I was in line waiting to pay. In line there were two people before me. A little boy was buying some rather strange clothes. He chatted with anyone who was interested in the clothes and soon we learnt that he was going to a kindergarten(幼儿园) party. He had done a great job of putting together interesting costumes.
I noticed that the little boy was paying mostly with change(零钱). It seemed that he had robbed his pig bank(猪形储蓄罐) to do this shopping. However, the cashier told him he was short after counting all the money. The boy thought for a moment and said, “Please keep the shirt and I will come back with more money. “
It was clear that he had already used all the money he had and he was $ 8.00 short. The lady in front of me said, “Well, I could pay half of that. “I told the boy that I could pay the other half. We dug into our handbags. However, both of us only had ten-dollar bills(纸币) and we needed the cashier to get the change for us. Other shoppers began digging into their pockets to find some change. It was amazing and touching(令人感动的) as all these strangers seemed to react(反应) with the same mind. All wanted to be of help. Within minutes the cashier said, “I have too much money.” The cashier didn’t need our ten-dollar bills. Then the lady in front of me, who had been the first to offer help, said, “Wait! I didn’t even get a chance to give anything!”
I smiled at her and said, “You did your share, because it was your idea and you started all this. “ The little boy smiled and thanked us. We wished him the best and he left. I was left with a good feeling. I had seen the love and goodness of others all around me. The woman in front of me smiled and said, “It sure feels good to give, doesn’t it?” I smiled back and said, “Yes !”
【小题1】What is this passage mainly about?

A king had a wonderful talent for growing flowers. He became old and didn’t want to deal with big things anymore. So he began to look for someone to take his place. But who could he trust for the job? He thought for a while and got an idea. He would let the flowers decide. He gave everyone a little seed (种子). The one who could grow the most beautiful flower from the seed would be the next leader.

    A girl called Serena was very beautiful and wanted to grow the most beautiful flower. She planted it in a nice pot and took great care of it, but nothing would grow.

    The next year she saw everyone come to the palace with pots full of beautiful flowers. She was disappointed but also went to the meeting with her empty pot. The king looked through all the flowerpots and then stopped at hers.

    “Why is your pot empty?” he asked.

    “Your Majesty (陛下), I did everything to make it grow, but I have failed,” she answered.

    “No, you didn’t,” he said.

“You see, the seeds I’ve given out were all roasted (烤过的), so nothing could come out of them. I have no idea where all these flowers come from. But you have been honest and by being so, you will become my successor (继承人).”

1.The king wanted to choose a person to _____.

A. be the next leader             B. grow beautiful flowers for him

C. be his daughter or son          D. make friends with him

2. How did the little seed show who was the right person?

A. It had some special power.

B. The king knew nothing could grow from it.

C. A special flower could grow from it.

D. Only a good person could grow beautiful flowers from it.

3.The king knew that those with pots of beautiful flowers _____.

A. worked hard          B. cheated him

C. were kind to plants     D. were good at growing flowers

4.In this passage the underlined word “given out” means ______.

A. 收到        B. 拿来         C. 分发       D. 奖励

5.From the story, we learn that _____ is a good quality.

A. Kindness     B. carefulness     C. honesty     D. politeness

Last month the manager（经理） of a jewelry shop ( 珠宝店) received a letter. As he was very busy then, the letter lay on his desk till tea-time. He opened it and a 10-pound note(票 ) fell out onto the desk. Within the note was a letter which said:
Dear sir:
In 1935 I got engaged(订婚 ). But unfortunately I lost my job. At the time a lot of people were out of work. Six months later I got a job again, but of course I was very short of money. I came to your shop to buy a wedding ring(婚戒 ). The assistant took out some rings for me to look at, but she was called away for a moment, and I put one of the rings in my pocket. When she came back, I said I didn’t know the size of my girl’s finger. So I left the shop without buying a ring. My wife died a short while ago and the fact that I never paid for the ring has been heavy in my heart all these years. At that time, the ring cost 2 pounds so I think it is 10 pounds at today’s price and I’m sending 10 pounds.
Yours truly,
A customer (顾客 )
【小题1】What happened in 1935?