He almost didn’t see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front her Mercedes and got out.
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt.
He said, “I am here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.
Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened, had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were many people who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, “And think of me.”
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.
【小题1】This story most probably took place_______.

Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality (理性), but when it comes to my college education I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any reasonable student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, many famous professors and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that’s not what I did.
I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts (文科) university that doesn’t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my job. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by communicating with people who weren’t studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a wise choice. They told me I was wise and grown-up beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.
　I headed off to the college and sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering "factories" where they didn’t care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical expert and excellent humanist all in one.
　Now I’m not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideas crashed into reality, as all noble ideas finally do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.
　The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don’t mix as easily as I supposed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult.
【小题1】Why did the author choose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts university?

  The whole morning we just checked our own things. We were looking for items to give away. We thought of blankets, food and clothing. Our aim was not to find things we no longer wanted, but things we use every day and would be useful to others.
We made up boxes with the things and added some small toys. Inside the boxes a simple letter was placed, reading:
“Please take these items and know that your life is important. Times are difficult but they will pass. We share what we have, believing it will matter. Use the blanket to stay warm. Be safe and know that the human spirit can overcome anything. Don’t hold your head down. Someday please do the same when you can. How you do it and when, your heart will tell you.
This kind act was not because the phone rang or for any reason. It was simply because it was the right time to do. We have often seen homeless people at the park where we left the belongings. The city would say that it isn’t a problem but I see the lives walking to and from it.
I noticed that my wife had put her favorite green coat into one of the boxes. I asked if she was sure about it and she simply replied that it had a hood (风帽). She liked the coat but knew the hood could shelter (遮挡)someone from the rain.
We don’t know where these gifts of compassion（同情）will go. We never go back and see what happens. It’s unimportant. The right things will find the right people and that is all that counts. On the way my wife started to cry. When I asked why, she said because some things felt so right.
【小题1】What can we learn from the first paragraph about the couple？

    So I’m driving the lovely and patient older daughter to work. At 7 a. m., she pushes the seat

warmer button as her new Honda zooms across L. A., the City of Padded Shoulders.

"Oh, look, I’m low on gas," she says.

First, we pick up her boss, then we pick up her other boss. They are all headed to Staples Center for some awards show. My daughter does something in public relations, I’m not sure what. But when this show comes along, she gets very busy.

"In the past two nights I’ve gotten, like, seven hours sleep," she notes, the implication being that I sleep all the time, which is pretty much true.

In Los Feliz, a dashboard light confirms that we are, indeed, low on fuel. This does not perturb my daughter.

"Don’t worry, we’ll get there," she says.

My daughter says nothing about getting back home, which is my job. I’ve just agreed to drop her off, so she can avoid traffic later. My task is simple, though now full of uncertainty.

I don’t know how I ended up dropping my daughter and her bosses off at 7 a.m. on a Sunday. I just know that J.D. Salinger may now be dead, but I still feel like Holden Caulfield -- at the mercy of too many yammering adults.

Now, I’ve had mixed luck with adults.

Apparently, my daughter’s job in PR is to keep everyone happy while telling the truth as much as possible. I sent her to college to study that. Now she is an expert.

"After you drop us off, you can get gas," my daughter assures me.

I have been her chauffeur for 26 years. By the time she was 3, I’d snapped her into a car seat some 14,000 times. I took her to seventh-grade dances, ski trips, college.

Even after all that, we continue to have a civil relationship, sort of a queen-mum-and-her-

driver sort of dynamic. When I screw up, she just raises her pretty chin and snorts. It’s very British.

By the way, my daughter now has a nicer car than I do, which is a sign she is doing well. Or, as with so many young people, she is up to her hoop earrings in consumer debt.

1．Which of the following statements in NOT true about the author’s daughter?

         A．She is fashionable.     B．She always tells the truth.

         C．She is doing well in her work.    D．She lives a fast-paced life.

2．The author’s tone suggests that_________.

         A．he is feeling left behind when his daughter has grown up and begun adult life

         B．he is content with his grown daughter

         C．he does not like his daughter’s bosses

         D．he will not believe his daughter any more

3．It can be concluded from the passage that_________.

         A．the author won’t have any difficulty in getting gas

         B．the daughter cares for her father a lot

         C．the author has done a lot to help his daughter get where she is 

         D．the British people have pretty chin and snort often

4．By referring to J. D. Salinger and Holden Caulfield, the author is most probably_________.

         A．recalling his daughter’s childhood

         B．mentioning his family members who are now dead

         C．comparing his situation to a scene in a famous literary work

         D．telling a story about his daughter’s friends

5．What is the best title for this passage?

         A．A PR’s Busy Life

         B．Relationship Between Dad and Daughter

         C．A Loving Father

         D．Go Ahead and Fill Her up, Dad

He almost didn’t see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front her Mercedes and got out.
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt.
He said, “I am here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.
Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened, had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were many people who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, “And think of me.”
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.
【小题1】This story most probably took place_______.