In the past it ________ people two years to go around the world．

1. A.
   had taken
2. B.
   has taken
3. C.
   took
4. D.
   was taking

  I still remember the days when l was a youthful student in an engineering school．I lived a casual life，without caring about the future．I smoked，drank with friends and made girl friends．Little did I realize that casualness would certainly lead to loss．
Two years had passed and l was staring down a report card that highlighted FAII in more than half the subjects．I didn’t care，at least not till my dad found out about it．You see．I studied in India and unlike the United States where the students are expected to finance their own education，my dad financed me．
Then came the day when my dad found out my habit of smoking．He lost his temper but he just told me，“Son，your allowance is cut in half from this moment on”．It hit me like a roundhouse kick（回旋踢） from Bruce Lee．I was jolted（震摇）out of my bones！I couldn’t comprehend how to pay off the debts that I had accumulated in college．I owed everybody money：the grocery store，the bars．the restaurants，my friends，etc．I was living a life filled with credit．
When I went back to college，I knew that if I don’t change the way I live my life I won’t be able to pay everybody off．So I decided to make some changes．drastic changes．I quit smoking，cut off from my friends who led me down the wrong road，starting hanging out in libraries and reading my engineering books．
One year later，I went from a miserable failure to a magna curn laude（优等成绩）．Life was never the same again．This incident made me know that anything is possible if you take action and do something about it，however small or large．Even today it still motivates me when I feel that l’m about to lose or give up．It reminds me that I can do it！
【小题1】The author wrote this text with the purpose of       ．

A．he was in heavy debt he couldn’t bear	B．he decided to give up smoking
C．his allowance was cut in half	D．he entered the engineering school

Both my parents came from towns in Mexico. Then I was born in E1 Paso，Texas and when I was four, my family moved to a housing project in East Los Angeles.

Even though we struggled to make ends meet, my parents stressed to me and my four brothers and sisters how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. They influenced us with the concepts of family, faith and nationalism.

I got my first real job when I was ten. My dad injured his back working in a cardboard??box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. He rented space in a little shopping mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr.Ben’s Coiffure.

The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week，which meant getting up at 3 a．m..To pick up rubbish, Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower. Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. I’d sleep in the car on the way home.

I did this for two years，but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime. I acquired discipline and a strong work ethic(道德), and learned at an early age the importance of balancing life’s competing interests－in my case，school，homework and a job. This really helped during my senior year of a high school, when I worked 40 hours a week flipping burgers at a fast??food joint while taking a full load of college preparation courses.

The hard work paid off. I attended the U．S.Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California State Assembly(州议会)．In these jobs and in everything else I’ve done, I have never forgotten those nights in the parking lot. The experience taught me that there is dignity in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families that is something we should honor.

Before my father got injured，we________.

A. didn’t like living in the USA                    B. lived a poor but happy life

C. were lucky to move to the USA                  D. had many ways to make money

When he recovered，to make a living my father________.

A. ran a small shopping mall                   B. did a part??time job

C. worked as a barber                         D. became a street cleaner

Working in the parking lot for two years had taught me________.

A. how to obey school discipline              B. how to do two things well at a time

C. that discipline and work were of equal value 

D. that I must do as many things as possible at a time

The author tells us in the last paragraph that we should be proud of those who________.

A. have done all kinds of jobs                       B. are cleaning the parking lot

C. have achieved a lot in their lives                D. are bearing their responsibilities

  I still remember the days when l was a youthful student in an engineering school．I lived a casual life，without caring about the future．I smoked，drank with friends and made girl friends．Little did I realize that casualness would certainly lead to loss．

    Two years had passed and l was staring down a report card that highlighted FAII in more than half the subjects．I didn’t care，at least not till my dad found out about it．You see．I studied in India and unlike the United States where the students are expected to finance their own education，my dad financed me．

    Then came the day when my dad found out my habit of smoking．He lost his temper but he just told me，“Son，your allowance is cut in half from this moment on”．It hit me like a roundhouse kick（回旋踢） from Bruce Lee．I was jolted（震摇）out of my bones！I couldn’t comprehend how to pay off the debts that I had accumulated in college．I owed everybody money：the grocery store，the bars．the restaurants，my friends，etc．I was living a life filled with credit．

    When I went back to college，I knew that if I don’t change the way I live my life I won’t be able to pay everybody off．So I decided to make some changes．drastic changes．I quit smoking，cut off from my friends who led me down the wrong road，starting hanging out in libraries and reading my engineering books．

    One year later，I went from a miserable failure to a magna curn laude（优等成绩）．Life was never the same again．This incident made me know that anything is possible if you take action and do something about it，however small or large．Even today it still motivates me when I feel that l’m about to lose or give up．It reminds me that I can do it！

The author wrote this text with the purpose of       ．

    A．introducing his university life to the teenage readers

    B．showing you can overcome any difficulty if you take action

    C．calling on the readers not to develop bad habits in college

    D．introducing his university life to the teenage readers

The author didn’t care about his study until      ．

    A．he was in heavy debt he couldn’t bear  B．he decided to give up smoking

    C．his allowance was cut in half   D．he entered the engineering school

The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that the author      ．

    A．removed his bad habits and didn’t lead a casual life

    B．never hung out with his friends but studied all day

    C．began to live a happy life due to his good grades

    D．paid off his debt and life wasn’t hard for him any more

Which of the following statements is TRUE？

    A．The author did well in making good friends in the school．

    B．The author made great progress with the help of his friends．

    C．Students were encouraged to do part-time jobs in Indian schools．

    D．Students tended to earn money for college expenses in America．