A few years ago, when I was still in high school, I met a wonderful and warm teacher. At that time in my life, there were many changes to adjust to, apart from the usual teenage troubles. My parents had divorced, so my elder brother and I had chosen to stay with my dad. Due to the fact that he was keeping the house, we didn’t have to move.

During this time, my teacher took a special interest in me. Being my English teacher, she encouraged my mind to travel to creativity I had long given up. She brought me out of the shell I built.

She became my mother, my older sister, my friend and my teacher. The one thing she couldn’t do though was to make me more girly as growing up with only my dad and brother made me a real tomboy.

Sometimes, I would be really immature（不成熟的）, especially if she was scoring me less than others on purpose. She knew I could do better than what I was handing in and so pushed me to extend further than limits.

When I finished school and then after college I was about to leave my hometowns she gifted me a watch that every second, with my pulse, should remind me of the one person who will forever wait and love me without reservation.

Time has passed and our friendship is distant, but in my heart, soul and mind, she is the closest I ever got.

The writer and her elder brother chose to live with their father simply because _________.

A. their mother was expecting to have another baby

    B. they didn’t have to move out of their house

    C. they hated their mother remarried

    D. they had a closer relationship with their father

How did the writer get along with her studies before she met her English teacher?

    A. She was hopeless and had given up her studies.

    B. She was getting along well with her studies.

    C. She had some trouble with her studies.

    D. She lacked interest in creativity.

The writer behaved herself like a boy because ________.

    A. she needed the love of mother

    B. she wanted to learn from her father and brother

    C. she lived with only men all the time

    D. her English teacher didn’t care about her

What was the writer’s attitude to the watch given by the teacher?

    A. She considered it to be very useful.

    B. She valued it very much.

    C. She kept it very well.

D. She wanted to do something later in return for it.

A is for always getting to work on time.

B is for being extremely busy.

C is for the conscientious(勤勤恳恳的) way you do your job.

You may be all these things at the office, and more. But when it comes to getting ahead, experts say, the ABCs of business should include a P, for politics, as in office politics.

Dale Carnegie suggested as much more than 50 years ago: Hard work alone doesn’t ensure career advancement. You have to be able to sell yourself and your ideas, both publicly and behind the scenes. Yet, despite the obvious rewards of engaging in office politics—a better job, a raise, praise—many people are still unable or unwilling—to “play the game”.

“People assume that office politics involves some manipulative(工于心计的) behavior,” says Deborah Comer, an assistant professor of management at Hofstra University. “But politics derives from the word ‘polite’. It can mean lobbying(游说) and forming associations. It can mean being kind and helpful, or even trying, to please your superior, and then expecting something in return.”

In fact, today, experts define office politics as proper behavior used to pursue one’s own self-interest in the workplace. In many cases, this involves some form of socializing within the office environment—not just in large companies, but in small workplaces as well.

“The first thing people are usually judged on is their ability to perform well on a consistent basis,” says Neil P. Lewis, a management psychologist. “But if two or three candidates are up for a promotion, each of whom has reasonably similar ability, a manager is going to promote the person he or she likes best. It’s simple human nature.”

Yet, psychologists say, many employees and employers have trouble with the concept of politics in the office. Some people, they say, have an idealistic vision of work and what it takes to succeed. Still others associate politics with flattery(奉承), fearful that, if they speak up for themselves, they may appear to be flattering their boss for favors.

Experts suggest altering this negative picture by recognizing the need for some self-promotion.

“Office politics” is used in the passage to refer to________.

A. the political views and beliefs of office workers

B. the interpersonal relationships within a company

C. the various qualities required for a successful career

D.  the code of behavior for company staff

To get promoted, one must not only be competent but________.

A. avoid being too outstanding

B. get along well with his colleagues

C. honest and loyal to his company

D. give his boss a good impression

The author considers office politics to be________.

A. unwelcome at the workplace

B. bad for interpersonal relationships

C. an important factor for personal advancement

D. indispensable to the development of company culture

It is the author’s view that________.

A. self-promotion does not necessarily mean flattery

B. hard work contributes very little to one’s promotion

C. many employees fail to recognize the need of flattery

D. speaking up for oneself is part of human nature

Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance (pocket money). The purpose is to let children learn from experiences at an age when financial mistakes are not very costly．

The amount of money that parents give to their children to spend as they wish differs from family to family. Timing is another consideration．Some children get a weekly allowance．Others get a monthly allowance．

    In any case, parents should make clear what，if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the money．At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they receive it. If they do this，they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget．Parents are usually advised not to offer more money until the next allowance．

    The object is to show young people that a budget demands a choice between spending and saving．Older children may be responsible enough to save money for larger costs，like clothing or electronics．Many people who have written on the subject of allowances say it is not a good idea to pay your child for work around the home．These jobs are a normal part of family life．

    Paying children to do extra work around the house，however，can be useful．It can even provide an understanding of how a business works．

    Allowances give children a chance to experience the three things they can do with money．They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to a good cause. They can spend it by buying things they want．Or they can save it.

    Saving helps children understand that costly goals require sacrifice．You have to cut costs and plan for the future．Requiring children to save part of their allowances can also open the door to future saving and investing．Many banks offer services to help children and teenagers learn about personal finance.

