Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line to pay for gas, I said hello to an old couple* in front of me.
      It was dark when I left the gas station hurriedly, but  I had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and didn’t know what I should do. A car slowed down and stopped behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend's. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.

I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. A few days later, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
    Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby city in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery* was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership - a shop selling cars - was right near my car. I went over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
      “Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. He said that no one had ever taken the time to write him and say “thank you”, and it meant a lot.
      "Thank you" - two powerful words. They're easy to say and mean so much.
1The writer planned to stop at Oklahoma City_________.
   A. to visit a friend                                       B. to see his parents

C. to say hello to the old couple                 D. to have more gas for his car

2What happened when the writer found smoke coming out of his car？

A. He called his friend for help.

B. The couple offered to help him.

C. The couple helped to pull back the car.

D. He went back to the gas station for help.

3 The battery of the writer's car was dead because_______.
A. he forgot to turn off the lights           B. the meeting lasted a whole day
C. he drove the car for a long time          D. something went wrong with the lights

4 What’s the best title for the passage?

A. How to write a thank-you letter              B. How to deal with car problems
C. The kind-heartedness of old people           D. The importance of saying thanks

One day Mrs. Harris found that there was something wrong with her bathroom, so she phoned her plumber(管子工). Three days later, he arrivd． Mrs. Harris was unhappy about his coming late. These three days brought her a lot of trouble.

“Well, you're finally arrived!” she said to the plumber. “I called you three days ago. ”

The plumber didn't mind this at all. He suddenly took a piece of paper out of his pocket and looked at it.

“Three days ago?” he sad． “That was the 21st,wasn't it? Well, I'm sorry, but I've come to the wrong place. I was looking for Mrs, Smith's house, not yours. She phoned me on the 20th. ”

1．This plumber came to Mrs. Harris's house on the (　)

A．24^th

B．21st

C．20^th

D．17th

2．We know from the story that it is not easy to (　)

A．sell new goods

B．have something mended

C．mend TV sets well

D．phone plumbers

3．Mrs. Harris called the plumber three days ago.________ on the third day. (　)

A．There was something wrong with her bathroom

B．Mrs. Harris was happy

C．The bathroom didn't bring her much trouble

D．Mrs. Harris's bathroom wasn't mended

4．Which of the following is true? (　)

A．The plumber saw Mr. Smith and found he came to the wrong place.

B．The plumber liked to sell goods and didn't like to mend them.

C．The plumber came to mend Mrs. Harris's bathroom.

D．The plumber would mend Mrs. Harris's bathroom on the 25th.

5．What would happen to Mrs. Harris if she didn't tell the plumber she had called him three days before? (　)

A．The plumber couldn't come to Mrs. Smith's house.

B．The plumber would mend the bathroom.

C．The plumber would look for Mrs. Smith's house.

D．Her bathroom would be mended three days before.

We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn’t even lift her eyes from the book．Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down．While I watched mouth open in surprise，Mum took off her hat and coat mad gave them to me to hold．She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop（墩布）．She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up，Mum nodded and said，“very dirty floors．”

“Yes，I’m glad they’ve finally decided to clean them，”the nurse answered．She looked at Mum strangely and said，“But aren’t you working late?”

Mum just pushed harder，each swipe（拖一下）of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall．I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book．

After a long time Mum came back．Her eyes were shining She quickly put the mop back and took my hand．As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said，“Thank you．”

Outside，Mum told me：“Dagmar is fine．No fever．”

“You saw her, Mum?”

“Of course，I told her about the hospital rules，and she will not expect us until tomorrow．Dad will stop worrying as well．It’s a fine hospital but such floors! A mop is no good．You need a brush．”

（    ）1．When she took a mop from the small room what Mum really wanted to do was______．

A．to clean the floor                                     B．to please the nurse

C．to see a patient                                           D．to surprise the story-teller

（    ）2．When the nurse talked to Mum she thought Mum was a______．

A．nurse                   B．visitor                  C．patient                   D．cleaner

（    ）3．After reading the story what can we infer about the hospital?

A．It is a children’s hospital．

B．It has strict rules about visiting hours．

C．The conditions there aren’t very good．

D．The nurses and doctors there don’t work hard．

（    ）4．From the text we know that Dagmar is most likely______．

A．the story-teller’s sister                              B．the story-teller’s classmate

C．Mum’s friend                                            D．Dad’s boss

（    ）5．Which of the following words best describes Mum?

A．Strange．         B．Warm-hearted．        C．Clever．            D．Hard-working．