A strange woman comes to my door one day in early March.It’s a rich area so we often have people selling things door to door，dusters，make?up，frozen foods—but she doesn’t look like a professional saleswoman.She hasn’t got the patter(喋喋不休) either.She just smiles shyly and puts a card in my hand：“Amy Turner.Pet Portraits Undertaken.”

I run my fingernail along the cheap gold edge of the card and look at her，waiting for an explanation.

“I’ll paint any animal in the comfort of your own home.”Amy Turner says.“Wouldn’t you like a nice picture of your loved one？I’ve had experience of dogs，cats，parrots，prize bulls...”

“Prize bulls！”I can’t help looking up and down our street.The thought of any of my neighbours keeping bulls in their back gardens makes me smile.

“I don’t have any animals，”I say as we look past each other.She must be wishing some little cat or dog would come running down the hall to give the game away and it is the first chance I’ve had to smell the air outside.It is one of those spring mornings when you wake up and find winter’s gone.Even the camellia in the garden opposite has flowered overnight，pink blossoms which look shocking against the quiet greens and greys.

“Why are you still in your dressing gown？”Amy says，turning her attention back to me.“It’s nearly lunchtime.Are you ill？”

“I’m fine，”I lie.I’m not going to tell a stranger I’ve just been sick in the toilet upstairs and would still be sticking my fingers down my throat if the doorbell hadn’t rung.But now I’m not sure what to do next.Amy is still standing there.She_doesn’t_seem_to_think_that_not_having_a_pet_is

_a_good_enough_excuse.

“I’m starving.”she says and I smile politely，nodding the way you do before you say goodbye.

“No，”she puts her foot in the door.“I’m really starving.I’ve had nothing to eat for two days and no one has any pets for me to paint.I need some food or I’ll faint，right here on your doorstep.”

I stand to one side and let her in.

1．According to the text，what does a professional saleswoman usually do?

A．Sells things door to door with her cards.

B．Never puts a card into people’s hands.

C．Tries to talk people into buying her things.

D．Smiles，hands her cards and walks away.

2．What does the underlined word “one” in the third paragraph stand for?

A．Dog. 　　　　B．Child.　　　　　 C．Pet. 　　　　　D．Cat.

3．From the text we know that Amy is a ________.

A．young baby?sitter 　 B．poor beggar　 C．professional salesgirl D．poor painter

4．What does the writer mean by saying “She doesn’t seem to think that not having a pet is a good enough excuse.”？

A．It seems that she doesn’t want to leave.

B．She wants the writer to give another excuse.

C．She is sure there is a pet in the house.

D．She thinks that not having a pet is a bad thing.

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　　“Fire! Fire!”What terrible words to hear when one wakes up in a strange house in the middle of night! It was a large, old 1 house and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, 2 the door and stepped out into the passage. It was 3 of thick smoke.

　　I began to 4 , but as I was still only half-awake, instead of 5 the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I could 6 flames all around. The floor became 7 under my bare feet. I found 8 door and ran into a room to get to the window. But before I could reach it, one of my feet 9 in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fell over felt 10 a bundle of clothes, and I 11 to protect my face from the smoke and heat. Just then the floor 12 way under me and I crashed to the floor below with pieces of burning wood all around me.

　　I saw a flaming doorway in front, put 13 over my face and ran. My feet burned me terribly, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes 14 a thin cry, I nearly dropped it in my 15 . Then I saw a crowd gathered in the street.

　　A woman is a night-dress and 16 coat screamed as she saw me and came running 17 .

　　“My baby! My baby!” She cried. The crowd 18 wildly as she took the smoke-blackened bundle out of my arms. I had some difficulty in 19 her. She was the Mayor's wife, and had 20 her baby. I was a hero.

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　　It was the one-and-a-half weeks since Sonya and I began our“silence marathon”.

　　Sonya had a huge effect on clothes my friends and I wore. We'd always have to __1__ with her to see how we looked. Her cruel words often __2__ all my self-confidence（自信心）for the day-- and then she would then tell me that she should be my __3__ consultant（顾问）.

　　Well, on this particular day I made one single, __4__ comment about her clothes,“I like those shoes, but they don't __5__ your sweater.”I said. Her eyes started to burn __6__ they were on fire.

　　After that, every time I walked past her, I could smell her perfume-- it was the __7__ I had given her for her birthday. It drove me mad, but I managed to __8__ my angry feelings towards her and kept walking on by.

　　I developed some very useful __9__ to make her think about me. One time __10__ still sticks in my mind. It was during the break and I was trying to ignore（忽略）my deskmate's bad __11__ when he told me about the onion chips he had for lunch. The story wasn't at all humorous __12__ I giggled（哈哈地笑）just so she could see me laughing.

　　Then, one maths lesson, the room was so __13__ I could hear my heart beating in my chest. And my nose __14__ the perfume again. I really don't __15__ feeling anything. I looked down at my hand and wondered why it was __16__. I looked up and she was sitting there, beautiful as ever.

　　I__17__ my courage to say“I'm sorry.”But all that came out was a trembling voice and something like,“Hi.”And I guess she was __18__ too, because when she said“Hi”back, it sounded just like __19__ And this was the start of our new fashion and feeling-conscious __20__.

Last year in my high school child-development class，each student had to take the “Think-It-Over” baby home for a night to get a taste of parenthood．

It was a Friday night when my turn came to take the 10-pound plastic doll home．The doll really did look like a live baby from a distance．It even had a pleasant baby powder smell．I took the baby home and named him Tyler．

My friends and I went out for supper that night．As it was rather cold, I decided to wrap Tyler in a blanket and carry him in that way．When I walked into the restaurant, I noticed some very strange looks and quite a few raised eyebrows．My friends and I decided to make a game out of the whole situation．I stood in the Gorner pretending to rock Tyler to while my friends kept looking into the blanket and said, “Oh, how lovely．” I could not but laugh．And although it was funny to my friends and me, some of the people did think it was so funny that  I had a baby．I overheard one couple say，“Why would she g a baby here?” These people were giving me rude looks and forming judgments about because they thought I was a teenage mom．Others just smiled at me pathetically（同情地） and felt sorry for me because I was only a child with a children our meal，my friends and I received strange looks from the others in the restaurant．So glad to finally go home．

I learned a lot through my experience with the“Think-It-Over”baby．The doll strengthened my thinking I was not ready to be a parent, but it also made me e aware of the larger picture．It opened my eyes to the judgments people make about．People do not realize that some things are not the way they seem．I was only taking it around for a class project．The people in the restaurant were so quick to judge because they thought I was a teenage mom．I sometimes catch myself judging people I not know, just because of the first impression they give．In reality, I have no idea about real stories．We should all be slower to judge others，and realize that some things are as they seem．

1．The child-development class is meant for students        ．

    A．to take a doll home for fun              B．to gain experience as a parent

C．to learn to be a good baby-sitter           D．to learn to better care for others

2．What did the writer mainly learn from her class project?

    A．She should look after homeless babies．

    B．She should take the class project seriously．

    C．She should help those teenage moms at her best．

    D．She should judge people after understanding them better．

3．The last paragraph of the passage is          ．

    A．a description of the class              B．a conclusion of the project

C．a comment on the writer's experience    D．an argument against teenage moms