When my family moved to America from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect(尊敬) elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.

I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive(敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.

In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.

However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire(退休) or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.

After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.

1.Jack brought the couple their food very fast because______.

A. the manager asked him to do so   B. he respected the elderly

C. the couple wanted him to do so    D. he wanted more pay

2.In Jack’s hometown, ______.

A. people dislike being called “old”　　　　　

B. people are proud of being old

C. many people reach the age of seventy or eighty

D. the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants

3. After this experience, Jack ______.

A. lost his job in the restaurant      　

B. made friends with the couple

C. no longer respected the elderly　　　

D. changed his way with older people

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

A . The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got.

B. Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience.

C. The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple.

D. From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture.

5.Which is the best title for this passage?

A.  Different countries, different customs     B.  Old people, old customs

C.  Different restaurants, different services    D.  Differences between old and young

1.If you find a white-black cat today, you should call ________.

A．Miss Gao          B．Lucy             C．Wang Jiang        D．Mr. wan

2.You can get in touch with Miss Gao or go to 118 Zhujiang Road to__________.

A．sell your bike                          B．rent a bike

C．have your bike repaired                  D．buy a bike made in England

3.You have a free single-room apartment, then you can _________.

A．call Lucy at noon                        B．call Wang Jiang

C．call 86811123 at 8 pm.                   D．call 13711166688

4.According to the information above, we know that _________.

A．Lin Feng is a student

B．Wang Jiang’s cat is dead

C．Mr. Wan wants to sell his house

D．Lucy must find an apartment near No. 10 Middle School

5.Where can we possibly read the information?

A．At the library.                          B．In a local newspaper.

C．In a novel.                             D．In a hotel.

【小题1】If you find a white-black cat today, you should call ________.

　　In the fall of 1992, when Vicki was ten, she and her father, Jim, happened to notice an advertisement for a new flight school. Her father suggested to her that since she wanted to be an astronaut, she might want to take a flying lesson, just see if she liked it. She was excited.
　　Vicki continued with her flying lessons. She was so brave and devoted that she impressed her teacher and soon passed ground school with straight—A’s. She would have passed her pilot exam, too, if she had been old enough. Instead, she’ll have to wait until she is 16 to get her pilot’s license.
　　Vicki made her first record-breaking flight in September 1993, at the age of 11. She flew a small plane across the United States, from Augusta to California. Although by law she had to have a licensed pilot at her side, he never touched the controls or helped her in any way. She was the youngest woman pilot to fly across the U.S. and the youngest pilot ever to fly across the U.S. from East to West. That direction is considered the most difficult flight because it means flying against the wind. And in fact on part of her flight she had to fight her way through strong headwinds. Because she was flying a small plane and FAA rules limited her to flying no more than eight hours each day, the trip took several days with eight stops. Her parents followed along on commercial flights, meeting her at each stop.
　　40. Which of the following is TRUE?
　　A. Jim took Vicki to the flight school.
　　B. Vicki asked her father to send her to the flight school.
　　C. Jim advised Vicki to take the flying lessons.
　　D. Vicki didn’t like the flight school.

　　41. What made Vicki’s first record-breaking flight difficult?
　　A. The strong winds.　　 B. Her age.　　 C. Her plane.　　 D.Her experience.

　　42. Vicki was the youngest pilot _____.
　　A. in history in America
　　B. to fly across the U.S. alone
　　C. to fly across the U.S. from East to West
　　D. to break the first flight record in the world

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Who designed (设计) the first helicopter (直升飞机)? Who __1__ of the most famous pictures in the world? Who knew more about the human body than most __2__? There is an answer __3__ all these  questions --- Leonardo de Vinci (达芬奇).
　　Leonardo may have been the greatest genius (天才) __4__ have ever known. He lived in Italy around the year 1500, but many of his inventions seem modern to us today. For example, one of his notebooks has drawings of a helicopter. Of course, he couldn’t __5__ a helicopter with the things he had. But scientists say his idea would have worked.
　　But Leonardo __6__ an inventor. He was one of the greatest artists of his day. By the time he was twenty years old, he was called a master ( 大师) painter, and as he got older he became __7__ more famous. Sometimes he drew a hand ten different ways __8__ he was ready to paint.
　　Many of Leonardo’s wonderful paintings are still with __9__ today. You may know one of his most famous works the __10__ woman known as the Mona Lisa.

　　1. A. took                     B. made         C. painted              D. invented
　　2. A. artists            B. doctors     C. painters            D. people
　　3. A. to                 B. of             C. for            D. from
　　4. A. the scientists  B. the artists   C. the world          D. people
　　5. A. draw            B. paint        C. work                 D. build
　　6. A. was just         B. wasn’t just  C. wasn’t               D. was no longer
　　7. A. less              B. no             C. even                 D. very
　　8. A. before          B. after          C. because            D. when
　　9. A. him               B. us              C. them                 D. you
　　10. A. interesting    B. crying        C. smiling             D. surprising