Few students would dream of getting a job as a shoe shiner working along the street. College students, in their own eyes and in the eyes of the public, are expected to get at least a proper job, if not working in a high-income or white-collar position.
Cai Yong’s decision to work as a shoe shiner shocked not only his parents, who had high hopes for him, but also his girlfriend.
“It is right for young graduates to be ambitious (有抱负的). But they have to start in a solid
and down-to-earth way,” Cai said. Cai is not alone in making such a choice. The company has got
12 college students in all.
“I come for the 800 yuan monthly pay,” said Xiao Ji, who is a student from Nanjing University. “I have grown up and no longer live on my parents,” he said.
“Working as shoe shiners can mean a bright future,” Cai said.
Not everyone can accept this job choice. Cai’s girlfriend left him because she felt ashamed to be with a shoe shiner, and Cai accepted the fact. “This is the price to be paid for a job,” he said.
A former shoe shiner, Zhong Haibo, from a medical college, believes it was a good training for the rest of his life. “There is nothing I can’t do after working as a shoe shiner,” Zhong said, meaning that such kind of experience in early life is helpful in a future job.
39. Cai Yong decided to work as          .
A. a college teacher  B. a company manager  C. a shoe shiner   D. a medicine maker
40. Why did Cai’s girlfriend leave him?  
A. They didn’t get along well with each other.   B. Her parents didn’t like him.
C. She found it a shame to marry a shoe shiner.  D. Cai had got a new girlfriend.
41. Most people think Cai’s choice          .
A. unbelievable     B. nice                 C. enjoyable      D. wonderful
42. From the passage we know Zhong Haibo          .
A. doesn’t like college life                           B. thinks highly of working as shoe shiners
C. is a middle school student                        D. is still a shoe shiner at the moment

Every people has its own special words and expressions like the American expression “on the

wagon” It means a person who no longer drinks whisky, beer or other kinds of alcoholic drinks. The “wagon” is a water wagon. In other words, a drinker has decided to change from alcohol to water. An Oklahoma newspaper wrote about a man who had a history of heavy drinking on America’s Fourth of July holiday. Said the newspaper, “We believe that his experience had lifted him onto the water wagon, but he was even drunker the next Fourth of July.”

Why do people decided to go on the wagon? Well, usually because they are alcoholics. They loss control of themselves when they drink. If they take one alcoholic drink, then they want to  drink another, and another, until all thought is gone.

Alcoholism is a major social problem in countries throughout the world. The United States is no exception. Experts believe that several million Americans are alcoholics today. Their health care needs, car accidents, reduced job performance and other problems cost thousands of millions of dollars every year.

In the early 1900s, many Americans joined in a campaign to make alcohol illegal in the United States. In 1920 an amendment was added to the Constitution. It made drinking or selling alcohol a crime. But the new law did not stop people from drinking. Criminals  produced or imported alcohol illegally and sold it almost everywhere.

After a few years Americans realized the so-called Prohibition Law did not work. So in 1933 another constitutional change was made, canceling the amendment that made alcohol illegal.

In recent years Americans have taken other steps to deal with the problem of alcohol. One important action has been to increase the punishment for people who drive their automobiles after drinking alcohol. Many states now consider this to be a serious crime. Another important step has been to explain to children and students the danger of alcohol. Many schools now offer special programmes to teach young people about the problem. Doctors have been working to develop new drugs and treatment programmes to help alcoholics. Finally, alcoholics themselves are dealing with the problem of alcoholism. Many of them have “ gone on the wagon” and stopped drinking. They have joined the Alcoholics Anonymous group meeting regularly to discuss their problems and give each other support. “Going on the wagon” is not the only way to control alcoholism, but most alcoholic say it is the best way. They must give up alcohol completely so their own body and spirit can survive.

1．People decide to go on the wagon because        .

    A．they enjoy having one drink after another

    B．they like the kind of drinks they get on the wagon

    C．they are afraid of losing their self-control in drinking again

    D．they are alcoholics and can not control themselves well

2．Americans are now taking steps to solve the problem of alcoholism by        .

    A．decreasing the amount of alcohol drunk by drivers

    B．teaching young students how to drive safely after drinking alcohol

    C．punishing people more heavily for driving after drinking alcohol

    D．giving special courses to teach doctors about new drugs and treatments for alcoholics

3．In the United States today        .

    A．alcoholism is not a major social problem

    B．there are no more than a million alcoholics

    C．the problem of alcoholism costs thousands of millions of dollars every year

    D．alcoholism has caused a million automobile accidents a year

A daughter’s duty? Adult daughters are often expected to caregiver for older parents. In 2007, Jorjan Sarich and her dad moved from California to Idaho. It was where he wanted to live his rest time.

“I left my occupation, I left my friends; he did the same thing,” said Sarich, who bought a house with her father, George Snyder, in the China Gardens neighborhood of Hailey after his health began to decline. Though a graduate student struggling to finish her dissertation（论文）, Sarich chose to be her dad’s full-time caregiver.

“It’s only now, several years later, that I’m realizing how much work it was. It’s the kind of exhaustion（疲惫）that sleep doesn’t cure,” she said.

About 6 million Americans provide care to elderly relatives or friends living outside of nursing homes. Laurel Kennedy, author of “The Daughter Trap” (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.95), says that women bear a disproportionate（不成比例的）share of the burden — about 70 percent of hands-on care giving such as bathing.

“I want to be clear: Women don’t hate this,” Kennedy said. “What they hate is that everyone just assumes they’ll do it.”

Kennedy is calling for a social revolution equal to the rise of affordable child care and day care: Employers should help working caregivers by offering accommodations. Men should step up more often. It’s unfair that women are always chosen to provide care for an elderly family member.

Despite the hard work it took on Sarich — interrupted sleep and the knowledge that his 2009 death was the end game, she would do it again. Since about half a century had gone by, she wasn’t the person he remembered, and he wasn’t the person she remembered either. Caring for her father changed how each saw the other.

Why did Jorjan Sarich caregiver for her father?

   A. It was a very easy job.                          B. She had no work to do.

   C. It was the social practice.                         D. She lived with her father.

What can we infer from the book “The Daughter Trap”?

   A. Daughters don’t like care giving.

   B. Daughters devote a lot to care giving.

   C. Care giving is daughters’ duty.

   D. Care giving should be sons’ duty.

What does the underlined phrase “a social revolution” refer to?

   A. The child care revolution.                            B. The reform in day care.

   C. The social development.                              D. The change in care giving.

How many years did Jorjan Sarich work as her father’s full-time caregiver?

   A. Five years.          B. Only one year.          C. Four years.        D. Two years.

In her care giving, Jorjan Sarich _____.

   A. got along well with her father                  B. was a little tired of her father

   C. changed her father in every way            D. felt it was unfair to do so