John and Bobby joined the same company together just after they completed their university studies the same year. Both of them worked very hard. Several years later, however, the boss promoted(提拔) Bobby to manager but John was still a worker. John could not take it, and gave his resignation（辭職書） to the boss. He complained that the boss did not think much of those who were hard -working, but promoted only those who flattered him.
The boss knew that John had worked very hard for the years. He thought a moment and said, “Thank you for what you said, but I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave”
John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found a man selling watermelons. The boss asked how much they cost every kilogram. John shook his head and went back to the seller to ask and returned to tell the boss $1.2 every kilogram.
The boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office.  He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. Bobby went and returned, saying, “Boss, only one person is selling watermelons. $1.2 every kilogram, and $10 for 10 kilograms. The seller has 340 melons. On the table there are 58 melons, and each weighs about 2 kilograms. They were brought from the South two days ago. They are of good quality.”
Hearing what Bobby said, John realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided to stay and learn from Bobby.
【小題1】How did John feel when Bobby was promoted to manager?

John and Bobby joined the same company together just after they completed their university studies the same year. Both of them worked very hard. Several years later, however, the boss promoted(提拔) Bobby to manager but John was still a worker. John could not take it, and gave his resignation（辭職書） to the boss. He complained that the boss did not think much of those who were hard -working, but promoted only those who flattered him.

The boss knew that John had worked very hard for the years. He thought a moment and said, “Thank you for what you said, but I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave”

John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found a man selling watermelons. The boss asked how much they cost every kilogram. John shook his head and went back to the seller to ask and returned to tell the boss $1.2 every kilogram.

The boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office.  He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. Bobby went and returned, saying, “Boss, only one person is selling watermelons. $1.2 every kilogram, and $10 for 10 kilograms. The seller has 340 melons. On the table there are 58 melons, and each weighs about 2 kilograms. They were brought from the South two days ago. They are of good quality.”

Hearing what Bobby said, John realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided to stay and learn from Bobby.

1.How did John feel when Bobby was promoted to manager?

A．Angry.            B．Nervous.          C．Unlucky.          D．Helpless.

2.The boss gave John a task because______________.

A．he wanted John to do more for his company

B．he wanted John to learn more about himself

C．he wanted to punish John for what he said

D．he wanted to prove what John said was right

3.We can infer from the passage that_____________.

A．Bobby was unselfish                     B．John was lazy

C．the seller was dishonest                  D．the boss was wise

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A．The boss should treat all his workers in a fair way.

B．The boss should not promote one who flatters him.

C．One should not only work hard but also use his head.

D．One should try to get every detail of watermelons.

Matt Mason has seen the future—and it’s fun. Mason likes thinking about how machines can make our lives easier by doing the work we hate, such as cleaning. He shows a hard floor cleaning system（系統(tǒng)）that’s built into the wall: it will blow dirt to a part of the room where it will be collected by a vacuum（吸塵器）. Then the system will drop some cleaner on the floor and an arm will mop（用拖把擦）it up. “This may trouble you,” says Kara, an expert in Mason’s company. “But you can program it to come on at 3 a. m., and it will just wet-mop the floor for you.”

When it comes to the kitchen, Bruce Beihoff, another expert at Whirlpool, is sure that in a few years, robots will be doing most of the boring work, freeing us to relax. “More than just fun, future kitchens will be environmentally friendly,” he says. “A new system will be built in the house which can recycle energy（能量）lost from your kitchen to make the whole home warm.”

“The fridge will be the center of the home,” says Daniel Lee, a market expert. The fridge will have a touch screen （觸摸屏幕）where you can watch TV, surf the Internet, check your e-mail, keep a shopping list and order vegetables. “Your fridge is the first place you go in the morning and the last place at night,” says Lee.

Ever wonder why a 1.9-meter man and a 1.6-meter woman have to cook meals on counters（工作臺）of the same height. “The height was decided over 50 years ago, according to the height of ordinary women,” says Jane Langmuir, an expert of cooking machines. “But times have changed. We have made a new counter where you press a button and it moves to whatever height you want.” At the same time, Ted Selker at MIT’s Counter lab has made the Dishmaker which lets you make dishes and bowls out of plastics at home. After each meal, the dishes are changed straight back into plastics.

1. How many inventions are mentioned in the passage?

    A. Three.               B. Four.                C. Five.          D. Six.

 2. In future, if you want to clean your house, you will _________.

A. have a recycling system built in the wall

B. get up early to start your cleaning system

C. use your fridge to give orders to a cleaner

D. leave the work to a kind of cleaning machine

  3. What is future kitchen work like?

A. Terrific and relaxing.               B. Easy and interesting.

C. Enjoyable and exciting.            D. Funny and amazing.

  4. From the passage, we know _________.

A. people will have more and more time enjoying themselves

B. future kitchens can provide all the energy for our life every day

C. the fridge can be found in the center of a future house

D. people must be expert at computers to use these inventions

　　Matt Mason has seen the future--and it's fun. Mason likes thinking about how machines can make our lives easier by doing the work we hate, such as cleaning. He shows a hard floor cleaning system（系統(tǒng)）that's built into the wall: it will blow dirt to a part of the room where it will be collected by a vacuum（吸塵器）. Then the system will drop some cleaner on the floor and an arm will mop（用拖把擦） it up. “This may trouble you,” says Kara, an expert in Mason's company. “But you can program it to come on at 3 a m, and it will just wet-mop the floor for you.”

　　When it comes to the kitchen, Bruce Beihoff, another expert at Whirlpool, is sure that in a few years, robots will be doing most of the boring work, freeing us to relax. “More than just fun, future kitchens will be environmentally friendly,” he says. “A new system will be built in the house which can recycle energy（能量）lost from your kitchen to make the whole home warm.”

　　“The fridge will be the center of the home,” says Daniel Lee, a market expert. The fridge will have a touch screen（觸摸屏幕）where you can watch TV, surf the Internet, check your e-mail, keep a shopping list and order vegetables. “Your fridge is the first place you go in the morning and the last place at night,” says Lee.

　　Ever wonder why a 1.9-meter man and a 1.6-meter woman have to cook meals on counters（工作臺）of the same height. “The height was decided over 50 years ago, according to the height of ordinary women,” says Jane Langmuir, an expert of cooking machines. “But times have changed. We have made a new counter where you press a button and it moves to whatever height you want.” At the same time, Ted Selker at MIT's Counter lab has made the dishmaker which lets you make dishes and bowls out of plastics at home. After each meal, the dishes are changed straight back into plastics.

[　　]

[　　]

A．have a recycling system built in the wall

B．get up early to start your cleaning system

C．use your fridge to give orders to a cleaner

D．leave the work to a kind of cleaning machine

[　　]

[　　]

A．We will eat something in the fridge from the morning to the evening.

B．We can surf the Internet and check our e-mails from it.

C．We can buy vegetables and watch TV from it.

D．We will have some fridges in our homes.

[　　]

A．people will have more and more time enjoying themselves

B．future kitchens can provide all the energy for our life every day

C．the fridge can be found in the center of a future house

D．people must be expert at computers to use these inventions