閱讀下面短文，并按照題目要求用英語回答問題（請注意問題后的詞數(shù)要求）。

1

It was a cold winter day. A woman drove up to the Rainbow Bridge tollbooth （收費站）. “I’m paying for myself， and for the six cars behind me，” she said with a smile， handing over seven tickets. One after another， the next six drivers arriving at the tollbooth were informed， “Some lady up ahead already paid your fare.”

It turned out that the woman， Natalie Smith， had read something on a friend’s refrigerator： “Practice random （隨意的） kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” The phrase impressed her so much that she copied it down.

Judy Foreman spotted the same phrase on a warehouse wall far away from home. When it stayed on her mind for days， she gave up and drove all the way back to copy it down. “I thought it was beautiful，” she said， explaining why she’d taken to writing it at the bottom of all her letters， “l(fā)ike a message from above.” Her husband， Frank， liked the phrase so much that he put it up on the classroom wall for his students， one of whom was the daughter of Alice Johnson， a local news reporter. Alice put it in the newspaper， admitting that though she liked it， she didn’t know where it came from or what it really meant.

Two days later， Alice got a call from Anne Herbert， a woman living in Marin. It was in a restaurant that Anne wrote the phrase down on a piece of paper， after turning it around in her mind for days.

“Here’s the idea，” Anne says. “Anything you think there should be more of， do it randomly.” Her fantasies include painting the classrooms of shabby schools， leaving hot meals on kitchen tables in the poor part of town， and giving money secretly to a proud old lady. Anne says， “Kindness can build on itself as much as violence can.”

The acts of random kindness spread. If you were one of those drivers who found your fare paid， who knows what you might have been inspired to do for someone else later. Like all great events， kindness begins slowly， with every single act. Let it be yours！

1. Why did Natalie Smith pay for the six cars behind her？ （no more than 8 words）

2. Why did Judy Foreman copy down the phrase？ （no more than 6 words）

3. Who came up with the phrase first according to the passage？ （no more than 2 words）

4. Why should people practice kindness randomly？ （no more than 6 words）

5. Why does the author write the passage？ （no more than 8 words）

2

Do you know about a series of books that say they are “for dummies”？ These American self-help books have been translated into more than thirty-nine languages including Chinese， Arabic， Russian， French， German， Greek and Spanish.

“Dummy” is a word for a stupid person. The “dummies” books are not really for stupid people. They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before， like painting a house or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies， such as World History for Dummies， Rabbits for Dummies， Chinese Cooking for Dummies， and Wedding Planning for Dummies. The first such book， DOS for Dummies， was published in 1991. It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system of computers. Since then， more than one hundred fifty million “dummies” books have been sold.

The dummies.com website explains the ideas behind the books. It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything. First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy. The publishers say that the books do not provide more information than necessary. They give readers just enough information to do what they want. And the books use the simple and easy language.

There are more than one thousand different “dummies” books. A report in The New York Times says that the top-selling “dummies” books are those explaining technology and personal finance.

1. What does the word “dummy” usually mean？ （no more than 6 words）

2. What is the purpose of designing the “dummies” books？ （no more than 9 words）

3. What is the first “dummies” book？ （no more than 3 words）

4. What is special about dummies books talking about providing information？ （no more than 10 words）

5. According to The New York Times， what kinds of “dummies” books are the best-sellers？ （no more than 7 words）

3

One day， a poor boy who was trying to pay his way through school by selling goods door to door found that he only had ten cents left. He was hungry so he decided to beg for a meal at the next house.

However， he lost his courage when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly， and asked， “How much do I owe you？”

“You don’t owe me anything，” she replied， “Mother has taught me never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said， “Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house， he not only felt stronger physically， but also increased his faith in the human race. He was about to give up and stop before this point.

Years later the young woman became seriously ill and was sent to a hospital in a big city. Dr Howard Kelly， now famous， was called in for the examination. When he heard the name of the town she came from， a strange light filled his eyes. He went in to see her and recognized her at once. Back in the examination room he was determined to do his best to save her life.

