The   16   picked up the thermos and poured some hot water into the tea-cup and placed it on the small table in front of his  17   , who were a father and daughter, and put the lid on the cup with a clink．Apparently  18  of something, he hurried into the inner room, leaving the  19  on the table．His two guests heard a chest of drawers opening and a rustling （飒飒响声）．

       They  20  sitting in the living-room, the 10-year-old daughter, looking at the flowers outside the window．The father was just about to take his cup when the  21  came, right there in the living-room．Something was hopelessly broken．

       It was the thermos, which had fallen to the floor．The girl looked  22  her shoulder at once, startled （吓一跳）,  23  ．It was  24   neither of them had touched it, not even a little bit．

       The sound caused the host to rush back from the inner room．He looked at the  25  floor and blurted out, “It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter!”

       The father started to say something．Then he muttered, “Sorry, I  26  it and it fell．”

       “ It doesn’t matter,” the host said．

       Later, when they left the house, the daughter said, “ Daddy, I saw your  27  in the windowpane （窗玻璃）．You were sitting perfectly  28  ．Why did you say…．”

The father  29  , “What then would you  30  as the cause of its fall?”

       “ It fell by itself．The floor is uneven （不平）．It wasn’t steady when Mr．Li put it there．”

       “It won’t  31  , girl．It sounds more  32   when I say I knocked it down．There are things people accept less the more you  33   them．The truer your story is, the less true it sounds．”

The daughter was  34  in silence for a while．Then she said, “ Can you  35   it only this way?”

       “Only this way,” the father said．

16．A．owner         B．host             C．guest            D．master

17．A．friends         B．neighbours         C．children           D．guests

18．A．knowing       B．remembering             C．hearing           D．thinking

19．A．thermos       B．cup               C．lid              D．tea

20．A．enjoyed       B．remained         C．imagined         D．hated

21．A．stranger        B．host             C．crash            D．noise

22．A．around         B．at               C．behind           D．over

23．A．staring        B．watching         C．shouting           D．crying

24．A．helpless       B．exciting          C．strange           D．terrible

25．A．broken        B．steaming         C．dirty             D．flooded

26．A．touched       B．used              C．hit              D．moved

27．A．face           B．shadow          C．reflection                D．action

28．A．calm          B．still             C．silent            D．straight

29．A．shouted        B．whispered        C．laughed           D．repeated

30．A．tell                 B．make            C．accept           D．give

31．A．do             B．suit               C．go              D．fit

32．A．comfortable    B．friendly          C．acceptable        D．agreeable

33．A．defend        B．support          C．discuss            D．argue

34．A．kept          B．shut             C．worried            D．lost

35．A．do             B．explain            C．make              D．manage

Usually a child’s behavior is a(n) ________ of his family environment.

A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile(敌意的)person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror.

Mirrors have a very particular　 __36__. They reflect the image in front of them. Just as a　 __37__　 mirror works as the vehicle to reflection, __38__　 do all of the people in our lives.

When we see something beautiful such as a flower garden, that garden　 __39__　 a reflection. When we love someone，it's a(n)　 __40__　 of loving ourselves. We have often heard things like “I love how I am when I'm with that person”. That simply　 __41__　 into “I'm able to love me when I love that other person”.　 __42__， when we meet someone new, we feel as though we “click”. Sometimes it's as if we've　 __43__　 each other for a long time. That feeling can come from　 __44__　 similarities.

Just as the “mirror” or other people can be a positive reflection，it is more likely that we'll　 __45__ it when it has a negative connotation(内涵).　 __46__，it's easy to remember the times when we have met someone we're not particularly　 __47__　 about. We may have some criticism(批评)in our mind about the　 __48__. This is especially true when we get to know someone with whom we would rather spend　 __49__　 time.

Often, when we　 __50__　 qualities in other people, ironically(讽刺地), it's usually the mirror that's　 __51__　 to us.

At times we meet someone　 __52__　 and feel distant disconnected, or disgusted.　 __53__　 we don't want to believe it，and it's not easy or　 __54__　 to look further，it can be a great learning lesson to　 __55__　 what part of the person is being reflected in you. It's simply just another way to create more self?awareness.

36．A.target　 　 　　 B．style　　　C．function　　 D．color

37．A.medical 　 B．physical C．chemical 　　 D．mental

38．A.so 　 B．then 　C．nor 　　　 D．neither

39．A.focuses on 　　 B．applies to C．works with 　 D．serves as

40．A.reward 　 B．evaluation C．reflection 　　 D．example

41．A.grows　 　 B．translates C．enters 　 D．falls

42．A.Obviously 　　　 B．Strangely C．Fortunately 　 D．Frequently

43．A.known　 　 B．supported C．observed 　　 D．recognized

44．A.creating 　 B．lacking C．sharing D．comparing

45．A.ignore　 　 B．keep C．take 　　 D．notice

46．A.In brief 　 B．In addition C．For example D．As usual

47．A.crazy　 　　 B．anxious C．upset　 　 D．concerned

48．A.time B．mirror C．garden D．person

49．A.less B．amazingC．more 　　 D．valuable

50．A.appreciate 　　　 B．dislike C．describe 　　　 D．discover

51．A.shouting B．shining C．speaking D．pointing

52．A.new　 　　 B．nervous C．familiar D．friendly

53．A.If　 　 B．Although C．Since 　 D．Once

54．A.terrible 　　 B．noble C．reliable D．desirable

55．A.figure out　 　　 B．take out C．put out D．give out

    Greg Woodburn, a student at the University of Southern California, spends a lot of time cleaning sneakers he collected. But soon the shoes will be sent to poor children in the United States and 20 other countries, thanks to Woodburn’s Share Our Soles (S. O. S. ) charity.

