There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health
and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy.
This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and
the resulting effects upon their minds.
    People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things. The pleasant
parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather.
They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the
opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the
pleasure of society, offend (hurt) many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere.
If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be
pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows
into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when
those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning
may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
    Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it
brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them,
and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently
puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages
in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start a step or speak
a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend
or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad
habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, with out worrying needlessly about themselves and
others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can
be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their
quarrels.

1. People who are unhappy _____.

A. always consider things differently from others
B. usually are affected by the results of certain things
C. usually misunderstand what others think or say
D. always discover the unpleasant side of certain things

2. The underlined phrase "sour the pleasure of society" most nearly means "_____".

A. have a good taste with social life
B. make others unhappy
C. tend to scold others openly
D. enjoy the pleasure of life

3. Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

A. Pity all such unhappy people
B. The unhappy are dangerous
C. How to get rid of the habit of unhappiness
D. Try to understand the unhappy

4. If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people
    should _____.

A. prevent any communication with them
B. show no respect and politeness to them
C. persuade them to recognize the bad effects
D. quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes

5. In this passage, the writer mainly _____.

A. describes two types of people
B. laughs at the unhappy people
C. suggests ways to help the unhappy
D. tells people how to be happy in life

    When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess
wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate
(照亮) me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing
hours, too good not to share.
    When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and "too serious" about
our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable
social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would
sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say:"Let's start with a train whistle
today." We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out
of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too,
were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.
    When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend. He was in despair (失望) and I was
in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry
later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met
every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs
disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.
    For almost four years I have had remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine.
We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves.Each of us appears,
sometimes in a funny way, in the other's dreams.She and I agree that, at certain times, we
seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think:"Yes, I
must tell…." We have never met.
    It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is
worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist (心理學家), who will only
fill up the healing (愈合的) silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would
rather be my own best friend.

1. In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was
   to _____.

A. become serious about her study
B. go to her friend's house regularly
C. learn from her classmates at school
D. share poems and stories with her friend

2. In Paragraph 3, "We gave London to each other" probably means _____.

A. our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us
B. we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London
C. our unpleasant feeling about London disappeared
D. we parted with each other in London

3. According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend _____.

A. call each other regularly
B. have similar personalities
C. enjoy writing to each other
D. dream of meeting each other

4. In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to _____.

A. seek professional help
B. be left alone
C. stay with her best friend
D. break the silence

    Both my parents came from towns in Mexico. Then I was born in El 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 US 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 (州議會). 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.

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as Mother sat doing
letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing
must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
     Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. "But the desk",
she said, "is for Elizabeth".
     I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me, she showed it in action. But as a young
girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter.
     They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was "too emotional". But she lived "on the surface".
     As years passed, I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote
to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.
     I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came.
     My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest, finally, peace-it seemed that nothing happened. I
couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying
to make her into someone she was not.
     Now the present of her desk told me, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my
chosen work, I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside-a photo of my father and a one-page
letter, folded (被折疊) and refolded many times.
     Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks
louder than words.

1. The writer began to love her mother's desk _____.

A. after Mother died
B. before she became a writer
C. when she was a child
D. when Mother gave it to her

2. The passage shows that _____.

A. Mother wrote her daughter in careful words
B. Mother cared much about her daughter in words
C. Mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done
D. Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter

3. The word "gulf" in the passage means _____.

A. part of the sea going far in land
B. free talks between mother and daughter
C. different ideas between the mother and the daughter
D. deep understanding between the old and the young

4. What did Mother do with her daughter's letter asking for forgiveness?

A. She had never received the letter.
B. She read the letter again and again till she died.
C. For years, she often talked about the letter.
D. She didn't forgive her daughter at all in her life.

5. What's the best title of the passage?

A. My letter to Mother
B. Mother and Children
C. My Mother's Desk
D. Talks between Mother and Me

     When I was a boy every holiday that I had seemed perfect. My parents took me by train or by car to a
hotel by the sea. All day, I seem to remember. I played on the sands with strange exciting children. We make
sandcastles with huge yellow walls, and watched the incoming tide destroy them; we splashed each other in
the water and shrieked with excitement. When the tide went out, we climbed over the slippery rocks and
stared down at the fish and the seaweed in the rock-pools.
     In those far-off days the sun seemed to shine constantly and the water was always warm. Sometimes we
left the beach and walked in the country, exploring ruined houses and dark woods and climbing trees that
overhung streams. There were always sweets in one's pockets or convenient places where one could buy ice-
creams. Each day seemed a life-time.
     Although I am now an adult, my idea of a good holiday is much the same as it was. I still like the sun and
the warm sand and the sound of waves breaking on the beach. I no longer wish to build sandcastles and I
dislike sweets instantly, but I look forward to sitting down to a good meal and a bottle of wine in the evening.
     I think, too, that I prefer spending my holiday abroad. I want to smell different smells; I want to see
different kinds of trees, flowers and birds; and I also want to see people with different colored skins, wearing
different kinds of clothes. Above all, I want to hear a different language spoken and listen to different musical
rhythms from those I am used to.
     But I still need my companions-not, of course, to play on the sands and eat ices with, but to drink with and
talk to on warm moonlit nights.
     Sometimes I wonder what my perfect holiday will be when I am old. All I shall want to do then, I expect,
will be to lie in bed, reading books about children who make sandcastles with huge yellow walls, who watch
the incoming tide, who make themselves sick on too many ices…

1. Where did the author mostly spend his holidays when he was young?

A. In the countryside.
B. On the beach.
C. In the mountains.
D. On the sea.

2. What does the underlined word "shrieked" in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. shouted
B. swam
C. struggled
D. surfed

3. What now interests the author as an adult is _____.

A. to enjoy a nice dinner
B. to spend his holiday sunbathing
C. to chat with someone
D. to experience a foreign culture

4. When the author grows old, he expects that _____.

A. he will read more books about children
B. he will lie in bed without worrying about anything
C. he will bring back wonderful childhood memories from a book
D. he will make sandcastles with his children