Hank Viscardi was born without legs. He had no legs but stumps（残肢） that could be fitted with a kind of special boots. People stared at him with cruel interest. Children laughed at him and called him ‘Ape Man’ because his arms practically dragged on the ground.

    Hank went to school like other boys. His grades were good and he needed only eight years to finish his schooling instead of the usual twelve. After graduating from school, he worked his way through college. He swept floors, waited on table, or worked in one of the college offices. During all this busy life, he had been moving around on his stumps. But one day the doctor told him even the stumps were not going to last much longer. He would soon have to use a wheel chair. w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

Hank felt himself got cold all over. However, the doctor said there was a chance that he could be fitted with artificial legs（假腿）. Finally a leg maker was found and the day came when Hank stood up before the mirror. For the first time he saw himself as he has always wanted to be--- a full five feet eight inches tall. By this time he was already 26 years old.

    Hank had to learn to use his new legs. Again and again he marched the length of the room, and marched back again. There were times when he fell down on the floor, but he pulled himself up and went back to the endless marching. He went out on the street. He climbed stairs and learned to dance. He built a boat and learned to sail it.

    When World War II came, he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job．He took the regular training. He marched and drilled along with the other soldiers. Few knew that he was legless. This was the true story of Hank Viscardi, a man without legs.

1．It can be inferred from the story that five feet eight inches tall is _______.

     A．an average height for a fully grown person

       B．too tall for an average person

     C．too short for an average person 

       D．none of the above

2．The sentence “he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job” implies that the Red Cross _______.

     A．was only glad to give him a job

     B．gave him a job because he was a good soldier

     C．gave him a job after he talked to someone whom he knew in the organization

     D．was not willing to give him a job at first

3．When Hank marched and drilled along with the other soldiers, he _______.

     A．did everything the other soldiers did

     B．did most of the things the other soldiers did

     C．did some of the things the other soldiers did

     D．took some special training

4．The writer suggests that Hank Viscardi _______.

     A．had no friends                             B．never saw himself as different from others

     C．was very shy                             D．was too proud to accept help from others

As he had no friends and relatives in the town, the traveler tried to find a _____ somewhere.

　　A. log    B. lodge    C. landing    D. lodging

A person may have a false idea about himself that will stop him from doing good work．
He may have the belief that he is unable to do it．A child may think he is  36  because he doesn’t understand how to make  37  use of his mental gifts．Old people may have a false idea that they are unable to learn things new because of their  38 ．
A person who believes that he is stupid will not make a real  39  because he feels that it would be useless．He won’t go at a job with confidence necessary for  40 ．Besides, he won’t work his hardest way, even though he may think he is doing so． 41 , he is likely to fail, and the failure will  42  his belief in his incompetence（无能） in turn．
Alfred Alder, a famous doctor, had  43  like this．When he was a small boy, he had a poor 44  in maths．His teacher told his parents he had no ability in maths in order that they would not  45  too much of him．In this way, his teacher and parents  46  the idea．He  47  their false judgment of his ability, feeling that it was useless to  48 ．Then, he was very poor at maths,  49  as they expected．
But one day everything changed．He worked out a problem which  50  of the other students had been able to solve．He  51  in solving the problem which gave him confidence （信心）．Soon he became especially good at  52 ．
Alder now  53  with interest, determination and purpose．He not only proved that he could learn maths well, but luckily he learned it  54 , not too late．From his own experience, we can tell that if a person goes at a job with determination and purpose, he may  55  himself as well as others by his ability．

Mr. Jones had always wanted to make a trip into the middle of Africa to shoot wild animals. 36  first he had no enough money, and then he was married. His wife had not wanted him to 37  her. At last his wife   38  to the trip if he allowed her to go, too.

“But it will be very uncomfortable,” Mr. Jones   39  her. “ It will be very hot and we shall live in a tent, and it   40  be dangerous. ”“I don’t care.” said his wife. “I want to go with you.” So they bought a big tent, camp beds, a refrigerator (电冰箱)which did not need   41  and many other things which would make the trip comfortable, and went off to the__42 of Africa.

The first morning, 43  Mr. Jones took his gun and left the tent, he  44  his wife a bell and explained to her, “If you fell in 45 and you need me ,  46 this bell and I’ll come at once.”

After a few minutes, he heard the bell and returned   47   to the tent. “What’s the matter?” he asked.“   48   ” said his wife, “I was only   49  the bell.” Mr. Jones went off, but after a quarter of an hour, the bell rang   50   .

Mr. Jones hurried back to the tent, but his wife said, “I’m   51 . I was cleaning our tent, and I knocked the bell over by mistake.” Mr. Jones returned to his  __52 , but soon he heard the   53  once more. This time, when he got back to his   54  , the tent was burning and Mrs. Jones was lying on the ground, with  55 running from a big cut on her shoulder. “That’s better!” said Mrs. Jones. “This time the bell had been used correctly!”

