Do you have the ability to live cheaply? Now here's a true story of an American girl，Sarah．

     21  Sarah left university，she began to live in New York City on her own．She   22  a job in a publishing house，but the salary(薪水)was   23  $30，000 a year．Her parents thought her life would be hard，but Sarah  24  live on her salary and still saved $5，000 in a year．How was that  25  in one of the most expensive cities in the world?

    Cheap living  26  starts with keeping the big cost small．For most people，that  27 housing．So Sarah chose to share a flat with three other friends．Her next biggest cost was   28 ．When she ate out，she went to cheap restaurants． 29  she bought a $9．99 whole chicken at a local restaurant．She then   30 the chicken bones(骨頭)home and made soup out of them．Nowadays young people often  31  a lot of money on entertainment(娛樂(lè))．But Sarah said，“I enjoy walking  32  in New York City．I love going to museums and parks．”  Did Sarah feel poor  33  cheap living? Not really．She even managed to take two trips，one to the Netherlands， 34  to Portland．

  “Don't think of saving money as something  35 ．It's a kind of game，”said Sarah．

1.A．Until         B．Because            C．After                         D．Unless

2.A．found        B．tried                  C．a(chǎn)sked for                D．looked for

3.A．more than     B．less than       C shorter than                       D．higher than

4.A．can          B．may                      C．could                            D．might

5.A．difficult      B．possible              C．useful                       D．different

6.A．a(chǎn)lready       B．sometimes      C．hardly                D．a(chǎn)lways

7.A．helps         B．becomes                C．makes                          D．means

8.A．food          B．rest                C．studying                 D．playing

9.A．Soon         B．Finally            C．Once                   D．Again

10.A．prepared      B．took            C．caught                     D．picked

11.A．pay          B．lend                   C．spend                       D．save

12.A．a(chǎn)long         B．up                   C．down                     D．a(chǎn)round

13.A．by            B．up                   C．a(chǎn)t                              D．between

14.A．a(chǎn)nother       B．the other              C．others                    D．the others

15.A．hard          B．interesting      C．nice                   D．great

 

I didn’t think I had a passion(激情). I would sit in front of the TV all day, thinking about nothing but the next show. It was not long ago that I first learned how important having a passion is to life.
That day I went with my mum to drive my sister to the gym. I was bored. Then, as my mum stopped at a red light, someone on the side of the road caught my eye（吸引我的世界）. It was a man dressed in rags (衣衫襤褸). He was homeless. That didn’t interest me, for I had seen many like him before.
But in some ways he was different. This man was not sitting down with a sad expression(表情). He had a radio in his hand and was dancing happily to the music. The radio seemed to be the most precious(珍貴)thing he had.
“Mum, why does that man have a radio even thought（盡管） he’s homeless?” I asked.
“He bought it,” she replied. I was still unable to understand.
“But if he’s homeless, why doesn’t he use the money to buy food or clothes? He wasted it on something he doesn’t need.”
“Well, Sarah, sometimes food and clothes aren’t the most important things. We need happiness, too.”
The man must care too much about music to buy a radio instead of food clothes. I soon realized（意識(shí)到）that happiness is the key to life. Without it, there’s nothing to look forward to.
Since then I’ve never gone a day without thinking of what’s truly important. A home, a meal, clothes—these things are only part of the picture. What’s often forgotten is that we all need a pleasure, a light in a dark day. We all need a passion.
【小題1】How would Sarah spend her days long ago?

A．She watched TV all day.

B．She used to read a lot.

C．She did nothing but thinking.

D．She was always sleeping.

【小題2】Who caught Sarah’s eye when her mum stopped the car at a red light?

A．A man dressed in rags.

B．A man dressed in new clothes.

C．A man sitting down with a sad expression.

D．A man singing happily to the music.

【小題3】 Why was the man different?

A．He wore new clothes.

B．He was sitting with a sad expression.

C．He was homeless.

D．He lived an active life though he was very poor.

【小題4】What did Sarah do after she understood the fact?

A．She thought all day without doing anything.

B．She bought a radio just like the man’s.

C．She had a passion with everything from then on.

D．She always danced to the music on the radio.

【小題5】 What can we learn from the passage?

A．Sometimes food and clothes are the most important things in our life.

B．Happiness is the key to life and it is what we are looking forward to.

C．Music is more important than food or clothes.

D．Money is the most important thing for a person.

In 1995，Oseola McCarty gave a present of $150 000 to the University of Southern Mississippi. She wanted to help poor students. It was a very generous thing to do. But her friends and neighbors were surprised. McCarty was a good woman. She went to church. She was always friendly and helpful. But everyone in her town knew that McCarty was not rich. In fact，she was poor.

How did a poor 86-year-old woman have so much money？ Oseola McCarty was born in 1908 in Hattiesburg，Mississippi. She had to leave school when she was eight years old to help her family. She took a job washing clothes. She earned only a few dollars a day. Oseola washed the clothes by hand. Then she hung the clothes to dry. She did this for nearly 80 years. In the 1960s，she bought an automatic washer and dryer. But she gave them away. She did not think they got the clothes clean enough！At that time，many people started to buy their own washers and dryers. McCarty did not have much work， so she started to iron clothes instead.

