It was the first day of school. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a little old lady smiling at me. She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed and said, “Of course!” And she gave me a big hug. “Why are you in college at such an age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have kids and then retire and travel.”
“No seriously.”
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”
We became friends at once. Over the course of the year, Rose easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she was happy with the attention given to her from the other students. At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet（宴会）. I’ll never forget what she taught us in her speech.
“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one useful thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity to do productive things. Have no regrets（遗憾；后悔）. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but we regret for things we did not do.”
At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral to honor the wonderful woman!
【小题1】While meeting Rose at the college for the first time, the author was curious about _______.

It was the first day of school. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a little old lady smiling at me. She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”
I laughed and said, “Of course!” And she gave me a big hug. “Why are you in college at such an age?” I asked.
She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have kids and then retire and travel.”
“No seriously.”
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!”
We became friends at once. Over the course of the year, Rose easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she was happy with the attention given to her from the other students. At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet（宴会）. I’ll never forget what she taught us in her speech.
“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one useful thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity to do productive things. Have no regrets（遗憾；后悔）. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but we regret for things we did not do.”
At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral to honor the wonderful woman!

1. 1.

   While meeting Rose at the college for the first time, the author was curious about _______.

   1. A.
      her age
   2. B.
      her life
   3. C.
      her purpose
   4. D.
      her dream
2. 2.

   By saying “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have kids and then retire and travel”, Rose was trying to be ___________.

   1. A.
      humorous
   2. B.
      amazing
   3. C.
      confident
   4. D.
      smart
3. 3.

   What else did Rose most probably say at the football banquet?

   1. A.
      “It seems that my young days are over.”
   2. B.
      “Don’t do much in order to stay young.”
   3. C.
      “The people who fear death are those with regrets.”
   4. D.
      “When we are old, we can do nothing.”
4. 4.

   The story of Rose in the text shows that ___________.

   1. A.
      it is good to make friends with old people
   2. B.
      it is necessary to have a college education for old people
   3. C.
      it is important to have a healthy body when people are getting old
   4. D.
      it is never too late to be what you can possibly be

Have you ever had a day when everything seemed to go wrong, and nothing seemed to go right? Not too long ago I was having one of those days. I was    36   , tired, and sad. My focus was on me, and me    37  , no one else was experiencing the same trials    38    I was.

I expressed my depressed    39    to my mother,    40    for some pity. Instead , she said, “ I hear that Jamie was    41  a difficult day, too. Why don’t you make her some cookies and we’ll take    42   to her this afternoon?” I didn’t really want to ,   43  decided that I didn’t want to go back to my other problems. I made the cookies and   44   them on a little plate. Then I made a mark   45   a sunflower on it and wrote a note of    46  .

That afternoon we called     47   my friend’s house. I went to the door and rang the bell. Soon Jamie came to the door and looked at me in surprise for the    48   visit. Before she could say anything I rushed, “ I heard you were having a hard day and decided to bring you something. I hope your day    49    better.” The look that came over Jamie’s face was one   50     I could never put into   51    . it was as if a darkened sky was    52    lit with the    53  rays of the sun; it was as if in that small    54    her day was brightened.

I got back into the car and for    55      amazing reason, I felt a lot better myself. That day I experienced the truth that James Barrie attempted to describe, “ Those who bring sunshine to the lives of cannot keep it from themselves.”