One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite  41  at the answer. Thinking he had not made  42   understood or the girl had not    43  him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”   44  the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know    45   to say.

What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   46   a compliment (恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She   47   understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the  48  , people will feel proud and  49   when they are praised . So if someone says the     50    you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”
   In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing , but in my opinion, being confident does not  51   being proud, so sometimes you should be confident  52   being modest.

     53  you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by    54  . When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try”, he or she will     55    get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.

（   ）41.A．excited          B．surprised                 C．relaxed                   D．frightened

（   ）42.A．itself             B．herself                    C．himself                   D．themselves

（   ）43.A．heard            B．watched                  C．listened to              D．looked at

（   ）44.A．Though         B．Although                 C．Or                          D．But

（   ）45.A．when            B．which                     C．what                      D．how

（   ）46.A．receive          B．accept                    C．refuse                     D．disagree

（   ）47.A．hardly           B．really                      C．rarely                     D．badly

（   ）48.A．east              B．south                      C．west                       D．north

（   ）49.A．difficult         B．modest                   C．shameful                 D．confident

（   ）50.A．dishes           B．cups                       C．glasses                   D．bowls

（   ）51.A．think             B．say                         C．ask                         D．mean

（   ）52.A．as soon as    B．as well as               C．instead of                D．in spite of

（   ）53.A．Unless          B．Until                       C．Whether                 D．If

（   ）54.A．another         B．the other                 C．the others               D．others

（   ）55.A．fail to           B．expect to                 C．succeed in              D．believe in

Australia is the largest island in the world. It is a little smaller than China. 1t is in the south of the earth. Australia is big, but its population is small. The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai.
Enough laws (法律)have been made to fight against pollution. The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution. The sky is blue and the water is clean. You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers. Plants grow very well.
Last month we visited Perth， the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flower exhibition (展览). There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. We had a wonderful time. Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers. In spring every year Perth has the wild flower exhibition. After visiting Perth we spent a day in the countryside. We sat down and had a rest near a path(小路) at the foot of a hill. It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves. Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could. There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path.
Australia is well-known for its sheep and kangaroos. After a short drive from any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep, everywhere are sheep.
【小题1】Australia is ________.