B
About forty years ago, I was an instructor in the military academy at Woolwich, when young Scoresby was given his first examination. Everybody answered the questions well, intelligently, while he—why, dear me—he did not know anything, so to speak. It was painful to see him stand there and give answers that were miracles(奇迹) of stupidity.
I took him aside and found he knew a little about Julius Ceasar’s history. So, I worked him like a slave on a few questions about Ceasar. If you will believe me, when examined again, he was asked no questions but those I made him study. Such an accident does not happen more than once in a hundred years. Well, all through his studies, I stood by him, with the feeling a mother has for a disabled child. And he always saved himself by some miracle.
Then, the Crimean War broke out. Nervously, I waited for the worst to happen. It did. He was appointed an officer. Who could have dreamed that they would place such a responsibility on such weak shoulders as his! I said to myself that I was responsible to the country for this. I must go with him and protect the nation against him as far as I could. So, I joined up with him.
And there, oh dear, he never did anything but mistakes. But, everybody misunderstood his stupid mistakes as works of great intelligence. The battle grew hotter. The English soldiers were steadily withdrawing all over the field. An order came for him to fall back and support our right. Instead, he moved forward and went over the hill to the left. We were over the hill before this crazy movement could be discovered and stopped. And what did we find? A large and unsuspected Russian army waiting! But those surprised Russians thought that no single team by itself would come around there at such a time. It must be the whole British army. They turned tail, away they went over the hill and down into the field in wild disorder, and we after them. In no time, there was the greatest turn around you ever saw.
Until now, nobody knew it but Scoresby and myself. He has filled his whole military life with mistakes, every one of which brought him another honorary title. They are proof that the best thing that can happen to a man is to be born lucky.
46. How was Scoresby doing academically?
A. His answers to the questions were miracles.
B. He was good at military history.
C. He received help because of his disability.
D. He did rather poorly in his study.
47. “I” join up with Scoresby in the Crimean War because “I” ________.
A. wanted to see the worst happen
B. had no confidence in him
C. liked to fight against Scoresby
D. wanted to protect my student
48. Why did the Russian army flee?
A. Because Scoresby mistook his left hand for his right hand.
B. Because Scoresby failed to recognize the direction.
C. Because they thought the whole British army were coming.
D. Because they wanted to go down into the field.
49. What is the secret of Scoresby’s military “success”?
A. Good luck.           B. Hard work.        C. Help from others       .      D. Mistakes.
50. The tone(语调) of the passage is _____________.
A. Relaxing           B. Encouraging   C. Sarcastic(讽刺的)         D. Humorous

While I was on my way to Walmart, I was greeted by an elder woman who was working at the door as a greeter, I had a return to make so she stopped me and asked to tag my bag. Usually I would have gotten annoyed because I know I don’t steal, so why does my bag need to be tagged? I’d just witnessed someone ahead of me being not so nice, and treating the lady like she was a nobody. I could see this lady looked to be at retirement age, trying to make ends meet. The look on her face and the energy she gave was that of someone afraid and not knowing where they stood in life. Not to mention the person ahead of me who’d just snatched(夺) a bag back from her and stormed off without even saying thank you. I could tell this woman was hurt by that, and no one knows how many people had been treating her that way all day long.

What if she was a grandmother who’d recently taken care of her grandchildren for whatever season? What if her husband she had to support recently fell sick and they couldn’t afford the medical expenses, so she had to go back to work? What if she just lost everything she had in her retirement and now she had to go back to work?

All she wants is to do her job and do it well. All she wants is to serve customers the way she was trained. All she needs is to be appreciated. Can I be that someone she needs, just for the moment?

I looked her in her eyes as she scanned my bag, smiled and said, “Your hair is beautiful and fits you well!” Her face lit up and she smiled back and began to tell me how much easier it is to manage. It was salt-and-pepper hair and was cut in the prettiest style. She handed my bag back, smiled and told me the service desk was straight down to my left. I said “Thank you!”

1.At the door of Walmart, the old woman_____.

A．asked every customer for money to feed her family

B．was made to welcome customers and check their bags

C．was asked to keep the door open all the time

D．worked as guide to give customers direction

2.Seeing the look of the old woman and the treatment she received, the author_____.

A．became annoyed                       B．showed sympathy

C．was puzzled                            D．turned generous

3.It could be learned from paragraph2 that the author_____.

