Martin is an American boy. He is eight years old. His parents   41  _ five years ago and he is now living with his grandmother in New York.
　　One morning,  Jimmy ,  one of his classmates, came to his home with an exercises book in his hand. Jimmy lives in a house not far from Martin's. They often go to school together.
　　"Would you help me with this maths problem?" Jimmy said as soon as he came into the room. "It's too hard for me and I can't work it out."
　　"Let me try, " Martin said. "I   42  it isn't too hard for me. "
　　Martin tried his best but he couldn't work it out,   43   .
　　"If we had a small computer,  all the problems would be  44   for us to do. " Jimmy said.
　　"A small computer . . . , " Martin thought for a minute,  then he said, "I've got an idea. We can   45  one in a shop. "
　　"A computer is very   46   ,  and we don’t have enough money. "
　　"That's OK, " said Martin. "We can ask the new president (总统)   47  some money. He said he would help anyone in trouble. I' m sure he will help us. He is very rich, you know."
　　So they decided to write a letter to the new president. Soon the letter was finished and they hurried to the post office.
　　In front of the post office stood a small box. They   48   the letter into the box carefully and went home happily.
The next morning, they    49   the post office on their way to school. They found   50  ,  the box was not a post box but trash-box (果皮箱).

Martin is an American boy. He is eight years old. His parents   41  _ five years ago and he is now living with his grandmother in New York.
　　One morning,  Jimmy ,  one of his classmates, came to his home with an exercises book in his hand. Jimmy lives in a house not far from Martin's. They often go to school together.
　　"Would you help me with this maths problem?" Jimmy said as soon as he came into the room. "It's too hard for me and I can't work it out."
　　"Let me try, " Martin said. "I   42  it isn't too hard for me. "
　　Martin tried his best but he couldn't work it out,   43   .
　　"If we had a small computer,  all the problems would be  44   for us to do. " Jimmy said.
　　"A small computer . . . , " Martin thought for a minute,  then he said, "I've got an idea. We can   45  one in a shop. "
　　"A computer is very   46   ,  and we don’t have enough money. "
　　"That's OK, " said Martin. "We can ask the new president (总统)   47  some money. He said he would help anyone in trouble. I' m sure he will help us. He is very rich, you know."
　　So they decided to write a letter to the new president. Soon the letter was finished and they hurried to the post office.
　　In front of the post office stood a small box. They   48   the letter into the box carefully and went home happily.
The next morning, they    49   the post office on their way to school. They found   50  ,  the box was not a post box but trash-box (果皮箱).

Martin is an American boy. He is eight years old. His parents   41  _ five years ago and he is now living with his grandmother in New York.

　　One morning,  Jimmy ,  one of his classmates, came to his home with an exercises book in his hand. Jimmy lives in a house not far from Martin's. They often go to school together.

　　"Would you help me with this maths problem?" Jimmy said as soon as he came into the room. "It's too hard for me and I can't work it out."

　　"Let me try, " Martin said. "I   42  it isn't too hard for me. "

　　Martin tried his best but he couldn't work it out,   43   .

　　"If we had a small computer,  all the problems would be  44   for us to do. " Jimmy said.

　　"A small computer . . . , " Martin thought for a minute,  then he said, "I've got an idea. We can   45  one in a shop. "

　　"A computer is very   46   ,  and we don’t have enough money. "

　　"That's OK, " said Martin. "We can ask the new president (总统)   47  some money. He said he would help anyone in trouble. I' m sure he will help us. He is very rich, you know."

　　So they decided to write a letter to the new president. Soon the letter was finished and they hurried to the post office.

　　In front of the post office stood a small box. They   48   the letter into the box carefully and went home happily.

The next morning, they    49   the post office on their way to school. They found   50  ,  the box was not a post box but trash-box (果皮箱).

Martin is an American boy. He is eight years old. His parents   41  _ five years ago and he is now living with his grandmother in New York.

　　One morning,  Jimmy ,  one of his classmates, came to his home with an exercises book in his hand. Jimmy lives in a house not far from Martin's. They often go to school together.

　　"Would you help me with this maths problem?" Jimmy said as soon as he came into the room. "It's too hard for me and I can't work it out."

　　"Let me try, " Martin said. "I   42  it isn't too hard for me. "

　　Martin tried his best but he couldn't work it out,   43   .

　　"If we had a small computer,  all the problems would be  44   for us to do. " Jimmy said.

　　"A small computer . . . , " Martin thought for a minute,  then he said, "I've got an idea. We can   45  one in a shop. "

　　"A computer is very   46   ,  and we don’t have enough money. "

　　"That's OK, " said Martin. "We can ask the new president (总统)   47  some money. He said he would help anyone in trouble. I' m sure he will help us. He is very rich, you know."

　　So they decided to write a letter to the new president. Soon the letter was finished and they hurried to the post office.

　　In front of the post office stood a small box. They   48   the letter into the box carefully and went home happily.

The next morning, they    49   the post office on their way to school. They found   50  ,  the box was not a post box but trash-box (果皮箱).

When my family moved to America from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect(尊敬) elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.

I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive(敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.

In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.

However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire(退休) or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.

After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.

1.Jack brought the couple their food very fast because______.

A. the manager asked him to do so   B. he respected the elderly

C. the couple wanted him to do so    D. he wanted more pay

2.In Jack’s hometown, ______.

A. people dislike being called “old”　　　　　

B. people are proud of being old

C. many people reach the age of seventy or eighty

D. the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants

3. After this experience, Jack ______.

A. lost his job in the restaurant      　

B. made friends with the couple

C. no longer respected the elderly　　　

D. changed his way with older people

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

A . The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got.

B. Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience.

C. The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple.

D. From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture.

5.Which is the best title for this passage?

A.  Different countries, different customs     B.  Old people, old customs

C.  Different restaurants, different services    D.  Differences between old and young