When Boris left school, he could not find a job. He tried hard and pestered (纠缠) his relatives,
but they had problems of their own. He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy
any more stamps. Boris grew annoyed, then depressed, then a little hardened. Still he went on trying
and still he failed. He began to think that he had no future at all.
     "Why don't you start your own business?" one of his uncles told him. "The world is a money-locker.
You'd better find a way of opening it."
     "But what can I do?"
     "Get out and have a look round." advised his uncle in a vague sort of way. "See what people want;
then give it to them, and they will pay for it."
      Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end.
Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer. He worked hard, made friends with his customers
and gradually managed to build up his goodwill and profit. A few months later, he found that he had
more work than he could deal with by himself. He found a number of empty shops but they were all
no good: in the wrong position, too expensive or with some other snag(障碍). But at long last, he
managed to find an empty shop on a new estate where there were plenty of customers but no
competition.
      Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair scooters and motor-cycles. Slowly but
surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last, Boris had managed to open the
money-locker and found bank notes and gold coins inside.

1. Which of the following best describes Boris' job hunting experience?

A. Surprising.
B. Encouraging.  
C. Boring.
D. Disappointing.

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

A. Goodwill is the key to success
B. The world is a money-locker
C. No education, no future
D. Difficulty of starting a small business

3. Boris started his career by       .

A. repairing cycles          
B. developing a waste ground
C. cycling around the town              
D. buying empty shops

4. Boris finally chose an empty shop on a new estate because       .

A. it was not so expensive          
B. he had a lot of old customers there
C. there were good opportunities there
D. he could make good use of his skills there

5. We can infer from the last paragraph that Boris      .

A. still couldn't make good profits      
B. found a lot of gold coins by accident
C. set off in a successful career  
D. had great difficulty running his business

     A cancer-stricken British teenage girl said Thursday she had been moved by messages of
support from around the world after writing an online "Bucket List" of things she wanted to do
before dying.
     Alice Pyne, l5, created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of
the white blood cells. " I've been fighting cancer for almost four years and now l know that the
cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one," she wrote.
     For her list, the teenager took inspiration from the 2007 film "The Bucket List", in which two
terminally ill (患绝症的) men, played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, draw up a list
of things they wish to do before they die.
     On her list, at the site www. alicepyne. blogspot. com, she has included making everyone sign
up to be a bone marrow donor (骨髓捐赠者), swimming with sharks, meeting boy band Take
That and getting a purple iPad computer.
     Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the
most talked about subjects on Twitter.
     "Oh dear and I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends!" she wrote after her
site attracted huge attention. "Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me."
     Pyne, who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston, revealed (透露) the
management of Take That had arranged for her to see the band after reading her blog. A group of
local lawmakers have also joined forces with the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity to encourage
people to join its stem cell register.

l. What happened after Alice Pyne wrote her "Bucket List"?

A. The media called on people to help her.
B. People sent gifts to her from all over the world.
C.A lot of people offered to donate bone marrow to her.
D. People around the world sent messages to support her.

2. Alice Pyne wrote her "Bucket List" to      .

A. express her last few wishes            
B. say goodbye to a few friends
C. give comfort to two terminally ill men  
D. catch people's attention

3. It can be inferred from the second paragraph that Alice Pyne       .

A. is unaware of her own conditions    
B. is calm to know that death is approaching
C. is very sad to know that she will die
D. is still quite confident in fighting against cancer

4. Which of the following is NOT on Alice Pyne's "Bucket List"?

A. To meet a boy.
B. To get a cool computer.
C. To swim with sharks.
D. To ask people to donate bone marrow.

5. Take That will arrange to       .

A. invite Pyne to join the band            
B. help Pyne in any possible way
C. donate money to Pyne              
D. meet Pyne in person

   Three blondes (金发碧眼的女人) were being trained to become detectives by a policeman. To
test their skills in recognizing a suspect ( 嫌疑犯 ), the policeman showed the first blonde a picture
for five seconds and then asked how she could recognize him. She thought it easy, for the suspect
had only one eye. The policeman felt disappointed at this funny answer. He showed the second lady
the picture for five seconds and asked her how she would recognize him. The second blonde giggled,
flipped  her hair, and  said, "Ha!  It's easy to find the one-eared person!" Her answer also made the
policeman angry. Turning to the third lady, he asked, "This is your suspect, and how would you recognize
him?" He added quickly, "Think hard before giving a stupid answer." The third blonde looked at the picture carefully for a moment and said, "HMMMM ... the suspect is wearing contact lenses (隐形眼镜)." The
policeman was surprised and speechless, because he really didn't know himself if the suspect wore contacts or not. "Well, that is a good answer. Wait here for a few minutes while I check his file." He left the room and went to his office, checked the suspect's file in his computer and returned with a beaming smile.
"Wow! I can't believe it ... it's TRUE! The suspect does in fact wear contact lenses. Good work! How
were you able to make such a wise observation?" "That's easy," the blonde replied, "he can't wear glasses because he only has one eye and one ear!"

1. Which of the following cannot conclude from the passage that detectives should have?  

A. They must be charming.
B. Their observation must be keen.
C. They must be humorous.
D. They must be good at thinking.

2. According to the passage we can infer that ________.  

A. the suspect was easy to be recognized
B. the picture was just a side of the suspect
C. the suspect must be a disabled person
D. the suspect was caught by the policeman

3. What will probably happen to the three blondes after this test?  

A. The first blonde may be accepted as a detective at once.
B. The second blonde may be accepted as a detective at once.
C. The third blonde is good at thinking and needn't any training.
D. All of them may be given more training courses or fired.

     I began working in journalism when I was eight. It was my mother's idea. She wanted me to "make
something" of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up
with the competition.
     With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were
two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible,
making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY
EVENING POST. When it was supper time, I walked back home.
      "How many did you sell, my boy?" my mother asked.
      "None."
       "Where did you go?"
      "The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues."
      "What did you do?"
      "Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post."
      "You just stood there?"
      "Didn't sell a single one."
      "My God, Russell!"
      Uncle Allen put in, "Well, I've decided to take the Post." I handed him a copy and he paid me a
nickle(五分镍币). It was the first nickle I earned.
      Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address
adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford
to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
      One day, I told my mother I'd changed my mind. I didn't want to make a success in the magazine
business.
     "If you think you can change your mind like this," she replied, "you'll become a good-for-nothing."
She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
      My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied
with my father's plain workman's life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But
never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her
husband's people for true life and love.

1．Why did the boy start his job young?