Women are friends, I once would have said, when they totally love and support and trust each other, and tell each other the secrets of their souls, and run no questions asked to help each other, and tell unpleasant truths to each other (no, you can't wear that dress unless you lose ten pounds first) when unpleasant truths must be told.

A woman friend is a friend all the way, I once would have said, but now I believe that’s a narrow point of view. For the friendships I have and the friendships I see are conducted at many levels of closeness, serve many different functions, meet different needs and range from the soul sisters to the most casual playmates.

Consider these varieties of friendship:

Convenience friends  They’ll lend us their cups for a party. They’ll drive our kids to school when we’re sick…As we will do for them. But we don’t, with convenience friends, ever come too close or tell too much; we maintain our public face and emotional distance.

Special-interest friends  These friendships aren’t close, and they needn’t involve kids or cups. Their value lies in some interest commonly shared. And so we may have an office friend or a yoga friend or a tennis friend. “I’d say that what we’re doing is doing together, not being together.”

Historical friends  We all have a friend who knew us when maybe way back in Miss Meltzer’s second grade, when our family lived in that three-room flat. The years have gone by and we’ve gone separate ways and we’ve little in common now, but we’re still a close part of each other’s past.

Crossroads friends  Crossroads friends form powerful links, links strong enough to last with just communication of a once-a-year letter at Christmas. And out of respect for those crossroads years, for those dreams and dreams we once shared, we will always be friends.

Cross-generational friends  The friendship exists across generations in what one woman calls her daughter–mother and her mother-daughter relationships.

There are medium(中等的), pretty good, and such good friends indeed, and these friendships are decided by their level of closeness. For example, we might tell a medium friend that yesterday we had a fight with our husband. And we might tell a pretty good friend that this fight with our husband made us so mad that we slept on the sofa. And we might tell a such good friend that the reason why we got so mad in that fight that we slept on the sofa — he had a love affair with that girl who works in his office. But it’s only to our very best friends that we’re willing to tell all, to tell what’s going on with that girl in his office.

The best of friends, I still believe, totally love and support and trust each other, and tell each other the secrets of their souls, and tell unpleasant truths to each other when they must be told.             

45. According to the passage, convenience friends ______.

A. are not valuable enough

B. are those who are easily available to make friends with

C. never tell each other their deepest feelings

D. discuss family budgets together

46. The underlined sentence means ______.

A. we should never sit and wait for something to happen

B. we join each other because we do something together

C. we complete something together rather than enjoy ourselves

D. cooperation is of great importance if we want to succeed

47. We can learn from the passage that ______.

A. special-interest friends will drive your kids to school

B. historical friends remind each other of their shameful past

C. crossroads friends can maintain their friendship by writing to each other once a year

D. cross-generational friends seem to maintain friendship forever

48. According to the author, a woman may tell her good friends that ______.

A. she has lost her job because she isn’t really qualified enough

B. her husband has fallen in love with a girl in his office

C. she has been upset these days because of financial problems

D. she is on a diet because she wants to lose weight

49. Which can be the best title of this passage?

A. Value of friendship              B. Friends, good friends and such good friends

C. The qualities of a good friend      D. Friendship: being together

It was getting dark and snow was coming down. Joe was driving home. He’d been unemployed since the factory closed. Most of his friends had left, but he stayed on. After all, he was born here.

Suddenly he saw a lady standing on the side of the road and pulled up. She was worried. No one had stopped to help her. Was he going to hurt her? He looked poor and hungry. Joe knew how she felt and said, “My name is Joe and I’m here to help you.” All she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe changed the tire, but he got dirty and his hands were hurt. She wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right. Joe never thought twice about the money and there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed.

Later the lady went in a dingy-looking restaurant to grab a bite to eat. The cash register was like the telephone of an out-of-work actor----it didn’t ring much. The waitress, who was nearly eight months pregnant, brought a clean towel to her with a sweet smile. The old lady remembered Joe. After the waitress brought the change from a 100-dollar bill, she found the lady gone and something written on a piece of paper, “Someone once helped me out----the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don’t let the chain of love end with you.”

That night the waitress gave her sleeping husband a soft kiss and whispered, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”

What do we know about Joe from this passage?

A. On his way home after work, he helped an old lady.

B. He had worked in a factory in his hometown before.

C. He would move away to fulfill his dream soon.

D. Though he was poor, he didn’t care about money at all.

The saying “she wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right” in Paragraph 2

suggests that _____.

A. the old lady was very grateful to Joe’s timely aid

B. the old lady was much worried to be hurt by Joe

C. the old lady wanted to show off her fortune to Joe  

D. the old lady’s car was very difficult to repair for Joe

Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. The restaurant was not only light but also clean.