After a long struggle， the woman was saved. But when the bill was sent to her room， she was afraid to open it because she knew what it would cost to cure a disease like hers. Finally she looked， and noticed a note on the side of the bill， which read， “Paid in full with a glass of milk. Dr Howard Kelly”.

1. Why did the boy choose to sell goods door to door？ （no more than 9 words）

2. What did the boy finally get from the young woman that day？ （no more than 5 words）

3. What was Howard Kelly years later？ （no more than 3 words）

4. Who was the patient sent to Howard’s hospital？ （no more than 8 words）

5. What did Howard mean by saying “Paid in full with a glass of milk”？ （no more than 5 words）

4

Fat and shy， Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football， tennis， cricket—anything with a round ball， I was useless，” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire， England.

It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually， Saunders set his mind on building up his body， increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18， he ran his first marathon.

The following year， he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland， where he learned about Ridgway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested， Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers， and adventures， then decided that this would be his future.

After becoming a skillful skier， Saunders started his first long-distance expedition （探險） towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite （凍瘡）， ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit， pulling his supply-loaded sled （雪橇） up and over rocky ice.

Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole， and he’s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.

Next October， Saunders， 27， heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back， a 2，900-kilometre journey that has never been completed on skis.

1. What change happened in Saunders’ mind after he was 15？ （no more than 9 words）

2. Where did Saunders learn about cold-water exploit？ （no more than 7 words）

3. How do you describe Saunders’ first long-distance expedition to the North Pole？ （1 word）

4. When did Saunders start his expedition to the North Pole？ （no more than 6 words）

5. What will Saunders do next October？ （no more than 10 words）

5

There are a number of special days of the year that are celebrated in different countries. One of the most popular of these， even though it is fairly recent， is Mother’s Day. Mothers have always been highly regarded in all cultures. The Ancient Romans had a festival known as Hilaria， during which children took presents to the temple of the “Mother of the Gods”. The Christian Church adopted this idea and called it Mothering Sunday. However， over the years the custom was gradually forgotten and almost disappeared by the end of the 19th century.

Born in 1864 in Virginia， USA， Anna Jarvis was a school teacher and believed children should show gratitude to their mothers for all their love and care. Encouraged by a friend， she wrote to thousands of important people—politicians， churchmen， doctors， city officials—and asked them to support her ideas： a special day of the year for thanking mothers.

In 1910 the Governor of West Virginia introduced Mother’s Day into the state. The date chosen was May 10—the second Sunday in May， which is still observed in America today. This date was chosen because May 10 was the date on which in 1908 Anna Jarvis’s mother died. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made May 10 the official date for Mother’s Day throughout the United States.

Soon there was a Mother’s Day International Association and the custom began to be adopted in many countries of the world.

Anna Jarvis， a sad and disillusioned woman died in 1948. The custom she had worked so hard to establish and which had become almost universal had lost its original purpose. It had been taken over by business. As with Christmas， the giving of presents and the sending of cards had become a multi-million-dollar industry.

1. What is the story about？ （no more than 8 words）

2. In which country was Hilaria celebrated as a festival？ （no more than 2 words）

3. What did Anna Jarvis want to do for mothers？ （no more than 7 words）

4. Who made May 10 the official date for Mother’s Day？ （no more than 3 words）

5. Why was Anna Jarvis not happy with Mother’s Day when she died？ （no more than 10 words）

6

Believe it or not， America’s favorite snack food is the potato chip. There is a story behind how it was first made. One might think that somewhere a genius thought up the first potato chips， but it didn’t happen that way.

Picture an elegant restaurant in Saratoga Spring， New York， in 1853. The Moon Lake Restaurant’s menu included French-fried potatoes， a popular food recipe brought back from France by Thomas Jefferson. These were thickly cut potatoes， fried until golden brown and crisp on the outside.

One evening a guest in the dining hall felt that his potatoes were too thick and sent them back to the kitchen. The cook sliced some potatoes thinner than before and prepared them for the complaining guest. He was still not satisfied and sent them back again！ By this time the cook was very angry and decided to do exactly what the dinner guest wanted： slice the potatoes as thin as possible. Then they would be so crisp that the diner wouldn’t be able to use his fork to eat them. When the paper-thin browned potatoes arrived， the diner was pleased. He was so happy with them that other guests started ordering the new potatoes. The cook’s plan to stop the dinner guest complaining didn’t turn out as expected.

