saunders for his cold-water experience

D. won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic

3.What do we know about Saunders?

A. He once worked at a school in Scotland.

B. He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.

C. He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.

D. He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.

4.The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.

A.  Excited   B. Convinced   C. Delighted    D. Fascinated

5.It can be inferred tat Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.

A. was accompanied by his old playmates

B. set a record in the North Pole expedition

C. was supported by other Arctic explorers

D. made him well-known in the 1960s

Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis Cricket―anything with a round ball, I was useless, “he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.

It was a mountain bike he received for his 15^th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.

The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.

Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy,’” Saunders says.

In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.

Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.

This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.

56. The turning point in Saunders’ life came when _____

A.      he started to play ball games

B.      he got a mountain bike at age 15

C.      he ran his first marathon at age 18

D.     he started to receive Ridgway’s training

57. We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.

A.      dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy

B.      built up his body together with Saunders

C.      hired Saunders for his cold-water experience

D.     won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic

58. What do we know about Saunders?

A.      He once worked at a school in Scotland.

B.      He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.

C.      He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.

D.     He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.

59. The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.

A.  Excited          B. Convinced        C. Delighted               D. Fascinated

60. It can be inferred tat Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.

A.      was accompanied by his old playmates

B.      set a record in the North Pole expedition

C.      was supported by other Arctic explorers

D.     made him well-known in the 1960s