B. The old lady did have a big meal in the small restaurant.

C. The waitress was more than eight months pregnant.

D. The old lady left the remaining money to the waitress.

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Acts of luck                               B.A warm-hearted man

C. The chain of love                       D.A generous lady

It was getting dark and snow was coming down. Joe was driving home. He’d been unemployed since the factory closed. Most of his friends had left, but he stayed on. After all, he was born here.

Suddenly he saw a lady standing on the side of the road and pulled up. She was worried. No one had stopped to help her. Was he going to hurt her? He looked poor and hungry. Joe knew how she felt and said, “My name is Joe and I’m here to help you.” All she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe changed the tire, but he got dirty and his hands were hurt. She wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right. Joe never thought twice about the money and there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed.

Later the lady went in a dingy-looking restaurant to grab a bite to eat. The cash register was like the telephone of an out-of-work actor----it didn’t ring much. The waitress, who was nearly eight months pregnant, brought a clean towel to her with a sweet smile. The old lady remembered Joe. After the waitress brought the change from a 100-dollar bill, she found the lady gone and something written on a piece of paper, “Someone once helped me out----the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don’t let the chain of love end with you.”

That night the waitress gave her sleeping husband a soft kiss and whispered, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”

What do we know about Joe from this passage?

A. On his way home after work, he helped an old lady.

B. He had worked in a factory in his hometown before.

C. He would move away to fulfill his dream soon.

D. Though he was poor, he didn’t care about money at all.

The saying “she wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right” in Paragraph 2 suggests that _____.

A. the old lady was very grateful to Joe’s timely aid

B. the old lady was much worried to be hurt by Joe

C. the old lady wanted to show off her fortune to Joe  

D. the old lady’s car was very difficult to repair for Joe

Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. The restaurant was not only light but also clean.

B. The old lady did have a big meal in the small restaurant.

C. The waitress was more than eight months pregnant.

D. The old lady left the remaining money to the waitress.

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Acts of luck                          B. A warm-hearted man

C. The chain of love             D. A generous lady

It was getting dark and snow was coming down. Joe was driving home. He’d been unemployed since the factory closed. Most of his friends had left, but he stayed on. After all, he was born here.
Suddenly he saw a lady standing on the side of the road and pulled up. She was worried. No one had stopped to help her. Was he going to hurt her? He looked poor and hungry. Joe knew how she felt and said, “My name is Joe and I’m here to help you.” All she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe changed the tire, but he got dirty and his hands were hurt. She wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right. Joe never thought twice about the money and there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed.
Later the lady went in a dingy-looking restaurant to grab a bite to eat. The cash register was like the telephone of an out-of-work actor----it didn’t ring much. The waitress, who was nearly eight months pregnant, brought a clean towel to her with a sweet smile. The old lady remembered Joe. After the waitress brought the change from a 100-dollar bill, she found the lady gone and something written on a piece of paper, “Someone once helped me out----the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don’t let the chain of love end with you.”
That night the waitress gave her sleeping husband a soft kiss and whispered, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”
【小题1】What do we know about Joe from this passage?

It was getting dark and snow was coming down. Joe was driving home. He’d been unemployed since the factory closed. Most of his friends had left, but he stayed on. After all, he was born here.

Suddenly he saw a lady standing on the side of the road and pulled up. She was worried. No one had stopped to help her. Was he going to hurt her? He looked poor and hungry. Joe knew how she felt and said, “My name is Joe and I’m here to help you.” All she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe changed the tire, but he got dirty and his hands were hurt. She wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right. Joe never thought twice about the money and there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed.

Later the lady went in a dingy-looking restaurant to grab a bite to eat. The cash register was like the telephone of an out-of-work actor----it didn’t ring much. The waitress, who was nearly eight months pregnant, brought a clean towel to her with a sweet smile. The old lady remembered Joe. After the waitress brought the change from a 100-dollar bill, she found the lady gone and something written on a piece of paper, “Someone once helped me out----the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, don’t let the chain of love end with you.”

That night the waitress gave her sleeping husband a soft kiss and whispered, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”

1.What do we know about Joe from this passage?

A. On his way home after work, he helped an old lady.

B. He had worked in a factory in his hometown before.

C. He would move away to fulfill his dream soon.

D. Though he was poor, he didn’t care about money at all.

2.The saying “she wanted to pay Joe and said any amount would have been all right” in Paragraph 2 suggests that _____.

A. the old lady was very grateful to Joe’s timely aid

B. the old lady was much worried to be hurt by Joe

C. the old lady wanted to show off her fortune to Joe  

D. the old lady’s car was very difficult to repair for Joe

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. The restaurant was not only light but also clean.

B. The old lady did have a big meal in the small restaurant.

C. The waitress was more than eight months pregnant.

D. The old lady left the remaining money to the waitress.

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Acts of luck                                B. A warm-hearted man

C. The chain of love             D. A generous lady