I met him first in 1936. I rushed into his ugly little shop to have the heels of my shoes repaired. I waited when he did it. He greeted me with a cheerful smile. “You’re new in this neighborbood, aren’t you?”

    I said I was. I had moved into a house at the end of the street only a week before.

    “This is a fine neighborhood,” he said. “You’ll be happy here.” He looked at the leather covering the heel sadly. It was worn through because I had failed to have the repair done a month before. I grew impatient, for I was rushing to meet a friend. “Please hurry,” I begged.

    He looked at me over his spectacles. “Now, lady, we won’t be long. I want to do a good job. You see, I have a tradition to live up to.”

    A tradition? In this ugly little shop that was no different from so many other shoe repair shops on the side streets of New York?

    He must have felt my surprise, for he smiled as he went on. “Yes, lady, I inherited a tradition. My father and my grandfather were shoemakers in Italy, and they were the best. My father always told me, ‘Son, do the best job on every shoe that comes into the shop, and be proud of your fine work. Do that always, and you’ll have both happiness and money enough to live on.’”

    As he handed me the finished shoes, he said: “These will last a long time. I’ve used good leather.”

    I left in a hurry. But I had a warm and grateful feeling. On my way home I passed the little shop again. There he was, still working. He saw me, and to my surprise he waved and smiled. This was the beginning of our friendship. It was a friendship that came to mean more and more to me as time passed.

    Every day I passed his shop, we waved to each other in friendly greeting. At first I went in only when I had repair work to be done. Then I found myself going in every few days just to talk with him.

    He was the happiest man I’ve ever known. Often, as he stood in his shopwindow, working at a pair of shoes, he sang in a high, clear Italian voice. The Italians in our neighborhood called him la luce alla finestra—“the light in the window”.

    One day I was disappointed and angry because of poor jobs some painters had done for me. I went into his shop for comfort. He let me go on talking angrily about the poor work and carelessness of present-day workmen. “They had no pride in their work,” I said. “They just wanted to collect their money for doing nothing.”

    He agreed. “There’s a lot of that kind around, but maybe we should not blame them. Maybe their fathers had no pride in their work. That’s hard on a boy. It keeps him from learning something important.” He waited a minute and said “Every man or woman who hasn’t inherited a prideful tradition must start building one.”

    “In this country, our freedom lets each of us make his own contribution. We must make it a good contribution. No matter what sort of work a man does, if he gives it his best each day, he’s starting a tradition for his children to live up to. And he is making lots of happiness for himself.”

    I went to Europe for a few months. When I returned, there was no “light in the window”. The door was closed. There was a little sign: “Call for shoes at shop next door.” I learned the old man had suddenly got sick and died two weeks before

    I went away with a heavy heart. I would miss him. But he had left me something—an important piece of wisdom I shall always remember: “If you inherited a prideful tradition, you must carry it on; if you haven’t, start building one now.”                                            

1.The shoemaker looked sadly at the shoes because __________

A. they were of poor quality.

B. he didn’t have the right kind of leather

C. he thought they were too worn to be repaired

D. the author hadn’t taken good care of them.

2.The author was surprised when she heard that the shop had a tradition because the shop ________.

A. looked no different from other shoe repair shops        

B. had a light in the window

C. was at the end of a street

D. was quite an ugly and dirty one

3.What does the underlined word “inherit” mean in paragraph 6 mean?

A. develop                             B. receive                           C. learn                                  D. appreciate

4.The author later frequently went into the little shop __________.

A. to repair her worn shoes

B. only to chat with the shoemaker

C. to look at the new shoes there

D. only to get comfort from the shoemaker

5.Why was the shoemaker called “the light in the window” by his neighbors?

A. Because he always worked late at night.

B. Because he always put a light in the window.

C. Because he was always guiding the others.

D. Because he was always happy and cheerful.

6.What’s the best title of this passage?

A. A Proud Shoemaker                                                     B. A Prideful Tradition

C. The Light in the Window                                             D. Treasure Your Shoes

Every summer thousands of Americans stay at home instead of going on holiday because they're overweight. They don't want people to see them sunbathing and they don't want to have to squeeze into plane seats，But now，thanks to the growing number of weight-friendly holiday packages，the overweight are having their days in the sun.