A．didn’t understand why the old woman did such a job

B．insisted the old woman should stay at home comfortably

C．was sure the old woman was respected by people

D．supposed the old woman might be in trouble for some reason

4.By saying “Your hair is beautiful and fits you well.” the author wanted to ____.

A．make the old woman feel appreciated

B．please her so as not to let her bag tagged

C．praise her for her hair style and clothes

D．confirm her hard work and special beauty

ALBANY，New York—Students who rely on working at night to improve their

grades might want to sleep on that strategy: A new survey in the US says those who never study all night have slightly higher grades than those who do.

A survey of 120 students at St.Lawrence University found that students who had never pulled an all??nighter on average had higher grades than those who had. The survey found those who did not study through the night had a grade point average of 3.2 compared to 2.95 for those who did.

The study, by assistant professor of psychology Pamela Thacher, is to be included in the January issue of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

“It's not a big difference，but it's pretty striking, ” Thacher said, “I am primarily a sleep researcher and I know nobody thinks clearly at 4∶00 in the morning. You think you can do，but you can't.”

Many college students, of course, have inadequate or irregular sleep, for reasons ranging from excessive caffeine to poor time management.

“A lot of students were under the impression that all??nighters were a very useful tool for accomplishing work, and that caffeine intake was very useful in meeting deadlines and stuff like that, ”said Mr Chatani, who had a 3.4 grade point average last term.

Dr Howard Weiss, a physician at St.Peter's Sleep Center in Albany, said the study results made sense.

“Certainly that data is out there showing that short sleep duration absolutely interferes with concentration and performance on objective testing, ”he said.

“Some night owls do get good grades, of course，which may be explained by circadian (昼夜节律的，生理节奏的) rhythms, ”Weiss said, “Some people have different 24??hour body clocks from others, and may do better depending on classes and testing time.”

The purpose of the passage is to tell us 　　　　

  A. the bad effects of pulling an all??nighter

  B. pulling an all??nighter leads to sleep problems

  C. Thacher's doubt about all??nighters

  D. all??nighters influence students' grades

According to Thacher's study，around 4 o'clock in the morning is a time when 　　　　.

  A. one can think more clearly

  B. one has his/her best memory

  C. one can't learn efficiently

  D. one's brain falls into a period of deep sleep

What can we know from Dr Howard Weiss' words？

  A. Thacher's study is not convincing enough.

  B. He believes in Thacher's study.

  C. Thacher's study makes no sense.

  D. Thacher should take exceptions into consideration.

When milk arrived on the doorstep
When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note----“Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery”----and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, I saw an old milk box in the countryside. I took it home and planted it on the back porch （门廊）. Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
【小题1】Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer____.

Smart job-seekers need to rid themselves of several standard myths about interviewing before they start looking for a job. What follows is a list of some of these untruths and some tips to help you do your best at your next interview.

Myth 1: The aim of interviewing is to obtain (means “get”) a job offer.

Only half true. The real aim of an interview is to obtain the job you want. That often means rejecting job offers you don’t want! So before you please an employer, be sure you want the job.

Myth 2: Always please the interviewer

Not true. Try to please yourself. Of course, don’t be hostile—nobody wants to hire someone disagreeable. But there is plainly a muddle ground between being too ingratiating（逢迎）and being hostile.

Myth 3: Try to control the interview

Nobody “controls” an interview. When someone tries to control us, we resent（憎恨）it. When we try to control others, they resent us. Remember you can’t control what an employer thinks of you, just as he can’t control what you think of him. So he is ready to give and take when being interviewed; never control the interview.

Myth 4: Never interrupt the interviewer

Study the style of the effective conversationalists: they interrupt and are interrupted! An exciting conversation always makes us feel free—free to interrupt, to disagree, to agree enthusiastically. Just hang loose. Try being yourself for a change. Employers will either like or dislike you, but at least you’ll have made an impression. Leaving an employer indifferent（冷漠的）is the worst impression you can make.

1.To be your natural self in a job interview will__________.

2.     For job seekers, efforts to control the interview are likely to __________.

3.The most important thing to keep in mind when being interviewed for a job is to _________.

4.The right attitude to a job interviewer is to be _________.

5.     “hang loose” in last paragraph means to _________.