Several years ago, a television reporter was interviewing three of the most important people from local businesses. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.

　　The reporter was talking to them about being important.

　　“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.

　　The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President is really important.”

　　The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.

　　The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President said he was too busy to answer it.”

　　The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”

　　“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”

　　“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.

　　“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”

1.This story happened in ________.

A. U.N.                         B. U.S.A.                              C. U.K.         D. P.R.C.

2.There are________in this passage.

A. three men        B. three women and one man　

C. four men       D. three men and one woman

3.The banker and the owner of one of the largest companies in the world ________.

A. had similar opinions about the reporter’s question　　        

B. disagreed with each other  

C. had been invited to the White House many times      

D. didn’t reply to the reporter

4.The owner of one of the largest companies thought ________.

A. he himself was really important because he owned one of the largest companies in the world

B. the President was really important because the president of another country called him

C. the visitor was really important if the President would rather treat him than answer an important phone call from another country

D. none of them was really important

5.The underlined word you in the last paragraph refers to (指的是) ________.

A. the television reporter　　                    B. the owner of many buildings

C. the President                   D. the visitor to the White House

 

　　One morning in April, Jim Reed checked his e-mail. He found a strange message on the e-mail. It was from a woman in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl-vania. He had talked to her on e-mail many times in the last ten days. All the other messages were fun and interesting to read. This message was different.

　　The message said, “Goodbye loved kowjing yu I am leaving.”

　　Mr. Reed was frightened by the message. He tried to understand the words that were not spelled right. He quickly wrote a message to his new friend.

　　“What do you mean by the message you just sent me?”

　　He waited, but didn't get an answer. He wrote back, “Please talk to me.”

　　Finally, she wrote, “I am falling asleep. Want to say goodbye to my friends.” Mr. Reed thought hard about this message. “Is she going to kill herself?” he thought.

　　“What is your phone number?” he typed. The woman sent a phone number. Mr. Reed called. At first the phone was busy. Then it just rang and rang. He called the police in Pittsburgh, and told them his story. Then he faxed them what his friend wrote.

　　The police and paramedics quickly went to the woman's house. When she didn't answer the doorbell, they broke in. They found her on the floor near the computer. She told them, “I took 60 pills.” The paramedics rushed her to the hospital.

　　“Mr. Reed did a great job of saving this woman,” the police captain said. “If he hadn't succeeded at the e-message, she would be dead now.” The woman is fine now, and she thanks Mr. Reed for saving her life.

(1) Where did Mr. Reed and the woman often talk?

[　　]

(2) The e-message he found was strange because ________.

[　　]

A．it was not interesting like usual ones

B．the woman wrote nothing

C．it was fun to read

D．the woman wrote it ten days ago

(3) What did Mr. Reed do when he read the e-message?

He ________.

[　　]

A．felt frightened and turned off the computer

B．went to save the woman himself

C．called the police for help

D．wrote back to ask her about the meaning of the message

(4) What did the woman want to do?

[　　]

A．To sleep for a whole day.

B．To make fun of Mr. Reed.

C．To kill herself by taking pills.

D．To say goodbye to Mr. Reed.

(5) What's the best title (标题) of this passage?

[　　]

A．Woman Kills Herself

B．Man Saves E-Mail Friend

C．A Strange Message

D．Two Good Friends

阅读理解：阅读短文，选择正确答案完成句子或回答所给问题。

　　As I was leaving to meet Lynne, my roommate told me that I'd better take some money, but I didn't listen to him. I thought that Lynne would pay because she had invited me.

　　I arrived at the restaurant exactly on time. I'd been told that Americans expect you to be on time. Lynne and I sat at a table in the comer of the restaurant and a waitress came and took our order.

　　The dinner was a great success. I talked a lot about Saudi Arabia and Lynne told me all about herself. After two hours the waitress finally came and asked if we wanted one check (帐单) or two. Lynne said two. We went to the cashier(出纳) and Lynne paid her check. I was embarrassed(尴尬)when the cashier gave me my bill. I had no money to pay for my meal. Then I had an idea. I pretended(假装) to look for something in my pockets and said,“Oh! I forgot my money! Can I call my roommate, please?”The cashier showed me where the phone was and I quickly called my roommate.

　　In a few minutes he arrived with some money, but he couldn't hide how he felt. He laughed all the way home.

　　Now, I think it's funny too, but at the time I was terribly embarrassed. I thought that an invitation to have dinner meant the same thing in the United States as in my country. I guess you have to understand that your customs are only your customs. When you visit a foreign country, you have to learn about their customs(风俗), too.

1．The writer's roommate told the writer to take some money with him ________.

[　　]

A．to pay for the meal

B．to share(分担)the cost of the meal

C．to invite Lynne to dinner

D．to pay the checks

2．The roommate laughed all the way home because ________.

[　　]

A．the writer was embarrassed when he couldn't pay his check

B．the writer telephoned him to bring some money to him

C．the writer hadn't told Lynne the truth

D．the writer would not listen to him when he left the house

3．Customs can be ________ in different countries according to this passage.

[　　]

A．almost the same

B．quite different

C．close to each other

D．very similar

4．Why didn't Lynne pay the check for the writer?

[　　]

A．Because she didn't have enough money with her.

B．Because she didn't want to do so.

C．Because she thought it was natural for people to pay their own check.

D．Because she wanted to embarrass the writer.