BThesonofazookeeper,16yearoldP-优题课

In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as terrible as my job in an apple plant(工厂). The work was hard; the pay was poor; and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.
First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $ 100 a week.
But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy were the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.
Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time?

A．To gain some experience

B．To save for his future

C．To support his family

D．To pay for his schooling

The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT ______.

A．loading boxes in the freezing cold

B．having limited time for breaks

C．getting no pay for lunch time

D．working and studying at the same time

What is the topic discussed in the text?

A．The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.

B．The writer’s eagerness to earn money.

C．The writer’s experience to earn money.

D．The writer’s unhappy school life.

How is the text organized?

A．Topic—Argument—Explanation

B．Opinion—Discussion—Description

C．Introduction—Supporting examples—Conclusion

D．Main idea—Comparison—Supporting examples

Many people tend to complain about not having good friends in their lives. Sadly, they seem to think that their own company is not enough to make them happy. Nothing could be further from the truth though. In order to get along with others, the first thing you need to do is learn to get along with yourself. Only in this way will you succeed in developing healthy, solid relationships with others. How to develop?
Listen to your inner voice. Remember that inner voice that keeps whispering to you what you really want and need as well as what you do not really want and need. It is about time you started listening to it. In order to get to know yourself in depth, it is important to learn and accept what you want and what you do not want.
Learn to enjoy your own company. You will be surprised to find out how many things you can do by yourself and actually have fun in the process. Reading romantic novels, poetry or science fiction is only a few of the things that you can do by yourself, which can not only offer you hours of enjoyment, but also the chance to get to know yourself better.
Satisfy yourself. Pay special attention to your personal hygiene(卫生)．Do your hair and nails often and experiment with new styles. Follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly to stay in good shape. No matter how busy your daily schedule is, always find at least an hour per day for yourself, when you can either relax doing absolutely nothing, or doing something that you enjoy.
Learn to respect your own boundaries. Find out what your boundaries are and learn to respect them. You are the only one who knows what you can and what you cannot accept；no one else can point that out to you, or force you to compromise(妥协).
If you want to have a good relationship with others, you should first________.

A．learn to be your own best friend

B．make many friends in society

C．always tell the truth

D．get into the habit of living alone

What is the purpose of listening to your inner voice?

A．To keep a good state of mind.

B．To enjoy the time by yourself.

C．To know more about yourself.

D．To form a relationship with others.

In order to please yourself, the writer gives some suggestions EXCEPT________.

A．eating healthily

B．exercising regularly

C．experimenting with new hair styles

D．keep on struggling

What can be the best title for the text?

A．How to develop good relationship with others

B．Avoid the disadvantages of being alone

C．The benefit of having good friends

D．Learn to get along with yourself

I was in a rush as always, but this time it was for an important date I just couldn’t be late for! I found myself at a checkout counter behind an elderly woman seemingly in no hurry as she paid for her groceries. A PhD student with not a lot of money, I had hurried into the store to pick up some flowers. I was in a huge rush, thinking of my upcoming evening. I did not want to be late for this date.
We were in Boston, a place not always known for small conversation between strangers. The woman stopped unloading her basket and looked up at me. She smiled. It was a nice smile –warm and reassuring –and I returned her gift by smiling back.
“Must be a special lady, whoever it is that will be getting those beautiful flowers,” she said.
“Yes, she’s special,” I said, and then to my embarrassment, the words kept coming out.
“It’s only our second date, but somehow I am just having the feeling she’s ‘the one’.” Jokingly, I added, “The only problem is that I can’t figure out why she’d want to date a guy like me.”
“Well, I think she’s very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is obviously in love with her,” the woman said.” “My husband used to bring me flowers every week –even when times were tough and we didn’t have much money. Those were incredible days; he was very romantic and – of course – I miss him since he’s passed away.”
I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries. There was no doubt in my mind as I walked up to her. I touched her on the shoulder and said, “You were right, you know. These flowers are indeed for a very special lady.” I handed her the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.
It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just purchased. “You have a wonderful evening,” I said. I left her with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the beautiful flowers.
I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story. A couple of years later, when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, she told me that this story had helped to seal it for her –that was the night that I won her heart.
Why was the writer in a hurry that day?

A．He had to pick up some groceries.

B．He had to go back to school soon.

C．He was delayed by an elderly lady.

D．He was to meet his girlfriend.

What does the underlined se “her gift”(Paragraph 2) refer to?

A．Her smile.	B．Her words.
C．Her flowers.	D．her politeness.

Why did the writer give his flowers to the elderly lady?

A．She told him a nice story.

B．She gave him encouragement.

C．She allowed him to pay first.

D．She liked flowers very much.

What is the message conveyed in the story?

A．Flowers are important for a date.

B．Love and kindness are rewarding.

C．Small talk is helpful.

D．Elderly people deserve respecting.

America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.
Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.
Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.
For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!
The writer of this passage must be ______.

A．an American	B．a Chinese
C．a professor	D．a student

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families.

B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives.

C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy.

D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break.

From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.

A．warmly welcomed at the airport

B．offered a ride to his home

C．treated hospitably at his home

D．treated to dinner in a restaurant

The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.

A．strict with time	B．serious with time
C．careful with time	D．willing to spend time

A suitable title for this passage would probably be “______”.

A．Friendships between Chinese

B．Friendships between Americans

C．Americans’ hospitality

D．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships

Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.
At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins (维生素). The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.
Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.
The underlined word “cure” in Paragragh 1 probably means ______.

A．a medical treatment	B．a kind of vitamin
C．a kind of germ	D．a kind of rice

Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.

A．spend his holiday

B．find ways to grow better crops

C．do some research about the island

D．help the Javanese with their illness

Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chickens?

A．To eat them.

B．To carry out his experiments.

C．To give the Javanese a surprise.

D．To make money by selling them.

If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.

A．eat more rice	B．eat more meat
C．eat some chicken	D．eat vitamin pills

We can learn from the passage that ______.

A．beri-beri was caused by chickens

B．the Javanese didn’t like vitamins

C．Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successful

D．the Javanese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ

A．the existence of Heaven	B．the mystery of death
C．human's future life	D．the true meaning of life

	The son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India. Planning a move to Canada, his family takes a ride on an enormous ship. After a shipwreck. Pi finds himself in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a hyena（鬣狗）, an orangutan（猩猩）, and a tiger named Richard Parker. It sounds like a colorful setup. But these wild animals don’t burst into song as in the Disney cartoons. All want to survive, however, Pi finds himself the weakest one of all. After much infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat’s only passengers. Pi is left to survive for 227 days through waters with his large dangerous companion, using all his knowledge, wits and faith.
	Five People You Meet in Heaven When a lonely and elderly man dies in an accident, he awakens in an unfamiliar place called Heaven where five people, some strangers, some loved ones, take him on a clear journey through his life. Each soul has a story to tell, a secret to reveal, and a lesson to share. Through them Eddie learns “lessons”, finds out why certain events happened in his physical life, and understands the meaning of his own life. The book explores the unexpected mysteries of the afterlife by reminding us what really matters here on earth.
	Marley＆Me：Life and love with the world’s worst dog John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They brought home Marley, a yellow fur-ball of a dog. Life would never be the same. Marley crashed through doors, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around. However, just as he refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. He shared the couple’s joy and heartbreak. He was there whenever the couple needs help. Marley＆Me is so much more than the story of a lovable dog; it’s the story of a family. Toward the end of book, Grogan speaks of the life lessons—loyalty, courage, devotion, simplicity, joy—that Marley taught him.