"Ordinary" was the worst word my mother could find for anything. I remember her taking me shopping and
taking no notice of the shop assistants when they suggested that some dress or pair of shoes was very popular-
"We've sold fifty already this week". That was all she needed to hear. "No", she would say, "We're not interested
in that. Haven't you got something a little more unusual?" And then the assistant would bring out all the strange
colors no one else would buy. And later she and I would argue because I wanted to be ordinary but my mother
wanted to be unusual. "I can' t stand that haircut," she said, when I went to the hairdresser with my friend and
came back with a boy haircut, "It's so terribly ordinary." Not ugly, not unsuitable. But ordinary. "Couldn't you
please wear something else?" I asked one day when she was dressing for Parents' Day in tight-fitting bullfighter's
pants and a bright pink sweater. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing? What wasn't wrong with it!" "It's just
that I wish you'd wear something ordinary," I said "something that people won't laugh at. "She looked at me
angrily and then said, "Are you ashamed of your own mother? If you are, Isadora, I feel sorry for you. I really
do."

1. What did the shop assistants expect Isadora's mother to buy?

A. Something very popular.
B. Styles they had sold out.
C. Clothes that were cheap.

2. When Isadora had her hair cut in a boy hairstyle, her mother _____.

A. felt happy with it
B. surely disliked it
C. told her to change it

3. Why did Isadora ask her mother to change her clothes on Parents' Day?

A. Because her mother's clothes were out of style.
B. Because she didn't like a pink sweater at all.
C. Because she didn't like her mother to dress that way

4. According to the passage, we know that Isadora's mother must be very _____.

A. popular
B. interesting
C. confident

5. The underlined word "It" in this passage most likely means _____.

A. the hairdo
B. the dresser
C. the boy

     Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station."The
railway owes me ￡12," she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office."You sold me a ticket
for May 22nd, but there was no ship to Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost
me￡12."  
     Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. "come into the office, Madam," he
said politely. "I'll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd."
     The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There
was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn't have sold her a
ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child."You look sun burnt," he said to her."Did you
have a nice holiday in Jersey?"
     "Yes," she answered, shyly."The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!"
     "That's fine," said Harry. "My little girl can swim a bit yet. Of course, she's only three…"
     "I'm four," the child said proudly. "I'll be four and a half."
     Harry turned to the mother."I remember your ticket, Madam,"he said."But you didn't get one for your
daughter, did you?"
     "Er, well…" the woman looked at the child. "I mean… she hasn't started school yet. She's only four."
     "A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A child's return ticket to Jersey costs… let me see…
￡13.50. So if the railway pays for you hotel, you will owe ￡1.50. The law is the law, but since it's me who
made the mistake…"
     The woman stood up, took the child's hand and left the office.

1. Harry was worried because ________.

A. the woman was angry with him
B. he had not done his work right
C. the Jersey timetable was wrong
D. the little girl didn't have a return ticket

2. Harry started talking to the little girl ________.

A. because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do
B. because he had a little girl about the same age
C. because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice
D. when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl.

3. When Harry said "The law is the law, but since it's me who made the mistake…," he meant that ________.

A. they must follow the law without other choice, even though the mistake was his
B. he had to be strict with the woman because of the law, although he didn't want to
C. the woman had to pay him￡1.50 and the railway would pay her for the hotel
D. she should pay￡1.50, but he had made a mistake, she should go without paying

4. The woman left the office without saying anything because ________.

A. she wanted to go home and get money for the child's ticket
B. she was so angry that she didn't want to say anything more with the young man
C. she was moved by Harry's kindness
D. she knew she would have to pay for her child's ticket if she held on to her idea

5. What do you think the woman felt when she left the office?

A. Angry
B. Peaceful
C. Embarrassed
D. Nervous