I fell in love with music from a young age and often sat down making a few songs of my own．What would life be like, I wondered, without a beautiful song? In 1992, I made two love songs to my darling wife and watched tears run down her face as I sang．"Sam," she said earnestly, "Your songs should be heard by more people."
She got my ballads and started bothering various media people about me, her singing barber husband．Two radio stations took an interest and played the songs．After the programme was aired, I became known in our community as the Singing Barber．
The biggest surprise, however, was still to come．I received a call from a music promoter who offered me a long-term recording contract．He explained that he would be investing a lot of money to market my songs．I needed to be wholly focused on selling my records all over Australia．
But I hesitated．
My friends all told me to go for it．And Mary also thought I should do．"Go, Sam．I'll manage with the family．．．it'll be OK．"
I watched my daughter and son playing in the backyard．Soon they would both be in high school．．．and where would I be? I was so used to my family turning to me for love and support．If I were to start a singing career, I would not only miss them terribly, I'd also certainly miss out on watching them grow up．Signing this contract would put a huge gap between my family and me．．．and I couldn't bear it．My family was my life．So I refused the music promoter's offer．I'm still making music, I'm rich in love and I have no regrets．
【小题1】When the author was offered the contract, most of his friends _____．

A．envied him

B．laughed at him

C．encouraged him

D．didn't believe him

【小题2】Why did the author give up the contract?

A．Because his wife was strongly against it．

B．Because the pay was not attractive enough．

C．Because he wanted to care about his two kids．

D．Because he didn't want his family life damaged．

【小题3】According to the passage, we can infer the author _____．

A．used to be a country singer

B．preferred his present life

C．went on the road to fame

D．regretted giving up his contract

【小题4】What does the author mainly intend to tell us?

A．One should know himself．

B．Interest is the best teacher．

C．Family should come first．

D．Every dog has its day．

When I was an official of a school in Palo Alto, California, Polly Tyner, the president of our board, wrote a letter that was printed in the Palo Alto Times. Polly’s son, Jim, had great difficulty in school. He was classified as the educationally handicapped and required a great deal of patience on the part of his parents and teachers. But Jim was a happy kid with a great smile that lit up the room. His parents knew his difficulties, but they always tried to help him see his strengths so that he could walk with pride. Shortly after Jim finished high school, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. After his death, his mother submitted this letter to the newspaper.
“Today we buried our 20-year-old son. He was killed in a motorcycle accident on Friday night. How I wish I had known that the last time I had talked to him would be the last time. If I had only known that, I would have said to him, ‘Jim, I love you and I’m always so proud of you.’ I would have taken the time to count the many blessings he had brought to the lives of the people who loved him. I would have taken the time to appreciate his beautiful smile, his laughter, and his genuine love to other people.
“When I put all the good things on the scale and try to balance them with all the irritating (恼人的) things such as the radio that was always too loud, the haircut that wasn’t to our liking, the dirty socks under the bed, etc., I find that the irritations really don’t amount to much.
“I won’t get another chance to tell my son all that I would have wanted him to hear, but, other parents, do have a chance. Tell your young people what you would want them to hear as if it may be your last conversation. The last time I talked to Jim was the morning of the day when he died. He called me to say, ‘Hi, Mom! I just called to say I love you. You have to go to work now. Bye.’ That day, he gave me something to treasure forever. ”
If there is any purpose at all for Jim’s death, maybe it is to make others appreciate life more and to tell people, especially family members, that they should take the time to let each other know just how much they care. You may never have another chance. Do it today!
【小题1】What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “the educationally handicapped”?

A．The learning difficulty.

B．The physical problems.

C．The psychological problems.

D．The communication difficulty.

【小题2】According to the writer, which of the following about Jim is TRUE？

A．He was always sad about his school marks.

B．His parents always scolded him about his bad school marks.

C．His study needed more attention from his parents and teachers.

D．He was killed in a car accident.

【小题3】What did Polly think of Jim?

A．He was a lovely boy with a beautiful smile who always loved others.

B．He was physically sick but always happy.

C．He was an irritating boy with some bad habits.

