I didn’t think I had a passion(激情). I would sit in front of the TV all day, thinking about nothing but the next show. It was not long ago that I first learned how important having a passion is to life.
That day I went with my mum to drive my sister to the gym. I was bored. Then, as my mum stopped at a red light, someone on the side of the road caught my eye（吸引我的世界）. It was a man dressed in rags (衣衫褴褛). He was homeless. That didn’t interest me, for I had seen many like him before.
But in some ways he was different. This man was not sitting down with a sad expression(表情). He had a radio in his hand and was dancing happily to the music. The radio seemed to be the most precious(珍贵)thing he had.
“Mum, why does that man have a radio even thought（尽管） he’s homeless?” I asked.
“He bought it,” she replied. I was still unable to understand.
“But if he’s homeless, why doesn’t he use the money to buy food or clothes? He wasted it on something he doesn’t need.”
“Well, Sarah, sometimes food and clothes aren’t the most important things. We need happiness, too.”
The man must care too much about music to buy a radio instead of food clothes. I soon realized（意识到）that happiness is the key to life. Without it, there’s nothing to look forward to.
Since then I’ve never gone a day without thinking of what’s truly important. A home, a meal, clothes—these things are only part of the picture. What’s often forgotten is that we all need a pleasure, a light in a dark day. We all need a passion.
【小题1】How would Sarah spend her days long ago?

I didn’t think I had a passion(激情). I would sit in front of the TV all day, thinking about nothing but the next show. It was not long ago that I first learned how important having a passion is to life.
That day I went with my mum to drive my sister to the gym. I was bored. Then, as my mum stopped at a red light, someone on the side of the road caught my eye（吸引我的世界）. It was a man dressed in rags (衣衫褴褛). He was homeless. That didn’t interest me, for I had seen many like him before.
But in some ways he was different. This man was not sitting down with a sad expression(表情). He had a radio in his hand and was dancing happily to the music. The radio seemed to be the most precious(珍贵)thing he had.
“Mum, why does that man have a radio even thought（尽管） he’s homeless?” I asked.
“He bought it,” she replied. I was still unable to understand.
“But if he’s homeless, why doesn’t he use the money to buy food or clothes? He wasted it on something he doesn’t need.”
“Well, Sarah, sometimes food and clothes aren’t the most important things. We need happiness, too.”
The man must care too much about music to buy a radio instead of food clothes. I soon realized（意识到）that happiness is the key to life. Without it, there’s nothing to look forward to.
Since then I’ve never gone a day without thinking of what’s truly important. A home, a meal, clothes—these things are only part of the picture. What’s often forgotten is that we all need a pleasure, a light in a dark day. We all need a passion

1. 1.

   How would Sarah spend her days long ago?

   1. A.
      She watched TV all day
   2. B.
      She used to read a lot
   3. C.
      She did nothing but thinking
   4. D.
      She was always sleeping
2. 2.

   Who caught Sarah’s eye when her mum stopped the car at a red light?

   1. A.
      A man dressed in rags
   2. B.
      A man dressed in new clothes
   3. C.
      A man sitting down with a sad expression
   4. D.
      A man singing happily to the music
3. 3.

   Why was the man different?

   1. A.
      He wore new clothes
   2. B.
      He was sitting with a sad expression
   3. C.
      He was homeless.[来源:Z。xx。k.Com]
   4. D.
      He lived an active life though he was very poor
4. 4.

   What did Sarah do after she understood the fact?

   1. A.
      She thought all day without doing anything
   2. B.
      She bought a radio just like the man’s
   3. C.
      She had a passion with everything from then on
   4. D.
      She always danced to the music on the radio
5. 5.

   What can we learn from the passage?

   1. A.
      Sometimes food and clothes are the most important things in our life
   2. B.
      Happiness is the key to life and it is what we are looking forward to
   3. C.
      Music is more important than food or clothes
   4. D.
      Money is the most important thing for a person

A very interesting thing happened to me last year．

One night, long after most people had gone to bed, a friend of mine and I went home happily through the quiet street．We had   1   to a musical show（音乐会）and were talking about the people we had seen and heard in it．

"The show made him   2   overnight（一夜之间）．"My friend said about one of them．" He was unknown before．And now thousands of people   3   him presents and letters．" "I     4   him quite good．" I said, "but not worth thousands of letters．In fact, one of his   5   gave me a shock（震惊）．It gave people too much   6  ．" "What was that?" my friend asked me,"  7  it to me．" I began to sing at the top of my voice．"Oh, no, you will give everybody a shock and   8   them up for kilometers round．Maybe there will be a policeman  9   us．" "Never mind．" I said and  10  singing．

Just at that time there came a policeman   11   in front of me with his note book open．

"  12  , sir," he said, "you have a very good voice, who taught you to sing? I'd very much 13   to find someone who can give my daughter singing lessons, she likes it very much．Would you be  14   enough to tell me your name and  15  ? Then my wife and I will visit you and we can talk about it．"

1．A．gone                  B．been                C．come                 D．got

2．A．sad                    B．a singer             C．famous          D．strange

3．A．buy                    B．hand               C．take             D．send

4．A．knew                  B．saw                C．thought                D．hoped                                                                                                                                                                              

5．A．songs                  B．presents             C．letters                 D．words

6．A．surprise               B．noise               C．pleasure               D．trouble

7．A．Sing                   B．Show              C．Bring              D．Give

8．A．make                  B．get                C．wake            D．take

9．A．with           B．after               C．below             D．among

10．A．learned                B．stopped             C．dropped            D．went on

11．A．crossing              B．standing             C．passing             D．shouting

12．A．Please                B．Sorry              C．No                D．Excuse me

13．A．glad                  B．want               C．wish              D．like

14．A．kind         B．fine                C．well               D．clever

15．A．home                B．family             C．house              D．address