    A high school track star in the town of Ventura, California, Woodburn was treated in hospital for months with knee and hip injuries.

    “I started thinking about the health benefits, the friendship and the confidence I got from running, ” he says, “And I realized there are children who don’t even have shoes. ”

    Woodburn gathered up his old sneakers, then asked his friends to donate. His goal was to have 100 pairs by Christmas 2006. When he collected more than 500 pairs, he decided to turn the shoe drive into a year-round endeavor.

    Back then, the sneakers came from donation boxes at the YMCA and the local sporting goods store and from door-to-door pickups. Woodburn has now set up collection boxes at two high schools, city gym and recreation center. He has started accepting adult sizes and sandals(凉鞋). So far, S. O. S. has collected and donated more than 3, 000 pairs.

    Woodburn has cleaned all the shoes. After sorting the shoes by size, Woodburn selects the good shoes for the washing machine and the worn-out ones for recycling.

    To ship the footwear, Woodburn teamed with Sports Gift, a non-profit organization that provides soccer and baseball equipment to children around the world. Keven Baxter, founder and president, says, “We’d send kids balls and shoes. I’ve heard that for many of these kids, these old sneakers are the only shoes they had. They wear them to school and to do sports. So Greg’s running shoes were a nice addition for us. ”

    For many recipients(接受者), the shoes represent opportunity. Two young boys in Southern California attended school on alternate days because they shared a pair of shoes. They were too big for one boy and too small for the other. Thanks to S. O. S. , each brother received his own pair of shoes. The boys now attend school daily and enjoy their learning. When they graduate, they say, they will help a stranger, just as Woodburn helped them.

68. What caused Greg Woodburn to donate old shoes for poor children?

A. The benefits from playing sports.

B. News about some poor children.

C. His reflection on school life.

D. The medical treatment he received.

69. When collecting more sneakers than expected, Woodburn decided to_______ .

A. include adult sizes and sandals

B. set up branches in different cities

C. collect shoes throughout the year

D. expand his endeavor in the whole city

70. How did Woodburn manage to deliver the shoes collected?

A. By sending them by mail.

B. By working with Sports Gift.

C. By advertising for those in need.

D. By offering them from door to door.

71. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. An Organized Activity     

B. Greg Woodburn’s Life

C. How to Collect Sneakers       

D. Recycled Sneakers Fit for Sharing

Confucius said, “In a group of three people, there is always something I can learn. Choose to follow the strengths of others, and use their shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves.”

    As you can see from what Confucius said, everyone that we come across can teach us something useful. As long as we reflect on the lessons learnt from and by other people, we can continuously improve ourselves. But take note that when you reflect on these lessons, you apply some wisdom to each lesson because each situation is unique although they share some common principles.

    We can learn a lot from everyone. We always tend to think that we can only learn from those who are higher in status or have more knowledge than us, but that is not really the case. We learn from those who are lower in status than us as well, because the experience and knowledge of each person is very different.

    The best thing about this type of learning, reflecting other people’s strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves, is that we do not pay for the mistakes that are made. The only cost to us is the time that is needed to learn about and reflect on these lessons from other people’s lives.

    As we all know, some mistakes can be ones which people cannot afford to make, for instance, a broken friendship or a financial loss. Thus constantly using other people’s strengths and shortcomings to reflect upon ourselves makes us realize the costs of these mistakes and reduces the possibility that we will make similar mistakes.

What can we do now to learn from others? By keeping our eyes and ears open. Be observant and able to realize what strengths and shortcomings other people have. A lot of people in this world like to complain about their lives. Listen to them and make you own assessment and from your own assessment, reflect upon your life and make improvements where necessary.

1.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Confucius thought we should learn from strengths of others.

B. Only from those who have more knowledge than us can we learn.

C. It is by reflecting on the lessons learnt by others that we can improve ourselves.

D. Reflecting upon other people’s strengths and shortcomings can help us make fewer mistakes.

2.The underlined part “this type of learning” in the fourth paragraph probably refers to_______.

A. learning from other people’s mistakes

B. learning from others’ experiences

C. finding what strengths and shortcomings other people have

D. reflecting others’ strengths and shortcomings onto ourselves

3.From the fifth paragraph, we learn that _______.

A. sometimes we can afford the costs of a broken friendship

B. our reflection will necessarily reduce our mistakes

C. some reflection will help to improve ourselves

D. reflection will stop us from making any mistakes in life

4.The passage is probably taken from __________.

A. a magazine about life                             B. a book about travel

C. an advertisement                      D. a research report

5.What does this passage mainly talk about?

A. How to improve oneself.

B. How to use the shortcomings of others to reflect upon ourselves.

C. How to reduce the mistakes in one’s life.

D. How to learn from other people’s strengths and shortcomings.