Mr Robinson had to travel somewhere on business, and as he was in a hurry, he decided to go 1 .He liked sitting beside a window when he was 2 , so when he got on the plane, he looked for a window seat . He found all of them 3 except one . There was a young man 4 beside it , and Robinson was 5 that he had not taken the one by the window . Anyhow, he went 6 it .

　　When he reached it, however, he saw that there was a notice on it, written in large letters, 7 “This seat is kept for proper balance. Thank you.” Mr Robinson had never seen such a notice before, 8 he thought the plane 9 be carrying something particularly heavy in its room which made it 10 to have the passengers properly balanced. So he walked 11 and found 12 empty seat, not beside the window to sit on.

　　Two or three other people 13 to sit in the window seat 14 the young man, but they 15 read the notice and walked on . Then when the plane was nearly 16 a very beautiful girl 17 into the plane. The young man who was watching the passengers coming in, 18 took the notice 19 the seat beside him-and by this means succeeded in 20 a pretty companion (伴) during the whole trip .

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　　 I was telling my son Sonny the story of the hare and the tortoise. At the end I said, “Son, remember: being slow and steady (firm) wins the race. Don’t you think there is something to learn from the tortoise?” He opened his eyes wide, “Do you mean next time when I’m entering for the 60 meter race I should wish that Bill and Tony and Sandy all fall asleep half-way?” I was greatly surprised．“But the tortoise didn’t wish the hare would fall asleep.”

    “He much have wished that.” Sonny said．“Or how could he be so stupid as to race with the hare? He knew very well the hare ran a hundred times faster than himself did.”

    “He didn’t have such a wish,” I insisted．“He won the race by perseverance and by pushing on steadily”.

    Sonny thought for a while. “That’s a lie,” he said．“He won it because he was lucky. If the hare hadn’t happened to fall asleep, the tortoise would never have won the race. He could be as steady as you like, or a hundred times steadier, but he’d never have won the race. That’ s for sure.”

    I gave up. Today’s children are not like what we used to be. They are just “hopeless ”

1. Bill, Tony and Sandy must be the boys ________.

A．Sonny was afraid of

B．Sonny had run races with before

C．who were unknown to Sonny’s father

D．Sonny didn’t expect to race with

2. Sonny’s father wanted his son to learn________ from the tortoise.

A．how to run faster

B．how to push others

C．how to continue difficult things

D．how to run steadily

3. The writer argued with his son because

A．the tortoise won the race while the hare didn’t

B．his son disliked the tortoise

C．Sonny was sure he could win the next race if the other three boys wouldn’t join in

D．he tried to teach the moral (道德上的) lesson of the story while his son didn’t like it

4. When the writer says “ I gave up” at the end of the story he means

A．he gave up his belief in the moral lesson of the story of the hare and the tortoise

B．he gave up arguing with his son

C．he gave up Sonny as a hopeless child

D．he gave up believing the tortoise was the winner of the race

5. Which of the following is right according to the passage?

A．Today’s children are really stupid and hopeless

B．Sonny’s father was sorry that he couldn’t make himself understood

C．The writer thought the new generation was hard to understand lessons

D．Sonny believed that hare should win the race by his own effort

 

　　 I was telling my son Sonny the story of the hare and the tortoise. At the end I said, “Son, remember: being slow and steady (firm) wins the race. Don’t you think there is something to learn from the tortoise?” He opened his eyes wide, “Do you mean next time when I’m entering for the 60 meter race I should wish that Bill and Tony and Sandy all fall asleep half-way?” I was greatly surprised．“But the tortoise didn’t wish the hare would fall asleep.”

    “He much have wished that.” Sonny said．“Or how could he be so stupid as to race with the hare? He knew very well the hare ran a hundred times faster than himself did.”

    “He didn’t have such a wish,” I insisted．“He won the race by perseverance and by pushing on steadily”.

    Sonny thought for a while. “That’s a lie,” he said．“He won it because he was lucky. If the hare hadn’t happened to fall asleep, the tortoise would never have won the race. He could be as steady as you like, or a hundred times steadier, but he’d never have won the race. That’ s for sure.”

