As a young boy, I sometimes traveled the country roads with my dad. He was a rural mill carrier, and on Saturdays he would ask me to go with him. Driving through the countryside was always an adventure: There were animals to see, people to visit, and chocolate cookies if you knew where to stop, and Dad did.
In the spring, Dad delivered boxes full of baby chickens, and when 1 was a boy it was such a fun to stick your finger 'through one of the holes of the boxes and let the baby birds peck on your fingers.
On Dad' s final day of work, it took him well into the evening to complete his rounds because at least one member from each family was waiting at their mailbox to thank him for his friendship and his years of service. "Two hundred and nineteen mailboxes on my route." he used to say, "and a story at every one. " One lady had no mailbox, so Dad took the mail in to her every day because she was nearly blind. Once inside, he read her mail and helped her pay her bills.
Mailboxes were sometimes used for things other than mail. One note left in a mailbox read. "Nat, take these eggs to Marian; she's baking a cake and doesn't have any eggs. " Mailboxes might be buried in the snow, or broken, or lying on the groom:. bat the mail was always delivered On cold days Dad might find one of his customers waiting for him with a cup of hot chocolate. A young wrote letters but had no stamps, so she left a few button on the envelope in the mailbox; Dad paid for the stamps. One businessman used to leave large amounts of cash in his mailbox for Dad to take to the bank. Once, the amount came to 8 32,000.
A dozen years ago, when I traveled back to my hometown on the sad occasion of Dad’s death,  the mailboxes along the way reminded me of some of his stories. I thought I knew them all, but that wasn't the case.
As I drove home, I noticed two lamp poles, one on each side of the street. When my dad was around, those poles supported wooden boxes about four feet off the ground. One box was painted green and the other was red, and each had a long narrow hole at the top with white lettering: SANTA CLAUS, NORTH POLE. For years children had dropped letters to Santa through those holes.
I made a turn at the comer and drove past the post office and across the railroad tracks to our house. Mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table when I heard footsteps. There, at the door, stood Frank Townsend, Dad's postmaster and great friend for many years. So we all sat down at the table and began to tell stories.
At one point Frank looked at me with tears in his eyes. " What are we going to do about the letters this Christmas?" he asked.
"The letters?"
'I guess you never knew. "
"Knew what?"
" Remember, when you were a kid and you used to put your letters to Santa in those green and red boxes on Main Street? It was your dad who answered all those letters every year. "
I just sat there with tears in my eyes. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine Dad sitting at the old table in our basement reading those letters and answering each one. I have since spoken with several of the people who received Christmas letters during their childhood, and they told me how amazed they were that Santa had known so much about their homes and families.
For me, just knowing that story about my father was the gift of a lifetime.
【小题1】It can be inferred from the passage that the writer regarded his travels with Dad us_____.

Jean is a bright young woman who comes from a rich and famous family. She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy. Well, almost everything. The problem is that Jean’s family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her. In fact, Jean is quite lonely. So Jean spends a lot of time on her QQ. She likes being anonymous, talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life. She uses the name Linda on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she keeps in touch with quite often.

Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had a common interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot their time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David sent a picture of himself: He was a tall , good looking young man with big , happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other.

When Jean’s father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of their favorite rock singer. But when she knocked on David’s door in San Francisco, she found that her special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim!

1. Jean spends a lot of her time on QQ because she is _________.

A. rich　　 B. young　　 C. lonely　 D. a bad student

2. Jean thought “David” was special because he _________.

A. made her quite happy on QQ　　 　 B. was from San Francisco

C. was tall and good-looking　　　 　　　 D. was rich

3. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. Don’t believe those you get to know on QQ so easily

B. People don’t use their real names on QQ so often

C. Don’t go to meet those you get to know on QQ

D. Don’t spend much time on QQ

When 7-year-old Warren Buffett said, “I will be the richest man one day,” his friends made fun of his “daydreaming”. But ever since then the little boy has set about learning how to make money by selling drinks, delivering newspaper and buying stocks. The American had already earned $9,000 (equal to $90,000 today) by the time he graduated from the high school.
And this month the 78-year-old, who earned his fortune by making a lot of sound investment in the stock market, took the place of Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, as the world’s richest man. Gates’ worth declined $1.5 billion to $55.5 billion in 33 days after the recent financial storm, according to Forbes Magazine.
Buffett, the only son of a stockbroker, was ready to think outside the box to develop his business from a very early age. At 8, he went to golf courses collecting and selling the used balls. At 11 when he sold soda pop door-to-door with a friend, the pair collected lids on streets to judge which flavor was the most popular.
As a paper boy during high school, Buffett delivered two competitor papers, so that even when customers canceled one of the subscriptions (订阅) , he could still make a profit from the other. With his paper delivery savings, Buffett bought 162,000 square meters of farmland and collected rent. Young Buffett stepped into the stock market at 11 but earned only $5. The experience taught him one of the virtues（优点）in investing patience.
After graduating from university, Buffett started his venture with stocks with his childhood earnings and money from friends. He researched the stocks and just bought those of solid companies that were undervalued and inexpensive at the time. By sticking to companies such as American Express and Coca-Cola, Buffett has become rich.
“Learning is important to Buffett’s success. He is a learning machine who can spend his entire day reading. He keeps learning from books, street smarts and investigation, from both success and failure. In this way, he over achieved his aptitude (能力),” said Charlie Munger, his longtime business partner.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about_____.

This is a true story about two friends.
One day a young man said to his good friend, "I can see that some day you will become great and rich." His friend laughed, "Ridiculous! How can you know that?" The first said, "Yes, I can see it from your forehead." The second one said, "Ok, if I become great and rich, I will give you 10,000 rupees." The first friend asked. "Really? If so, then write it down."
The second one really wrote it down. The first man kept the note, but he never took his friend seriously. The agreement was made as a joke. 10 or 12 years later, the friend did become rich and great, while the other remained poor. By that time both friends had separated and were leading their own lives. Even so, the poor friend still preserved the note, although he felt that since it was a joke, he would never receive the money.
Quite unexpectedly, the poor man fell seriously ill. Just before he died, he took out the agreement and called his son, who was only seven years old, "My son, there is something very precious that I have kept for you. After I die…you go to this man and show him what he has written."
Soon the man died. Their friendship had faded so much that the rich man did not even come to see him before he left this world. But after three or four weeks' time the son took the note to the rich man. The boy gave the rich man the note. The rich man read it and asked, "Did I write this?"
The boy said, “I do not know. My father asked me to give it to you before he died." The rich man summoned one of his secretaries and explained, "I promised this boy's father many years ago that I would give him 10,000 rupees if I became rich and great. I have been rich for seven years; please calculate how much interest I have to give him in addition to the 10,000 rupees."
The secretary told him, "An additional 7,000 rupees, which makes it 17,000 altogether."
The rich man immediately issued a check for 17,000 rupees and gave it to the little boy, saying, "Take this directly to your mother.”
This is how a sincere man kept his promise.
56. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The first friend can know others’ future from his or her forehead.
B. The second friend couldn’t believe his friend’s words at first.
C. The first friend wished his friend to help his son after he died.
D. The second didn’t come to see his dying friend because of different life.
57. What do you think of the man who became rich later?
A. He had a bad memory.
B. He is very selfish and unwilling to help others.
C. He is mean with his money.
D. He is a man who keeps his promise.
58. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The poor friend preserved the note because he knew he would get the money sooner or later.
B. The man became rich 3 or 5 years later after he signed the agreement.
C. The rich man gave the boy 17,000 rupees altogether.
D. The little boy knew something about his father’s story.