D．He seldom expressed his love for his parents.

【小题4】The purpose of Polly’s letter is to _______.               .

A．memorize her son

B．teach parents to appreciate their children

C．teach children how to be good boys

D．give some advice on how to deal with children’s problems

Early one morning the sub-inspector at a station at the other end of the town rang me. An elephant was damaging the town. Would I please come and do something about it? I did not know what I could do, but I got onto a horse and started out. I took my gun, maybe too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might scare him. Various local people stopped me on the way and told me about the elephant's doings. It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one. It had been chained up but last night it had broken its chain and escaped. Its owner had set out to run after it, but had taken the wrong direction. He was now twelve hours' journey away, and in the morning the elephant had suddenly appeared in the town. It had already destroyed somebody's bamboo hut (棚屋), killed a cow and turned over fruit¬stalls. I came round the hut and saw a man's dead body sprawling in the mud. He was an Indian, and he could not have been dead many minutes. The people said that the elephant caught him with its trunk, put its foot on his back and   grounded him into the earth. This was the rainy season and he was lying on his stomach in the soft mud, the peacebreaker standing beside, looking innocent. As I lifted my gun, I hesitated a few seconds. Then I fired. That was a shot for him. You could see the pain of it knocking the last strength from his legs. But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. He trumpeted, for the first and only time. And then down he came, with a crash that shook the ground.
【小题1】Which of the following statements about the author is TRUE?

A．He was an Indian.

B．He knew elephants well.

C．He was not a local villager.

D．He was the owner of the elephant.

【小题2】The elephant made so much trouble because ________.

A．its owner treated him cruelly

B．it got out of control

C．it hated the village people

D．it was a wild elephant

【小题3】The underlined words “the peacebreaker” in Paragraph 4 refer to ________.

A．the elephant	B．the dead man
C．the author	D．the sub¬inspector

【小题4】It can be inferred that the author felt ________ when he shot the elephant.

A．excited

B．sad

C．frightened

D．happy

Each spring brings a new wildflower blooming in the fields along the highway I travel daily to work.

There is one particular blue flower that has always caught my eye. I've noticed that it blooms only in the morning hours. The afternoon sun is too warm for it. Every day each year for about two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.
This spring, I started a wildflower garden in my yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I've often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the fields would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers.
Every day I drove past the flowers, thinking, "I'll stop on my way home and dig them." "Gee, I don't want to get my good clothes dirty…" Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a tool one year for that expressed purpose.
One day on my way home from work, I was saddened to see that the highway department had cleared up the fields and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, "Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring. "
A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister-in-law has a cancer. She is 20 years older than my husband and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven't been as close as we all would have liked.
I couldn't help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my husband's sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us.
And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, I'm sure I'll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.
【小题1】How long might the blue flower bloom in spring?

A．About two weeks.	B．The whole season.
C．About one week.	D．The whole day.

【小题2】Where did the writer want to transplant the flowers?

A．Across the fields.	B．Along the highway.
C．In the garden.	D．Outside the yard.

【小题3】Which of the following is NOT true about the writer's sister-in-law?

A．She is seriously ill.

B．She is twenty years old.

C．She lives far away from the writer.

D．She is not in close touch with the writer.

【小题4】What does the writer want to tell us?

A．Value now and don't lose chances.

B．Visit our relatives only after they get ill.

C．Refresh our wonderful moments every year.

D．Plant flowers and don't enjoy them in the field.