"Overweight people will have a great time on our holidays as we don't judge them like other people do，" said Liz Nickels，the owner of Big Adventures，a US-based company that hosts scuba-diving—a sport of swimming underwater while breathing through a tube connect­ed to a tank on your back for larger people. As a way to keep up with the demand for extralarge accommodation，many hotels in the US have started to offer features such as wide beds and hand-held showers. But the best in plus-size vacation lies at Mexico's Freedom Paradise，a 112-room resort(度假胜地) opening this month，which urges guests to" Live Large，Live Free" .

The hotel has wide doorways，reinforced furniture and extra large chairs. It also boasts a private beach to protect people from the stares that can occur on public bea­ches. "It's not a hotel just for large people. It's a size-friendly place where anyone can enjoy a holiday，" said owner J urrian Kilnk，"What we noticed was that a lot of oversized people don't feel comfortable at resorts. "Staff members of all sizes are hired by the hotel to make overweight people feel OK.

Though many welcome the new service，some feel differently. "I have a real problem with this，"said Nancy Lenhart，the owner of Camp La Jolia，a Californian weight-loss and fit­ness camp.

"If you talk about oversized beds and doorways you are throwing their weight in their faces. Overweight people want to be normalized. They shouldn't be discriminated against like this. "

1. Large people don't want to go on holiday because        .

A. they don't like sunbathing   B. they don't want to be looked at

    C. the planes are too crowded   D. hotels are not open to them

2.In the first paragraph，weight-friendly holiday packages mean        .

A. there are some free packages for the overweight

B. people are friendly to the overweight

C. special holiday for the overweight           

D. the overweight can lose weight

3.Scuba-diving is a sport of swimming        . 

A. for people to lose weight              B. only for larger people

C. jumping from the platform              D. underwater

4. Mexico's Freedom Paradise is a hotel        .   

A. for people of all sizes               B. only intended for larger people

C. where everything is oversized          D. where larger people can live for free

5.The underlined part" you are throwing their weight in their faces" means        .

A. you are beating them in the face     B. you are showing them that they are overweight

C. their faces seem bigger than others   D. you can make them lose weight

Every summer thousands of Americans stay at home instead of going on holiday because they’re overweight．They don’t want people to see them sunbathing and they don’t want to have to squeeze into plane seats．But now, thanks to the growing number of weight-friendly holiday packages，the overweight are having their days in the sun．

 “Overweight people will have a great time on our holidays as we don’t judge them like other people do，”said Liz Nickels，owner of Big Adventures，a US-based company that hosts scuba-diving—a sport of swimming underwater while breathing through a tube connected to a tank on your back for larger people．As a way to keep up with the demand for extra-large accommodation，many hotels in the US have started to offer features such as wide beds and handheld showers．But the best in plus-size vacationing lies at Mexico’s Freedom Paradise，a 112-room resort（度假胜地）opening this month，which urges guests to “Live Large，Live Free”．

The hotel has broad doorways，reinforced（加同）furniture and extra large chairs．It also boasts（自夸）a private beach to protect people from the stares that can occur on public beaches．“It’s not a hotel just for large people．It’s a size-friendly place where anyone can enjoy a holiday,” said owner Jurrian Kilnk。“What we noticed was that a lot of oversized people don’t feel comfortable at resorts．”Staff members of all sizes are hired by the hotel to make overweight people feel OK．

Though many welcome the new service，some feel differently. “I have a real problem with this,” said Nancy Lenhart, owner of Camp La Jolla,a Californian weight-loss and fitness camp. “If you talk about oversized beds and doorways you are throwing their weight in their faces. Overweight people want to be normalized．They shouldn’t be discriminated against like this．”

1．Large people don’t want to go on holiday because___________．

A．they don’t like sun-bathing           

B．they don’t want to be looked at

C．the planes are too crowded              

D．hotels are not open to them

2．In the first paragraph，weight-friendly holiday packages means________．

A．there are some free packages for the overweight

B．people are friendly to the overweight

C．special holiday tour for the overweight

D．the overweight can lose weight

3．Scuba-diving is a sport of swimming___________．

A．for larger people                        B．only for larger people

C．jumping from the platform                D．underwater

4．Mexico’s Freedom Paradise is a hotel__________．

A．for people of all sizes                 

B．only intended for larger people

C．where everything is oversized           

D．where larger people can live for free

5．The underlined part “you are throwing their weight in their faces” means__________．

A．you are beating them in the face        

B．it’s easy to know they’re overweight

C．their faces seem bigger than others         

D．you can make them lose weight