“Sorry” is a word that people in Britain often say in their daily life.

One day while I was w　 1　 on the street, a young man ran by hurriedly, brushing（轻擦）against my handbag. He continued his way, but turned b 2　 and said “sorry” to me. Even in a rush, he didn’t f 3　 to say “sorry”. One day, after I bought some bananas, the shopkeeper was passing me the change, but I wasn’t ready for it and a coin dropped onto the ground. “Sorry, Madam,” he said w 4　 bending to pick it up. I was s 5　 why he said “sorry” to me. Another time, I stepped on a man’s f　 6 at the entrance to a cinema. At the same time, we b 7　 said “sorry”.

Slowly, I got to know that when something unpleasant happens in daily life, the British don’t

c　 8　　 much about who is wrong. If someone is in trouble, a “sorry” is always n 9　 .　 Perhaps that is w　 10　 I seldom see people quarrel on the buses or streets in Britain.

A young father was visiting an old neighbor. They were standing in the old man’s garden, and talking about children. The young man said,“How strict should parents be with their children?”

　  The old man pointed to（指着）a string (细绳) between a big strong tree and a thin young one.

　 “Please untie (解开) that string.” said the old man. “But first pull the string tight so that（以便于）the young tree is straight again.” The young man did so. He untied the string and only found that the young tree bent（弯）over to one side.

　 Then the old man said,“There, it is the same with children. You must be strict with them. But sometimes you must untie the string to see how they are getting on. If they are not yet able to stand alone，you must tie the string tight again. But when you find that they are ready to stand alone，you can take the string away.”

1.The story is about ____________.

　　    A. how to take care of young trees　   

B. how strict parents should be with their children

C. how the young father should get on with his old neighbor

2. The young man untied the string ________________.

　　    A. in order to throw it away   　　

B. so that both of the trees wouldn’t grow straight

　　    C. and found that the young tree bent over to one side

3.When could the string be taken away?

　　    A. When the old man left.　   　　

B. When the young man untied it next time.

　    　C. When the young tree grew strong enough.

4. At last the old man told the young man ________________.

　　    A. that he should be strict with his children if they could not 

stand alone

　　    B. that he should always be strict with his children

　　    C. that he should be hard on his children

5.We learn that the big strong tree and the thin young one are like _________.

A. the young father and the old neighbor    　　

B. parents and their children

　　     C. the old neighbor and the children of young father

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely(模糊地) 　1　 the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see things again, 　2　 a disaster can do strange things to people. It happened to me the other day that I might not have come to love 　3　 as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I believe in life now. I am not sure that I would believe in it so 　4　. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I 　5　 mean that the loss of 　6　 made me enjoy more of 　7　 I have now.
Life asks us to keep making 　8　 to reality. If a person is able to get ready for anything changeable his world will 　9　 more meaningful. I became blind, but I was 　10　. My parents and my teachers saw 　11　 in me－a potential(潜力) to live, you might call it－which I didn’t see, and they make me fight it out with blindness.
The hardest 　12　 I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was what I had to do at least. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would become a chair rocker for the 　13　 of my life. When I say I believe in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase 　14　. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: A belief that I could deal with anything alone; that somewhere in the 　15　 there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
1. A. imagine       B. find             C. remember     D. guess
2. A. but           B. though               C. so           D. because
3. A. myself       B. life             C. eyes         D. blindness
4. A. that         B. therefore            C. happily      D. deeply
5. A. seldom        B. just             C. hardly           D. always
6. A. them      B. it                   C. blindness        D. light
7. A. that         B. what             C. which            D. where
8. A. moments      B. encouragements       C. improvements D. changes
9. A. become        B. change               C. look         D. end
10. A. brave        B. lucky                C. sad          D. wise
11. A. something    B. everything           C. nothing      D. anything
12. A. problem      B. experience           C. difficulty       D. lesson
13. A. rest     B. whole                C. need         D. last
14. A. lonely       B. alone                C. self         D. person
15. A. company  B. group                C. society  (社会)   D. family