    I gave up. Today’s children are not like what we used to be. They are just “hopeless ”

1. Bill, Tony and Sandy must be the boys ________.

A．Sonny was afraid of

B．Sonny had run races with before

C．who were unknown to Sonny’s father

D．Sonny didn’t expect to race with

2. Sonny’s father wanted his son to learn________ from the tortoise.

A．how to run faster

B．how to push others

C．how to continue difficult things

D．how to run steadily

3. The writer argued with his son because

A．the tortoise won the race while the hare didn’t

B．his son disliked the tortoise

C．Sonny was sure he could win the next race if the other three boys wouldn’t join in

D．he tried to teach the moral (道德上的) lesson of the story while his son didn’t like it

4. When the writer says “ I gave up” at the end of the story he means

A．he gave up his belief in the moral lesson of the story of the hare and the tortoise

B．he gave up arguing with his son

C．he gave up Sonny as a hopeless child

D．he gave up believing the tortoise was the winner of the race

5. Which of the following is right according to the passage?

A．Today’s children are really stupid and hopeless

B．Sonny’s father was sorry that he couldn’t make himself understood

C．The writer thought the new generation was hard to understand lessons

D．Sonny believed that hare should win the race by his own effort

 

I recently ran into a friend I hadn’t seen for a long while．Our conversation was lively and full of news from both sides．Before we parted she said，“You'll have to drop in sometime.” I immediately sensed that if I simply  “dropped in’’  I would take my friend by surprise，and I would be discouraged by the image of her standing in her doorway，staring at me，and asking，“Oh，err …what brings you here?”

Whatever happened to the unannounced drop-in visit? When I was growing up in the 1960s, it seemed that people - mostly relatives, but also friends - were always popping in. My parents would put coffee on，and my mom would find something in the kitchen to serve along with it．Then the conversation would begin…The neighbor lady，a worrier，was unloading her sadness while my mom quietly listened．The Irish man next door had such an accent that I remember asking what language he spoke．My Polish relatives arrived in packs…But I never heard my parents say anything like “We weren’t expecting you’’ or “This isn’t a good time．”Drop-in visitors had a certain right of way and became No．1．

What happened to such visits? Actually I know the answer．Times have changed．Everybody gets busy with work．There is no longer a stay-at-home mom keeping a pot of hot coffee or tea ready throughout the day for a surprise guest．Exploding malls and stores are now replacing homes as a central form of entertainment．

Just the other day a former student of mine showed up．“I'm sorry for the surprise visit．”my student began．“I just wanted to see if you still lived here．I'll only stay a minute．”My response was immediate.“ No, you won’t,” I said.“Just come in, sit, have coffee, and we’ll talk.’’

I had nothing in the kitchen but we ordered pizza．And we had a lovely time．I have tried to keep the drop-in tradition alive though it takes some effort．

1.The author thought of his friend’s invitation --- “You’ll have to drop in sometime”--- as _______.

A．a nice way of refusal

B．an excuse of leaving

C．a kind of politeness

D．an expression of surprise

2.The underlined phrase “ pop in”  in the second paragraph means _________.

A．make many friends

B．make a special date

C．have a good time

D．pay a sudden visit

3.The woman from the neighborhood used to visit the author’s home to ________.

A．seek comfort from my parents

B．make new friends

C．1isten to my parents’ story

D．taste nice dishes

4.From the third paragraph of the passage，we can infer that __________．

A．the author misses the lost good days

B．unexpected visitors are still welcome now

C．modern people prefer outdoor activities

D．there are more jobs for the housewives now

5.The author writes the passage intending to __________.     

A．encourage people to be drop-in visitors

B．explain how to deal with unexpected visitors

C．share his feelings about the drop-in tradition

D．show the importance of making friends

 

　　The sudden disappearance of a stranger made the writer think much about the world around us and the life of his own ．

　　We may look at the world around us, but somehow we manage not to see it until whatever we've become used to suddenly disappears．　1　 , for example, the neatly-dressed woman I 　2　 to see or look at on my way to work each morning．

　　For three years, no matter 　3　 the weather was like, she was always waiting at the bus stop around 8:00 am．On 　4　 days, she wore heavy clothes and a pair of woolen gloves．Summertime 　5　 out neat, belted cotton dresses and a hat pulled low over her sunglasses．　6　 , she was an ordinary working

woman．Of course, I 　7　 all this only after she was seen no more．It was then that I realized how 　8　 I expected to see her each morning．You might say I 　9　 her．

　　Did she have an accident? Something 　10　 ? I thought to myself about her 　11　 Now that she was gone, I felt I had 　12　 her．I began to realize that part of our 　13　 life probably includes such chance meetings with familiar 　14　 : the milkman you see at dawn, the woman who 　15　 walks her dog along the street every morning, the twin brothers you see at the library．Such people are 　16　 markers in our byes．They add weight to our 　17　 of place and belonging．

　　Think about it．　18　 , while walking to work, we mark where we are by 　19　 a certain building, why should we not mark where we are when we pass a familiar, though 　20　 ,person?

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