Afraid that her son would be too tired, Ms. Wendy would sometimes tell the boy to skip school, but each time, Fabian would insist on going to school.
“I don’t like it because when I return to school, I don’t know what’s going on,” the 12-year-old boy explained. He suffers for SMA－a neuromuscular（神经肌肉的）disease that leads to weakness in muscles－and gets around in a wheelchair.
Fabian’s determination to excel in his studies was evident when he was disappointed that he got a total score of 236 yesterday in his Primary School Leaving Examination. He was hoping for a score of at least 240, but his mother was full of pride. “I am happy with his results. He’s very motivated,” said Ms. Wendy.
When Fabian was two months old, he was diagnosed with SMA. Ms. Wendy, who used to go to other homes to teach piano lessons, started teaching lessons at home so she could take care of her son. Fabian proved to be a fighter. Ms. Wendy said, “ He would study every day on his own even though he was weak and his spine（脊柱）was already starting to curve quite badly.”
Fabian is also active in the Singapore Disability Sports Council, where he plays boccia（滚球）, a ball sport for those who require a wheelchair due to physical disability.
At just 133cm tall and weighing 14kg, he knows that he will have to rely on others all his life. “I’m afraid that when my parents grow older, they will not be able to carry me and that there will be nobody to carry me,” said Fabian. “But for now, I feel lucky that I get to go out and do a lot of things that I thought I couldn’t.”
His dreams aren’t lofty（崇高的）either－all he want to be able to do is work and provide for his parents. “I just want to study hard so that I can be a businessman, like my dad.” He is planning to apply to study at Victoria School.
【小题1】The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ______.
A. going to school.               B. being absent from school
C. studying hard.                   D. suffering from SMA.
【小题2】We can know from the text that Fabian ______.

A．got the disease at the age of 12.

B．was proud of his exam results.

C．has no interest in any sports.

D．wants to be a businessman like his father.

【小题3】What do we know about Ms. Wendy?

A．She insists that her son go to school.

B．She used to be a piano teacher in a school.

C．She is satisfied with her son’s performance at school.

D．She fears that her son will be helpless when she is older.

【小题4】Which words can best describe Fabian?

A．Sensitive and weak.	B．Active and optimistic.
C．Clever and strong.	D．Stressed and concerned.

【小题5】What is the best title for the text?
A. He Is Disabled but He Is a Fighter.
B. A Great Mother and Her Special Son.
C. How to Fight Against SMA.
D. A disabled boy’s dream.

As you grow older, you’ll be faced with some challenging decisions—like whether to cut class or try cigarettes. Making decisions on your own is hard enough, but when other people get involved and try to pressure you one way or another it can be even harder. People who are your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they try to influence how you act, to get you to do something, it’s called peer pressure.
Peers can have a positive influence on each other. Maybe another student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember the planets in the solar system. Maybe you got others excited about your new favorite book, and now everyone’s reading it. These are examples of how peers positively influence each other.
Sometimes peers influence each other in negative ways. For example, a few kids in school might try to get you to cut class with them; your soccer friend might try to convince you to be mean to another player and never pass him the ball.
It is tough to be the only one who says “no” to peer pressure, but you can do it. Paying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do.
You’ve probably had a parent or teacher advising you to “choose your friends wisely.” Peer pressure is a big reason why they say this. If you choose friends who don’t cut class, smoke cigarettes, or lie to their parents, then you probably won’t do these things either, even if other kids do.
If you continue to face peer pressure and you’re finding it difficult to handle, talk to someone you trust. Don’t feel guilty if you’ve made a mistake or two.
【小题1】For whom is the passage most probably written?

A．Students.

B．Parents.

C．Teachers.

D．Doctors.

【小题2】In the last three paragraphs, the author mainly_____.

A．explains why friendship is so important

B．gives advice on how to deal with peer pressure

C．discusses how peers influence us

D．shows how to make more good friends

【小题3】Which of following may help handle peer pressure?

A．Spending more time with classmates.

B．Taking up more relaxing hobbies.

C．Choosing friends with no bad habits.

D．Helping others who are in trouble.

【小题4】What is the topic of the passage?

A．Friendship.