Soon Saratoga Chips appeared on the menu and became so popular that people wanted to take some home. The restaurant started selling small packages of the potato chips. A few years later， they were sold all over the US.

But because the potatoes had to be peeled by hand， it was a time-consuming job and potato chips were often out of stock.

In the 1920s， a mechanical potato peeler was invented and soon there were potato chips in abundance. They gradually spread all over the world and have remained popular ever since.

1. Why was the dinner guest not satisfied and sent his potatoes back to the kitchen？ （no more than 9 words）

2. Where was the potato chip invented？ （no more than 8 words）

3. What was the popular food recipe brought back by Thomas Jefferson？ （no more than 2 words）

4. According to the passage， how did the dinner guest feel when he finally got his potatoes？ （no more than 5 words）

5. What made mass production of potato chips possible？ （no more than 7 words）

7

As a young ice skater， I had flown pretty high， pretty quickly. My partner and I won the Canadian junior pairs championship when I was 14. Later I was very excited to be picked to skate in the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer， Norway. But then everything came crashing down.

We finished 12th at the games. I soon quit double skating and tried to continue in single. But I wasn’t good enough; I didn’t even compete in the next two national championships. I felt like I was a somebody who had become a nobody.

I was 18 and had just graduated from high school when my mom told me， “You can’t just depend on skating to make a living. You’d better find a job.” I knew she was right. So I found a job at a restaurant. No one cared that I had been an Olympic skater; I was judged only by how hard I worked.

That job taught me so many things. I learned， for example， how to deal with people. One day a man loudly called me over to his table and complained， “This milk is sour. I am not drinking this junk！ I want my money back！” It was near the end of my shift （換班） and I wanted to tell him how rude I thought he was. But I had learned that “the customer is always right” and a smile can go a long way. “I’m really sorry， sir. I’ll get you a free cup.” I said with a smile. When I brought him his coffee， his attitude changed. And he left me a tip！

My first job taught me that it is important to do your best at anything you try. By the time I left—when I decided to return to skating—I had earned a raise and my boss’s praise. They meant so much to me.

1. What kind of champion did the author win when she was 14？ （no more than 5 words）

2. How did the author feel after she tried in single skating？ （1 word）

3. What did the author do after she graduated from high school？ （no more than 7 words）

4. What did the author do about the man’s complaint？ （no more than 9 words）

5. What did the author learn from his/her first job？ （no more than 9 words）

8

Steve Paul Jobs dropped out of Reed College， but stayed around as a drop-in for about 18 months before he really quit. So why did he drop out？

It started before Jobs was born. His biological mother was a young， unwed （未婚的） college graduate student， and decided to put him up for adoption. She felt strongly that Jobs should be adopted by college graduates， so everything was all set for him to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. But when he popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So his parents， who were on a waiting list， got a call in the middle of the night asking whether they wanted an unexpected baby boy. They said， “Of course.” His biological mother found out later that his father and mother had never graduated from college， so she refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only changed her mind a few months later when his parents promised that he would go to college.

17 years later Jobs did go to college. But all of his working-class parents’ savings were being spent on his college tuition. After six months， he couldn’t see the value in it. He had no idea what he wanted to do with his life and no idea how college was going to help him figure it out. So Jobs decided to drop out and considered it one of the best decisions he ever made. He stopped taking the required classes that didn’t interest him， and began dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. Jobs slept on the floor in friends’ rooms， and returned coke bottles for the 5-cent deposits to buy food with. However， all of this turned out to be priceless later on.

1. What kind of people can adopt Jobs according to his biological mother？ （no more than 2 words）

2. Why did the lawyer and his wife refuse to adopt Jobs？ （no more than 5 words）

3. When did the parents receive a call about adoption？ （no more than 6 words）

4. What did Jobs think of the decision to drop out of college？ （no more than 7 words）

5. How did Jobs earn a living after dropping out？ （no more than 6 words）