McCarty never married or had children. Her life was very simple. She went to work and to church. She read her Bible （圣經(jīng)）。She had a black-and-white television. But she did not watch it very much. It had only one channel.

McCarty saved money all her life and eventually had about $250 000. When she was 86，a lawyer helped her make a will. She left money to the church，her relatives，and the university. McCarty just wanted to help others. She did not think she was a special person. But then people found out about her present to the university. She received many honors （榮譽(yù)）。She even flew in an airplane for the first time！Oseola McCarty died in 1999. She was a shy and ordinary woman who became famous.

根據(jù)以上短文內(nèi)容，然后從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中選擇最佳選項(xiàng)。

1.Oseola McCarty gave $150 000 to the University of Southern Mississippi _______.

A．to help the poor students                 B．to surprise her friends and neighbors

C．to show her generosity                   D．to be a good and rich woman

2.From the story we know _______.

A．McCarty was born in a poor family near the University of Southern Mississippi

B．everyone was surprised because they thought McCarty had no education

C．washers and dryers brought a change in McCarty‘s life

D．McCarty gave half of her money to the church and her relatives

3.Which of the following is true？

A．McCarty had to work to help her family after school every day.

B．McCarty learned to read the Bible by herself in the school.

C．McCarty made one third of her money by washing and ironing clothes.

D．McCarty did not have her own family because she had no husband or children.

4.From which of the following can we tell McCarty lived a simple life？

A．She worked hard all her life.               B．She didn‘t think she was special.

C．She didn‘t have many interests.           D．She had a TV set with many channels.

5.Which of the following is true？

A．McCarty died at the age of eighty-six.

B．McCarty did the job of washing for more than eighty years.

C．McCarty gave her presents to both universities and churches.

D．McCarty was given many honors because of her good deeds.

 

請(qǐng)認(rèn)真閱讀下面短文，并根據(jù)各題所給首字母的提示，寫(xiě)出一個(gè)合適的英語(yǔ)單詞完整、正確的形式，使短文通順。

Kitty was a student in a small town. It was going to be her mother’s birthday. She wanted to buy her a present that would be nice and useful but not e   1.   .

She went s   2.   after a quick and simple lunch. After she looked for about forty minutes, she found a shop that was selling cheap umbrellas, and she d   3.   to take a black one. She thought, “Mom can carry it when she is wearing clothes of any c   4.   .” So she bought a lovely black umbrella and took it to school with her until her classes finished.

On her way home on the train she felt h   5.   , so she went to the buffet car (餐車(chē)). She left the umbrella on her seat and left. But when she remembered it and r  6.   for it, it was gone. Kitty began to cry. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what was the matter. She told them the black umbrella she bought for her mother was gone, and she had to get off at the next station. After the three passengers h   7.   this, they asked her for her mother’s a    8.   so that they could send the umbrella to her if someone took it by mistake (弄錯(cuò)) and brought it b   9.   .

And now a week passed. Kitty got a letter from her mother. It said, “Thank you very much for your lovely g   10.   , but why do you send me three black umbrellas?”

 

Do you have the ability to live cheaply? Now here's a true story of an American girl，Sarah．

     21  Sarah left university，she began to live in New York City on her own．She   22  a job in a publishing house，but the salary(薪水)was   23  $30，000 a year．Her parents thought her life would be hard，but Sarah  24  live on her salary and still saved $5，000 in a year．How was that  25  in one of the most expensive cities in the world?

    Cheap living  26  starts with keeping the big cost small．For most people，that  27 housing．So Sarah chose to share a flat with three other friends．Her next biggest cost was   28 ．When she ate out，she went to cheap restaurants． 29  she bought a $9．99 whole chicken at a local restaurant．She then   30 the chicken bones(骨頭)home and made soup out of them．Nowadays young people often  31  a lot of money on entertainment(娛樂(lè))．But Sarah said，“I enjoy walking  32  in New York City．I love going to museums and parks．”  Did Sarah feel poor  33  cheap living? Not really．She even managed to take two trips，one to the Netherlands， 34  to Portland．

  “Don't think of saving money as something  35 ．It's a kind of game，”said Sarah．

1.A．Until         B．Because            C．After                         D．Unless

2.A．found        B．tried                  C．a(chǎn)sked for                D．looked for

3.A．more than     B．less than       C shorter than                       D．higher than

4.A．can          B．may                      C．could                            D．might

5.A．difficult      B．possible              C．useful                       D．different

6.A．a(chǎn)lready       B．sometimes      C．hardly                D．a(chǎn)lways

7.A．helps         B．becomes                C．makes                          D．means

8.A．food          B．rest                C．studying                 D．playing

9.A．Soon         B．Finally            C．Once                   D．Again

10.A．prepared      B．took            C．caught                     D．picked

11.A．pay          B．lend                   C．spend                       D．save

12.A．a(chǎn)long         B．up                   C．down                     D．a(chǎn)round

13.A．by            B．up                   C．a(chǎn)t                              D．between

14.A．a(chǎn)nother       B．the other              C．others                    D．the others

15.A．hard          B．interesting      C．nice                   D．great