B．Making decisions

C．Self-confidence

D．Peer pressure

In the more and more competitive service industry, it is no longer enough to promise customer satisfaction. Today, customer “delight” is what companies are trying to achieve in order to keep and increase market share.
It is accepted in the marketing industry, and confirmed by a number of researches, that customers receiving good service will promote business by telling up to 12 other people; those treated badly will tell their tales of woe to up to 20 people. Interestingly, 80 percent of people who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal.
New challenges for customer care have come when people can obtain goods and services through telephone call centers and the Internet. For example, many companies now have to invest(投资)a lot of money in information technology and staff training in order to cope with the “phone rage”—caused by delays in answering calls, being cut off in mid-conversation or let waiting for long periods.
“Many people do not like talking to machines,” says Dr. Storey, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at City University Business School. “Banks, for example, encourage staff at call centers to use customer data to establish instant and good relationship with them. The aim is to make the customer feel they know you and that you can trust them —the sort of comfortable feelings people have during face-to-face chats with their local branch manager.”
Recommended ways of creating customer delight include: under-promising and over-delivering (saying that a repair will be carried out within five hours, but getting it done within two); replacing a faulty product immediately; throwing in a gift voucher(购物礼券)as an unexpected “thank you” to regular customers; and always returning calls, even when they are complaints.
Aiming for customer delight is all very well, but if services do not reach the high level promised, disappointment or worse will be the result. This can be eased by offering an apology and an explanation of why the service did not meet usual standards with empathy (for example, “I know how you must feel”), and possible solutions (replacement, compensation or whatever fairness suggests best meets the case).
Airlines face some of the toughest challenges over customer care. Fierce competition has convinced them that delighting passengers in an important marketing tool, while there is great potential for customer anger over delays caused by weather, unclaimed luggage and technical problems.
For British Airways staff, a winning telephone style is considered vital in handling the large volume of calls about booking and flight times. They are trained to answer quickly, with their name, job title and a “we are here to help” attitude. The company has invested heavily in information technology to make sure that information is available instantly on screen.
British Airways also says its customer care policies are applied within the company and staff are taught to regard each other as customers requiring the highest standards of service.
Customer care is obviously here to stay and it would be a foolish company that used slogans such as “we do as we please.” On the other hand, the more customers are promised, the greater the risk of disappointment.
【小题1】We can learn from Paragraph 2 that__________.

A．complaining customers are hard to satisfy

B．unsatisfied customers receive better service

C．satisfied customers catch more attention

D．well-treated customers promote business

【小题2】The writer mentions “phone rage” (Paragraph 3)to show that__________.

A．customers often use phones to express their anger

B．people still prefer to buy goods online

C．customer care becomes more demanding

D．customers rely on their phones to obtain services

【小题3】What does the writer recommend to create customer delight?

A．Calling customers regularly

B．Giving a “thank you” note

C．Delivering a quicker service

D．Promising more gifts

【小题4】If a manager should show his empathy (Paragraph 6), what would he probably say?

A．“I know how upset you must be.”

B．“I appreciate your understanding.”

C．“I’m sorry for the delay.”

D．“I know it’s our fault.”

【小题5】Customer delight is important for airlines because__________.

A．their telephone style remains unchanged

B．they are more likely to meet with complaints

C．the services cost them a lot of money

D．the policies can be applied to their staff

【小题6】Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

A．Face-to-face service creates comfortable feelings among customers

B．Companies that promise more will naturally attract more customers

C．A company should promise less but do more in a competitive market

D．Customer delight is more important for airlines than for banks

A jobless man applied for the position of "office boy" at Microsoft. The manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.
"You are employed," he said. "Give me your e-mail address and I'll send you the application to fill in, as well as the date when you may start."
The man replied, "But I don't have an e-mail."
"I'm sorry," said the manager. "If you don't have an e-mail, that means you do not exist. And who doesn't exist cannot have the job."
The man left with no hope at all. He didn't know what to do, with only ten dollars in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10kg tomatoes. He then sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he succeeded to double his money. He repeated the practice three times, and returned home happily with 60 dollars.
The man realized that he can survive in this way, and started to go every day earlier and return late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled every day. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers in the US.
He started to plan his family's future and decided to have a life insurance. He called an insurance broker (代理人) and chose a protection plan.
When the conversation was concluded, the broker asked him his e-mail. The man replied, "I don't have an e-mail."
The broker answered curiously, "You don't have an e-mail, and yet have succeeded to build an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?" The man thought for a while and replied, "Yes, I'd be an office boy at Microsoft!"
【小题1】Why can't the man have the job at Microsoft?

A．Because he was lazy.

B．Because he didn't pass the test.

