When I was a teenager growing up in Russia, I wanted to leave school and have my own life. The only way I could do this was to work in the local brick factory in my town, or get married. I was nervous when I told my father I wanted to leave school. I thought he would say, “No! You are going to college.” He took me by surprise when he said, “OK. We’ll go to the brick factory.”

Two days later, he took me to the factory. I had a very romantic idea of working in a factory. I had imagined everyone to be friends working together and having fun. I even imagined there would be music and singing. I guess I had watched too many movies as a teenager.

When we arrived at the factory gate, my father spoke to the guard and one minute later we were inside. My father said, “Take your time. Look around.” I walked around the factory looking at the building, the workers, and listening to the noise. It was horrible. I ran back to my father and said, “I want to go home.”

He asked me, “What do you think of the factory?”

“It’s terrible,” I replied.

“And marriage is even worse!” he said.

I went back to school the next day thinking about studying hard so I could get into a good college. I enjoyed studying English so I decided to major in languages at college. Thanks to my father and our trip to the brick factory, I now work at the United Nations and my father is very proud of me. I married a very good man and my life is much better than it would have been working in the factory!

1.The writer lived in       when she was a teenager.

A. Russia       B. Japan        C. China

2.At first she thought life in the factory would be       than in school.

A. more careful     B. more colorful       C. more beautiful

3.When she told her father that she wanted to leave school, he expressed his disagreement       .

A. by doing nothing    B. in a special way     C. by saying nothing

4.After they visited the factory, the girl       .

A. decided to work there     B. decided to get married    C. changed her mind

5.The underlined work “horrible” means “     ” in Chinese.

A. 糟糕的       B. 紧张的       C. 浪漫的

When I was a teenager growing up in Russia, I wanted to leave school and have my own life. The only way I could do this was to work in the local brick factory in my town, or get married. I was nervous when I told my father I wanted to leave school. I thought he would say, “No! You are going to college.” He took me by surprise when he said, “OK. We’ll go to the brick factory.”
Two days later, he took me to the factory. I had a very romantic idea of working in a factory. I had imagined everyone to be friends working together and having fun. I even imagined there would be music and singing. I guess I had watched too many movies as a teenager.
When we arrived at the factory gate, my father spoke to the guard and one minute later we were inside. My father said, “Take your time. Look around.” I walked around the factory looking at the building, the workers, and listening to the noise. It was horrible. I ran back to my father and said, “I want to go home.”
He asked me, “What do you think of the factory?”
“It’s terrible,” I replied.
“And marriage is even worse!” he said.
I went back to school the next day thinking about studying hard so I could get into a good college. I enjoyed studying English so I decided to major in languages at college. Thanks to my father and our trip to the brick factory, I now work at the United Nations and my father is very proud of me. I married a very good man and my life is much better than it would have been working in the factory!
【小题1】The writer lived in       when she was a teenager.
A. Russia       B. Japan        C. China
【小题2】At first she thought life in the factory would be       than in school.
A. more careful     B. more colorful       C. more beautiful
【小题3】When she told her father that she wanted to leave school, he expressed his disagreement       .
A. by doing nothing    B. in a special way     C. by saying nothing
【小题4】After they visited the factory, the girl       .
A. decided to work there     B. decided to get married    C. changed her mind
【小题5】The underlined work “horrible” means “    ” in Chinese.
A. 糟糕的       B. 紧张的       C. 浪漫的

Answer the questions (根据短文内容回答下列问题)
1．Helen Monson has always been interested in helping her community. Her first volunteer experience was for the American Red Cross when she was in high school. When she was a school teacher, she also found time to volunteer. One year, she organized a Super Saturday Fun Day for kids in the community. She also used to volunteer at the Mint Festival every year. One summer, she served food, another year she organized an art programme.
2．After she retired, she started volunteering to help the old. When her father was older, he was not able to see as well as he used to, which made her sad because he had always enjoyed reading. She decided it would be fun to read to elderly people in her community. She also helped one woman write her stories. Ann was almost 100 years old, and Helen wrote down information about her life when she visited her. She put the information in a book and got it published. Ann was very excited to share her life story with her children and her grandchildren.
3．After a hurricane(飓风) destroyed some southern cities, Helen volunteered again for the American Red Cross. She prepared food and answered phones in a care centre. She says, “I have always liked the Red Cross because the organization helps people in need no matter what.”
4．One day, Helen read an article in the newspaper about refugees(难民) who needed to learn English. Now, she meets once a week with Sahra, a 38-year-old woman, from Somalia. Sahra is living and working in a town about 30 minutes’ walk from where Helen lives. They work on reading and writing skills. Helen gave Sahra a camera and asked her to take pictures of her daily life. She developed the pictures, and then asked Sahra questions about them. In the end, they wrote a book together and used the photos in the book. This helped Sahra learn many new words about her everyday life.
5．Helen says, “The most rewarding(有益的) part of volunteer work is becoming friends with the people I help. They enrich my life as well as I enrich theirs.”
【小题1】When was Helen’s first volunteer experience for the American Red Cross?
【小题2】What did Helen do after she retired?
【小题3】Why was Ann excited when her book got published?
【小题4】Where did Helen work when she volunteered again for the American Red Cross?
【小题5】How far is Sahra living and working from Helen’s home?
【小题6】Did Helen help Sahra to learn English?
【小题7】What can you learn from Helen?

I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. I wasn’t an excellent student because I didn’t do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn’t have much to offer.
I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls. It wasn’t too bad at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in. I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week, she’d give me time off the next. But unluckily, it didn’t often work out. I was getting very tired. Because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children.
One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Megan who used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification（资格证书）if I wanted to work with children. I didn’t think I would be accepted because I didn’t take many exams in school. She asked me to phone the local college and they were really helpful. My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part-time course. I had to leave my job with the family, and got work helping out at a kindergarten.
Now I’ve got a full-time job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that I could have a success, even if I am not top of the class at school.
【小题1】What do you think of the writer when she was a student?

As a child, I was really afraid of the dark and of getting lost. These fears were very real and caused me some uncomfortable moments.

Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my own room at night that scared me so much. There was never complete darkness, but always a streetlight or passing car lights, which made clothes on the back of a chair take on the shape of a wild animal. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the curtains seem to move when there was no wind. A very low sound in the floor would seem a hundred times louder than in the day. My imagination (想象) would run wild, and my heart would beat fast. I would lie very still so that the “enemy” would not discover me.

Another of my childhood fears was that I would get lost, especially on the way home from school. Every morning I got on the school bus right near my home. That was no problem. After school, though, when all the buses were lined up along the street, I was afraid that I would get in the wrong one and be taken to some other strange places. On school or family trips to a park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the leaders out of my sight.

Perhaps one of the worst fears of all I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by others. Being popular was so important to me then, and the fear of not being liked was a serious one.

One of the processes growing up is being able to realize and overcome our fears. Understanding the things that scared us as children helps us achieve greater success later in life.

1.The author had _______ kind(s) of fears when she was a child.

2._______ would scare the author at night.

3.When she went to some other places, she would _______.

4.Which of the following would be possibly true when she was a child?