When I was a foreign teacher in China, every day I taught English to my students and they taught me about China. One day the topic turned to saying “ I love you”. I was shocked to learn that not one of my students has said this to their mothers, nor had their mothers said it to them. “Does your mother love you?” “ Of course,” they answered.

“ How do you know?” was my logical question. They responded that their moms cooked and always told them what they were doing wrong to show their caring. I was stunned. So mom’s cooking and criticizing read out as “I love you”. “Then do you say‘I love you’to her?” They agreed that getting good grades, followed by good jobs would be how they showed their love.

I come from a culture where most people are expressive enough, so I repeated these questions in classes over time. Gradually, I began to get different responses. Some of them had exchanged those sentiments with their moms.

One of my favourite stories of change came from a girl. When she came home from university, her mother met her at the door and hugged her. This had never happened before, but her mom said, “ Now that you have gone, I have more time to myself. I noticed that in some places mothers and children hug each other and decided it was a good idea and that I would begin hugging you.”

In my family we all say “I love you” a lot. While it is true that we often say the words without having great depth of feelings at that moment, it is almost like a blessing we give each other. Those three words carry a world of meaning, even when said as a greeting, but most especially if they are the last words we say to or hear from those we love.

1. Chinese people prefer to show love by __________.

A. saying “I love you”      B. cooking

C. getting good grades      D. doing something helpful

2. The underlined word “stunned” mean________ in Chinese.

A. 好笑       B.难受   C. 震惊       D. 有趣

3. In paragraph 4, what’s the real meaning of the mom’s hugging?

A. She is meeting her daughter at the door.

B. She loves her daughter and misses her.

C. She is glad that she has more time to herself.

D. She finds it interesting to hug her daughter.

4. Which of the following statements is RIGHT?

A. Chinese people never show love to their mothers.

B. Chinese students express love to their mothers by studying hard and trying to get good jobs.

C. In foreign countries people have great depth of feelings to say “I love you”.

D. People from different countries will never understand each other.

5. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. Say “I love you” more to your family.

B. Say “I love you” a lot to Chinese people.

C. Say “I love you” as a greeting to others.

D. Say “I love you” without great depth of feelings.

When I was a foreign teacher in China, every day I taught English to my students and they taught me about China. One day the topic turned to saying “ I love you”. I was shocked to learn that not one of my students has said this to their mothers, nor had their mothers said it to them. “Does your mother love you?” “ Of course,” they answered.
“ How do you know?” was my logical question. They responded that their moms cooked and always told them what they were doing wrong to show their caring. I was stunned. So mom’s cooking and criticizing read out as “I love you”. “Then do you say‘I love you’to her?” They agreed that getting good grades, followed by good jobs would be how they showed their love.
I come from a culture where most people are expressive enough, so I repeated these questions in classes over time. Gradually, I began to get different responses. Some of them had exchanged those sentiments with their moms.
One of my favourite stories of change came from a girl. When she came home from university, her mother met her at the door and hugged her. This had never happened before, but her mom said, “ Now that you have gone, I have more time to myself. I noticed that in some places mothers and children hug each other and decided it was a good idea and that I would begin hugging you.”
In my family we all say “I love you” a lot. While it is true that we often say the words without having great depth of feelings at that moment, it is almost like a blessing we give each other. Those three words carry a world of meaning, even when said as a greeting, but most especially if they are the last words we say to or hear from those we love.
【小题1】 Chinese people prefer to show love by __________.

One Sunday afternoon, I went shopping at Wal-Mart . But I never thought I would have a life ­changing experience at WalMart.
Although my thoughts were only on speed, the checkout line I was standing in wasn’t moving as quickly as I wanted, and I looked towards the cashier.
There stood a man in his seventies, wearing glasses and a nice smile. I thought, well, he’s an old guy!
For the next few minutes I watched him. He greeted every customer before scanning the items. Sure, his words were the usual, “How’s it going？” But he did something different—he listened to people carefully and then he would reply to what they had said
I thought it was strange. I has grown used to people asking me how I was doing simply out of conversational habit. I could say, “I just found out I have six months to live，” and someone would reply, “Have a great day！”
But that wasn't the end.
He gave them the change, walked around the counter (柜台), and hugged them with his right hand in an act of friendship. He looked at the customers in the eyes. “I want to thank you for shopping here today,” he told them. “You have a great day. Bye-bye.”
The smiling looks on the faces of the customers were priceless. All had been touched by his simple gesture—and in a place they never expected. They would gather their things and walk out, smiling.
Of course, he did the same to me and I got to know his name—Marty.
Who was that guy? It was as if Sam Walton (沃尔玛的创始人)had come back from the dead and invaded this old guy’s body.
I had never walked away from that shop feeling like that.

【小题1】The underlined word “customer” mean________ in Chinese.

A lot of people like reading, why? Words play magic. They can create pictures in our mind; they’re can help us express our feelings that we have been trying to hide, and like a key, words can open up locked hearts and free our souls that have been kept deep inside.

When different people are reading the same passage, for example, about a scene(情景) which shows a palace at midnight, the words they read are the same, yet if they are asked to point out what the scene is like in their mind, each person will have the pictures drawn differently. How they draw their palace according to their nature appears to be view on how they can see things.

Although human minds are different, I do believe that somehow(以某种方法) we have all come across mutual feelings. Stories that touch（触动） us, stressed that terrify us, stories that set us free---- we all have tasted the pain, the fear, the freedom because we all have feelings. I believe all of us have personalities within personalities, and by that I mean people who seem to be strong are not always that strong, they are easily hurt on the inside.

Good writers, who can smartly use the right words in their writings, will easily break through the shell(壳) of one’s personality within. Great writers, who can use only words to move the personality within, will understand one’s weakness. Excellent writers, who can use the perfect words to aim at the personality within, will open up one’s heart---- even rewrite his or her life.

I want to be an excellent writer because when I read, I feel like home. Home is where my books are. When I feel scared, I read, and it becomes my candles. When I feel sad, I read, it becomes my cover. When I feel lonely, I read, and it becomes my company.

Home is where we leave the sadness, fear and stress behind, where we only allow happiness to stay. I want to be a writer who brings such feeling to everyone to bring them home with my words.

Reading is all that I need. Whenever I read, I just feel the magic that words create, leaving everything behind.

(　 )56. What does the underlined word “mutual” in paragraph 3 mean?

A. shared　 　　　　 B. strange　 　　　 C. special　　 　　 D. different

(　 )57. The writer uses “home” in paragraph 5 and 6 to show ______________.

A. a place where we live happily　

B. a place where we read freely

C. a sense of belonging　 　　　　

D. a sense of relaxing

(　 )58. Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Many words can help hide your feelings deep inside.

B. Some writers can free your personalities from locked hearts.

C. Most people will draw the same picture for the same passage.

D. No places will keep the sadness, fear and stress away from people.

(　 )59. The best title for the passage is ____________.

A. Creative Minds 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Excellent writers　　　　　　

C. Touching stories　 　　　　　　　　　　　 D. Wonderful Words