A well-dressed man came into a famous jeweler shop．He explained that he wished to buy a pearl （珍珠） for his wife's birthday and that the price didn't matter since business had been very good for him that year．After examining a number of beautiful and valuable pearls, he chose a nice black one that cost $ 5,000．He paid for the pearl, shook hands with the jeweler and left．

       A few days later the man returned and said his wife had liked the pearl so much that she wanted another one just like it．It had to be exactly the same size and quality（质地） as she wanted a pair of earrings （耳环） made．"Can you give me any advice on how to get such a pearl?" said the man．The jeweler replied,   "I would say it's nearly impossible to find an exact one like that pearl．”

       The rich man asked the jeweler to advertise（登广告） in the newspapers, and offered $25,000 for the  matching pearl．Many people answered the ad（广告）, but nobody had a pearl that was just right．Just when the jeweler had given up hope, a little old lady came in．To his surprise, she pulled the wonderful pearl from her handbag．"I don't like to sell it," she said sadly．"I inherited（继承） it from my mother, and my mother inherited from hers．But now I really need the money．"

       The jeweler was quick to pay her before she changed her mind．Then he called the rich man’s hotel to tell him the good news．The rich man, however, was nowhere to be found．

1．From the first paragraph we can guess that the jeweler considered the well-dressed man as_____________．

       A．an honest jeweler to make friends with 

       B．a clever cheat （骗子） with a 1ol

       C．a rich businessman and good husband  

       D．a poor gentleman who spent mc

2．He paid$ 5,000 for the pearl without bargaining（讨价还价）______________．

       A．because he loved his wife very much

       B．in order to get it as quickly as possible

       C．since his business had been successful

       D．so as to make the jeweler believe him

3．Which of the following is true?

       A．The people who answered the ad wanted to sell their pearls at a high price．

       B．The woman was the well-dressed man's wife．

       C．The jeweler was lucky enough to buy the little old lady's pearl．

       D．The rich man didn't know the little old lady．

4．The jeweler could not find the rich man anywhere because he__________．

       A．had moved to another hotel                B．was busy doing business with others

       C．had escaped with $ 20,000                D．had told the wrong telephone number

Recently, a  professor of philosophy in the United States has written a book called MoneyandtheMeaningofLife. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our day­to­day life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life.
He says that our relation with others often becomes clearly defined when money enters the picture. You might have wonderful friendship with somebody and you think that you have a very good friend. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend you some money. If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before. Or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn't. This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it.
Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.
Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about being rich?
Answer: The most surprising thing is why people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I do not know much. All I am is rich.
People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life.
【小题1】The author seems to believe that asking your friend to lend you some money ________.

Recently, a  professor of philosophy in the United States has written a book called MoneyandtheMeaningofLife. He has discovered that how we deal with money in our day­to­day life has more meaning than we usually think. One of the exercises he asked his students to do is to keep a record of every penny they spend for a week. From the way they spend their money, they can see what they really value in life.

He says that our relation with others often becomes clearly defined when money enters the picture. You might have wonderful friendship with somebody and you think that you have a very good friend. But you will know him only when you ask him to lend you some money. If he does, it brings something to the relationship that seems stronger than ever before. Or it can suddenly weaken the relationship if he doesn't. This person may say that he has a certain feeling, but if it is not carried out in the money world, there is something less real about it.

Since money is so important to us, we consider those who possess a lot of it to be very important. The author interviewed some millionaires in researching his book.

Question: What is the most surprising thing you have discovered about being rich?

Answer: The most surprising thing is why people give me so much respect. I am nothing. I do not know much. All I am is rich.

People just have an idea of making more and more money, but what is it for? In his book, the professor uncovered an important need in modern society: to bring back the idea that money is an instrument rather than the end. Money plays an important role in the material world, but expecting money to give happiness may be missing the meaning of life.

1.The author seems to believe that asking your friend to lend you some money ________.

2.What can we learn about the millionaire from his answer in the interview?

3.What does the American professor of philosophy want to explain in his book?

4.Which of the following might the author disagree with?

Turning on the TV, a wonderful scene comes to your eyes — a group of men，tall，strong and handsome，and women，young，beautiful and attractive，too．Together they eat in the finest restaurants，traveling everywhere around the world by luxurious（豪华的）planes and pleasure ships．They are models．

Do you envy them? What sort of life are models leading? Is it a wonderful life for a young lady or a young man?

A few models are well-known actors or actresses who can make a lot of money only by showing themselves off in commercials．But the majority of them are just curious to see what it is like．They’d like to be models just because they are attracted by what they imagine—models earn a lot of money and lead a glorious life．This is true for those who are very successful．However, most models find it difficult to get work．Very few can earn enough to live on，and for all models their expenses are high．Their agents claim about 20％of the earnings，and no model will get very far without a clever agent．Besides，they have to buy good clothing．They also have to pay to travel to interviews and reach the places where the work is to be done．

Interviews for a model job are known as cattle—markets in the modeling world，and not without a good reason．A top model can choose his or her work，demand and receive high fees told has his or her expenses paid．But for most models，the situation is quite different．An agent or employer inspects each model much as a farmer inspects cattle at a market．Intelligence qualifications and personal characteristics count for little（无足轻重）against good looks and tight figures．For all except the very few lucky ones，the life of a model is a continual search for work，trying to sell himself or herself in the face of fierce competition and,sometimes，not particularly moral standards on the part of some employers．

Immigration officials at airport look suspiciously at a girl whose passport shows her occupation as “Model”，and these are men and women of considerable experience of the world．It comes no surprise to find that some models prefer to put “Secretary” or “Businessman” as their jobs in their passports．

Modeling is a changeable world with great rewards for a tiny minority but not for the majority．

1．For models，their good looks and tight figures are________，compared with their intelligence and qualifications．

A．more important B．less needed C．less essential D．more looked down upon

2．Which of the following can lead you to believe according to the passage?

A．A model’s traveling expenses are usually paid by his employer．

B．To be a model，good looks are the most important qualification．

C．Most models have a fairly easy way of life with high pay．

D．A model can hardly be successful without a good agent．

3．Models often put “Secretary” or “Businessman” instead of “Model” in their passports because

A．they want to avoid being stopped to sign their names by fans

B．a person with the occupation of a model is easily attacked by black societies

C．models are sometimes looked down upon

D．secretaries and businessmen are free of custom duty

4．What may be the author’s attitude towards modeling?

A．It is a worthwhile life for a young lady or a young man．

B．He is in favor of young people to try modeling．

C．Before being crazy about a model job，young people should be aware of the difficulties．

D．It is a field in which everyone has a great chance to succeed．

5．The underlined word “suspiciously” can most probably be replaced by________．

A．doubtfully           B．excitedly        C．proudly      D．sadly