C．Because he didn't have an e-mail.

D．Because he didn't have a computer.

【小题2】The underlined word "triple" in the passage can be replaced by "____".

A．become twice

B．become 3 times

C．decrease twice

D．decrease 3 times

【小题3】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The man is one of the biggest food retailers in the world.

B．The man didn't give up though he failed the interview.

C．He started his career by selling tomatoes in the supermarket.

D．Those who have e-mails can work at Microsoft.

【小题4】The man can be described as ____.

A．helpful and thoughtful

B．positive and generous

C．smart and hardworking

D．stubborn and selfish

【小题5】Which of the following can best describe the story?

A．Misfortune may be an actual blessing.

B．A good beginning is half done.

C．Accidents will happen.

D．No pains, no gains.

I once did a year of voluntary service in a residential home for people with learning disabilities. It was set in an English village deep in the countryside, quite different from my home in Sweden. One of my fellow volunteers, a girl from Tanzania, seemed a little unhappy, so I asked what the problem was. She told me she had a friend back home who had financial difficulties and maybe it was impossible for her to complete her university courses.
So this friend of mine had sent all her money to Tanzania to support her friend! This meant that she didn't have much food to eat and no money to go anywhere outside the village.
I was so touched and I felt I had to do something. So, during my next trip to one of the nearby towns I walked into a shop. I didn’t have much money left myself but I thought I'd buy her an extra box of chocolate we both liked and some rice. I started talking to the woman（also a volunteer）working in the shop and eventually told her about my friend.
The woman looked at me, amazed. “Does she eat pasta?” she asked. “Yes,” I replied. She immediately started loading a bag with pasta, cookies, and other things until the bag was full. “Give her this for me. It’s my treat!’’ I couldn’t believe it but accepted with happiness. As I left the shop to go home with my unexpected bag of food, I asked the woman her name. “Just Gloria,” she said.
Imagine my friend’s face when I arranged the gifts on my kitchen table and fetched her from her room to see! I had never seen her so happy! A few weeks later she found Gloria in the shop and thanked her in person.
These two extraordinary women really showed me what true kindness and compassion（同情）are, and the impression will stay with me for the rest of my life!
【小题1】The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 1 probably refers to    .

A．the shop

B．the writer's home

C．the residential home

D．a year of voluntary service

【小题2】Why did the girl from Tanzania seem a little unhappy?

A．Because she had to stop her voluntary work.

B．Because she had no money to buy food or other things.

C．Because she had spent all her money on food and clothes.

D．Because her friend in Tanzania maybe had to quit school for lack of money.

【小题3】Why did the writer help the girl from Tanzania?

A．Because the writer was a volunteer.

B．Because they lived in the same room.

C．Because the writer was moved by her kind act.

D．Because the writer didn’t wish she went hungry.

【小题4】From the text, we know that    .

A．the writer was from England

B．the writer was a university student from Tanzania

C．Gloria was from Sweden and was very kind to the writer

D．the writer volunteered to help people with learning disabilities

Thomas Alva Edison was awarded more patents on inventions than any other American. When he died in 1931, Americans wondered how they could best show their respect for him. One suggestion was that the nation observe a minute or two of total blackout. All electric power would be shut off in homes, streets, and factories. Perhaps this suggested plan made Americans realize fully what Edison and his inventions mean to them. Electric power was too important to the country. Shutting it off for even a short time would have led to complete confusion. A blackout was impossible.
On the day of Edison's funeral, many people silently dimmed their lights. In this way they honored the man who had done more than anyone else to put the great force of electricity at his countrymen's fingertips.
【小题1】This selection says that Thomas Edison ________.

A．was the only important American inventor

B．received the first American patent

C．received more patents than any other American

D．was the first American inventor

【小题2】People decided to honor Edison when ________.

A．he made the first electric light

B．electric power was 100 years

C．the country realized electricity's importance

D．he died in 1931

【小题3】The suggested plan was to ________.

A．turn off the lights in factories and schools

B．observe a few minutes of total silence

C．dim all electric lights

D．shut off all electricity for a short time