1.A. And                B. But              C. For              D. So

2.A. leave              B. miss             C. marry            D. care

3.A. allowed            B. permitted        C. satisfied        D. agreed

4.A. told               B. advised          C. persuaded        D. warned

5.A. may                B. ought            C. can’t           D. shall

6.A. money              B. electricity      C. force            D. power

7.A. south              B. middle           C. east             D. west

8.A. while              B. until            C. before           D. after

9.A. gave               B. sent             C. lent             D. bought

10.A. hurry             B. surprise         C. safety           D. danger

11.A. hit        B. knock                   C. beat             D. ring

12.A. again      B. back                    C. quickly          D. home

13.A. Something  B. Nothing                 C. No               D. None

14.A. ringing     B. trying                 C. using            D. testing

15.A. again      B. once                    C. across           D. away

16.A. happy      B. sorry                   C. tired            D. all right

17.A. wife       B. tent                    C. trip             D. hunting

18.A. cry        B. shot                    C. bell             D. shout

19.A. garden     B. house                   C. camp             D. office

20.A. water      B. tears                   C. blood            D. sweat

Last Christmas was a very difficult time for me. My family and all of my close friends were back home in Florida, and I was all alone in a rather cold California. I was working too many hours and became very sick.

I was working a double shift at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, it was about 9:00 PM on Christmas Eve, and I was feeling really miserable inside. There were a few of us working and very few customers waiting to be helped. When it was time for me to call the next person to the counter, I looked out to see the sweetest-looking old man standing with a cane. He walked very slowly over to the counter and in the faintest voice told me that he had to go to New Orleans. I tried to explain to him that there were no more flights that night and that he would have to go in the morning. He looked so confused and very worried. I tried to find out more information by asking if he had a reservation or if he remembered when he was supposed to travel, but he seemed to become more confused with each question. He just kept saying, “She said I have to go to New Orleans.”

After much time, I was able to at least find out that this old man had been dropped off at the curb on Christmas Eve by his sister-in-law and told to go to New Orleans, where he had family. She had given him some cash and told him just to go inside and buy a ticket. When I asked if he could come back tomorrow, he said that she was gone and that he had no place to stay. He then said he would wait at the airport until tomorrow. Naturally, I felt a little ashamed. Here I was feeling very sorry for myself about being alone on Christmas, when this angel named Clarence MacDonald was sent to me to remind me of what being alone really meant. It broke my heart.

Immediately, I told him we would get it all straightened out, and our Customer Service agent helped to book him a seat for the earliest flight the next morning. We gave him the senior citizen’s fare, which gave him some extra money for travelling. About this time he started to look very tired, and when I stepped around the counter to ask him if he was all right, I saw that his leg was wrapped in a bandage. He had been standing on it that whole time, holding a plastic bag full of clothes.

I called for a wheelchair. When the wheelchair came, we all stepped around to help him in, and I noticed a small amount of blood on his bandage. I asked how he hurt his leg, and he said that he had just had bypass surgery and an artery was taken from his leg. Can you imagine? This man had had heart surgery, and then shortly afterward, was dropped off at the curb to buy a ticket with no reservation to fly to New Orleans, alone!

I never really had a situation like this, and I wasn’t sure what I could do. I went back to ask my supervisors if we could find a place for him to stay. They both said yes, and they obtained a hotel voucher for Mr. MacDonald for one night and a meal ticket for dinner and breakfast. When I came back out, we got his plastic bag of clothes and cane together and gave the porter a tip to take him downstairs to wait for the airport shuttle. I bent down to explain the hotel, food and itinerary (行程) again to Mr. MacDonald, and then patted him on the arm and told him everything would be just fine.

As he left he said, “Thank you,” bent his head and started to cry. I cried too. When I went back to thank my supervisor, she just smiled and said, “I love stories like that. He is your Christmas Man.”

1.Last Christmas the writer had a miserable time because ______.

A．there were more customers than usual waiting to be helped

B．it was freezing cold in California at Christmas time

C．she was working all alone at the ticket counter

D．she was far away from her family and friends

2.The writer’s first impression of the old man was that he was ______.

A．gentle-looking and weak                  B．tired out and worried

C．confused and very sick                   D．sad and anxious

3.The old man wanted to fly to New Orleans to ______.

A．see his friends there

B．spend the Christmas with his family

C．visit his sister-in-law

D．undergo heart surgery

4.On hearing the old man say that he would wait at the airport the whole night, the writer felt a bit ashamed. This is because ______.

A．she felt sorry that she couldn’t do the old man a favor

B．she realized that someone was even more miserable than she felt

C．it took her a long time to find out how helpless the old man was

D．the old man was like an angel in the writer’s eyes

5.The writer called for a wheelchair for the old man because ______.

A．the old man had broken his leg when he was dropped off at the curb

B．the old man could spend the whole night on it at the airport

C．the old man was carrying a whole lot of clothes

D．the old man had had surgery just before and was very weak by then

6. By calling the old man the writer’s Christmas Man, the writer’s supervisor implied that ______.

A．the old man had told the writer a love story on Christmas

B．the old man had caused a lot of trouble for the writer on Christmas

C．the old man was the best gift the writer could have received on Christmas

D．the old man was the only customer the writer had served on Christmas