2．The second time the author met the boy, the boy _____.

A．told him his purpose of selling fruit and nuts　

B．wanted to express his thanks

C．asked him for money for his schoolbooks　　

D．tried to take advantage of him

1．What was the author’s first impression of the boy?

A．He seemed to be poor and greedy． 　　 B．He seemed to have suffered a lot.

C．He seemed younger than his age　　 　　 D．He seemed good at bargaining.

4．What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．Provide Homes For Our Family　　 B．Take Up Horse-riding

C．Value This Very Day　　　　　　　 D．Stay Alive

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (十一)

The young boy saw me, or rather, he saw the car and quickly ran up to me, eager to sell his hunches (串) of bananas and bags of peanuts．Though he appeared to be about twelve, he seemed to have already known the bitterness of life．“Banana 300 naira．Peanuts 200 naira.” He said in a low voice．I bargained him down to 200 total for the fruit and nuts．When he agreed, I handed him a 500 naira bill．He didn’t have change, so I told him not to worry．He said thanks and smiled a row of perfect teeth.

When, two weeks later, I saw the boy again, I was more aware of my position in a society where it’s not that uncommon to see a little boy who should be in school standing on the corner selling fruit in the burning sun．My parents had raised me to be aware of the advantage we had been afforded and the responsibility it brought to us.

I pulled over and rolled down my window．He had a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts ready．I waved them away．“What’s up?” I asked him．“I … I don’t have money to buy books for school.” I reached into my pocket and handed him two fresh 500 naira bills．“Will this help?” I asked．He looked around nervously before taking the money．One thousand naira was a lot of money to someone whose family probably made about 5,000 naira or less each year．“Thank you, sir,” he said．“Thank you very much!”

When driving home, I wondered if my little friend actually used the money for schoolbooks．What if he’s a swindler (骗子)? And then I wondered why I did it．Did I do it to make myself feel better? Was I using him? Later, I realized that I didn’t know his name or the least bit about him, nor did I think to ask.

Over the next six months, I was busy working in a news agency in northern Nigeria．Sometime after I returned, I went out for a drive．When I was about to pull over, the boy suddenly appeared by my window with a big smile ready on his face.

“Oh, gosh! Long time.”

“Are you in school now?” I asked.

He nodded.

“That’s good,” I said．A silence fell as we looked at each other, and then I realized what he wanted．“Here,” I held out a 500 naira bill．“Take this.” He shook his head and stepped back as if hurt．“What’s wrong?” I asked．“It’s a gift.”

He shook his head again and brought his hand from behind his back．His face shone with sweat．He dropped a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts in the front seat before he said, “I’ve been waiting to give these to you.”

3．The man (paragraph 6) left his first job partly because he was ______.

A．in an abnormal mental state　　　 B．under too much pressure

C．not well paid　　　　　　　　　　 D．not respected

2．The underlined phrase “turn his back on” (paragraph 6) most probably means _____.

A．leave for　　　　 B．return to　　　 C．give up　　　　 　　 D．rely on

1．The first paragraph of the passage tells us that ______.

A．we always try to find some time to write a book

B．we always make plans but seldom fulfil them

C．we always enjoy many of life’s best moments

D．we always do what we really want to do

4．The best possible title for this passage is “_______”.

A．Ways of Choosing Gifts　　　　　 B．An Important Tradition

C．Exchanging Presents　　　　　　　 D．Message in a Gift

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (十)

How many people have I met who have told me about the book they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time? Far too many.

This is life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal (排演) and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments.

We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do．Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for Real Life to come along were in fact real life.

In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English: “Have a nice day” they speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars．I think it is a wonderful phrase, reminding us, in effect, to enjoy the moment: to value this very day.

How often do we say to ourselves, “I’ll take up horse-riding (or golf, or sailing) as soon as I get a higher position,” only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position.

When I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper．At the time I was astonished by what　 appeared to me to be his completely abnormal mental state．How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area? I wanted to know.

Now I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it．In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure．He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains.

3．In the third paragraph, the author tells us that_____.

A．attention should be paid to the receivers’ responses

B．one learns from what he did in the past

C．the choice of gifts reflects one’s emotional qualities

D．one should spend more time choosing gifts

2．Which of the following is the main idea of the second paragraph?

A．Natural empathy needs to be reinforced.

B．Emotional changes influence one’s choice of gifts.

C．Selecting the right gift is an ability people are born with.

D．choosing gifts requires one to understand the receivers.

1．The underlined expression “you had missed the mark” means “you had failed to______”.

A．make her feel better　　　　　　　　 B．keep you friendship

C．receive a present in return　　　　 D．get the expected effect