The taxi driver took a shortcut ______ me to the airport on time.

A. getting                     B. to get               C. having got      D. got

Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.

I walked to the door and knocked, "Just a minute," answered a weak, elderly voice.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.

I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."

"Oh, you're such a good man." She said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I'm in no hurry," she said. "I'm on my way to a hospice(临终医院). I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long."

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter(计价器).

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

At dawn, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."

We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked.

"Nothing." I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered. "Oh, there are other passengers," I answered.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto earth tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy."

The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to ______.

A. show she was familiar with the city    B. let the driver earn more money

C. see some places for the last time       D. reach the destination on time

The taxi driver did not charge the old woman because he ______.

A. shut off the meter by mistake             B. had received her payment in advance

C. was in a hurry to take other passengers     D. wanted to do her a favor

What can we learn from the story?

A. Giving is always a pleasure.      B. An act of kindness can bring people great joy.

C. People should respect each other.  D. People should learn to appreciate others' concern.

A TAXI driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation. Inspiring speakers charge thousands of dollars to give his kind of training to corporate directors and staff.  It cost me only a ＄12 taxi ride.
I had flown into Dallas just for the purpose of calling on a client. Time was important and my plan included a quick turn – around trip from and back to the airport. A clean taxi pulled up.
The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As be got in the driver’s seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.
Well! I looked around for a “Candid Camera!” Wouldn’t you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, “Obviously you take great pride in you work. You must have a story to tell.”
“You bet,” he replied, “I used to be in Corporate America. But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my right position in life, somewhere I could feel proud of being the best I could be.
I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day’s work and done it well. I evaluated my personal property and, I became a taxi driver!
One thing I know for sure, to be good in my business I jus have to meet the expectations of my passengers. But, to be GREAT in my business, I have to EXEED the customer’s expectations! I like the sound of being ‘great’ better than just being ‘average’. ”
Did I tip him big time? You bet!
The taxi driver taught me a great life lesson: Go an extra mile when providing any service to others. And there is no good or bad job you can make any job good.
【小题1】What lesson did the author learn from the taxi driver?

A．was dissatisfied wit his present job

B．was once often rewarded for being a model worker

C．enjoyed offering his customers more than they expected

D．was forced to become a taxi driver to support his family

第三部分：阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)

阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the back-view mirror.

“No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the taxi drivers do. Then I heard the personal growth of Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Distinguish yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles fly high above the crowd.’”

“That hit me right between the eyes. Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other taxis and their drivers. The taxis were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

“I take it that has paid off for you,” I said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple(增四倍) it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at taxi-stands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a trustworthy friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a first-class service out of a Yellow Taxi.

I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty taxi drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally, the Taxi Driver, made a different choice.

51.   The underlined word “phenomenal” means ______.

A．easy-going           B．warm-hearted      C．flexible              D．remarkable

52.   Wally doesn’t park his taxi at taxi-stands just because _______.

A．his income doubles.

B．his taxi is usually fully booked

C．he has a company of his own.

D．he has a look of a disgusting eagle

53.   Wally’s income doubled when he improved his service about ______.

A．one year ago                                        B．two years ago

C．five years ago                                       D．seven years ago

54.   After reading the passage we may draw a safe conclusion that ______.

A．kindness must be rewarded

B．it’s easy to say but hard to do

C．good service pays off in the end

D．the early bird catches the worm

笫三部分 阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）  
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A．B．C．D四个选项中，选出一个最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
The key to happin,ess is how quickly you can get back your focus on, what's important．
Anonymous
Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson in the back of a New York City taxi carb． Here's what    happened． I hopped in a taxi, and we took ogfor Grand Central Station． We were driving in the    right lane when, all of a sudden,a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us． My    taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches! 
The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident, started yelling bad words at us．  My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy． And I mean, he was friendly． So,I said, "Why  did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!“And this is when my taxi dniver told me what I now call "The Law of the Garbage Truck．”
Many people are like garbage(rubbish)  trucks． They run around full of garbage, full of frus-    tration, full of anger, and full of disappointment． As their garbage piles up, they need a place to    dump it．And if you let them, they'll dump it on you．When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally． You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on*  You'll be happy with what you did．
I started thinking, how often do I let Garb4ge Trucks run right over me? And how often do I  take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was that day I said:  "I'm not going to do anymore．"                                                                                        
Successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day． What about you? If you let   more garbage trucks pass you by, you'll be happier． Life's too short to wake up in the moming with  regrets．So, Love the people who treat you right．Forget about the ones who don't．
56．What happened one day when the author was taking a taxi?                         
A．The taxi almost hit another car．
B．The taxi driver WtLS injured．         
C．The author scolded the driver of the other car．
D．The author leamed a lesson from the driver of the garbage truck．
57． How did the taxi driver respond to the behaviour of the driver of the black car?
A．He yelled back at the driver．         
B．He sent the driver to the hospital．
C．He was friendly towards the driver．
D．He dumped some garbage in front of his car．
58．What does the taxi driver think of people according to Paragraph 3?
A．Many people like to drive garbage trucks．
B．Many people dump garbage wherever they like．
C．Many people are warm-hearted to make others happy．
D．Many people tend to be very much depressed．
59．What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
A．The author used to have a lot of garbage trucks．
B．The author used to complain a lot．
C．The author used to have a lot of money．
D．The author used to be a good manager．
60．According to the passage, what should you do if people "dump garbage" on you?
A．Ignore them and go on with our own work．
B．Try our best to persuade them not to do that again． ．
C．Tell them to dump the garbage in the right place．
D．Take over their work and carry the garbage to somewhere else．