A saving account is an excellent way to learn about the power of compound interest．

    Compounding works by paying interest on interest．So，for example，one dollar invested at two per-cent interest for two years will earn two cents in the first year．The second years，the money will earn two percent of one dollar and two cents，and so on．That may not seem like a lot．But over time it adds up．

Giving an allowance, parents should consider all the following EXCEPT_______.

    A. how much the child should get each time  B. whether the child has made a budget

    C. where the money really goes          D. how often a child can get it

The author of the passage holds the opinion that________.

    A. what children learn by handling allowances may be beneficial in the future

    B. children can learn to set up their own business with their allowances

    C. keeping allowances in the bank is the best choice for children

    D. it is not a good idea to pay children for housework at home

The underlined words “compound interest” in the passage probably mean ________.

    A. increasing curiosity to learn how to make more money

    B. stronger power to hold one’s attention to saving money

    C. money paid by the bank on your original money and the gain from it

    D. the sum of money that you earn from keeping your money in the bank

What is the best title for the passage?

A. Be Generous to Pay Your Children．     B. Be Wise to Avoid Financical Mistakes．

C.Saving Allowances Does Good to Children.D.Allowances Help Children Learn about Money．

A

If you and your friends wish to share a secret, you can write it in code, and no one else will be able to read it. Codes are one way of writing in secret. Ciphers (密码) are another. In a code each word is written as a secret code word or code number. In a cipher each letter is changed.

Codes and ciphers have played an important role in the history of the world. Julius Caesar, the Roman ruler who defeated almost all the countries in Europe about 2, 000 years ago, used a cipher when he sent secret messages to his troops. During the American Revolution, George Washington's spies used a kind of code to send him information about the enemy before his military action. In World War Ⅱ, the Americans "broke", or figured out, Japan's most important naval codes and got enough information to destroy a powerful Japanese fleet(舰队).

Storekeepers use codes to mark their goods. The codes show how much was paid for the goods or when they were added to the stock. Businessmen use codes to hide plans from their business enemies. Sometimes personal letters or diaries are written in code. Many people enjoy figuring out codes and ciphers simply as a hobby.

In the 16th century, codes and ciphers were very popular among scientists. They wrote messages to each other in code so that no one else would learn their secrets. Geronimo Gardano, an Italian astrologer(占星家), mathematician, and doctor, invented the trellis cipher. He took two sheets of paper and cut exactly the same holes in each one. Then he sent one sheet, which he called a trellis, to a friend and kept the other for himself. Whenever he wanted to write a message, he put his trellis over a clean sheet of paper and wrote the secret message through the holes. Then he removed the trellis and filled the rest of the paper with words that would make sense. When his friend received it, he put his trellis over the writing and read the secret message.

What does the underlined word "trellis"mean?

A. A piece of paper with many small holes.          B. A machine with a lot of small holes.

C. A letter with unreadable words and sentences.   

D. A sheet of paper with groups of Arabic figures.

Which of the following statements is true?

A. Ciphers can be broken or figured out more easily than codes.

B. You could read some words in Geronimo' s letter without his trellis.

C. The first person who ever used a cipher in history was Julius Caesar.

D. Fondness of using codes was the hobby of the scientists in the 16th century.

The best title of this passage is________.

A. Codes and Ciphers                  B. Differences between Codes and Ciphers

C. History of Codes and Ciphers         D. Inventors of Codes and Ciphers

Many college students have after-school jobs. Students both go to school and have a job at the same time. Every student has his or her own reason for having an after-school job. The most common reason is to help pay for college. In the US, going to a college or university may be very expensive. Not only must students pay for classes, they must also pay for a place to live, food, and other expenses. Buying books for classes can also be very expensive. Students spend as much as five hundred US dollars on books. Many parents do not have enough money to pay all of these expenses, so the students must get an after-school job to help pay for his or her education.?

Other students have after-school jobs not to pay for college, but to make and save a little money. Even after all of the school fees are paid, students often have many other expenses. Also, students like to go out and have fun. They may want to do anything from shopping to going to music concerts, to going out to bars and drinking with friends. Though it can be a lot of fun to do all of these things, you can not participate if you do not have money. Because of this, many students try to find jobs so that they can have fun as well as study.?

Some students get after-school jobs simply to gain more experience. If a student has never worked before, he or she can have the opportunity to have his or her first job. If a student is interested in banking, he or she may spend a few hours every week working at a ?local? bank. If a student is interested in working in a library after he or she graduates from college, the student can often find a job at the college library. There are many job opportunities for students who are interested in gaining experience in the area his or her choice.?

Though some people feel that after-school jobs take away from a student's time to do his or her homework, working is a great learning experience that happens outside of the ?classroom, and can provide many new opportunities for the students.

After reading the passage, we know that, besides paying for college education, American students have after-class jobs to _______.

A. make or save a little money and gain some experience?

B. simply earn some money?

C. support his or her family?

D. have fun only?

In the third paragraph the purpose of giving examples is _______.

A. to say that they have no choice but to do some jobs in college?

B. to show that the students are interested in working in banks and libraries?

C. to show that working in a bank or a library is the best way to earn money?

D. to explain how the students gain experience from after-school jobs ?

The best title for this passage is _______.

A. To Get an After-school Job for Fun

B. Getting an After-school Job for Your Education?

C. After-school Jobs

D. Experience Is Very Important for Your Job??