The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know.

I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled，little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said，“Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I' m eighty－seven years old. Can I give you a hug？”I laughed and enthusiastically responded，“Of course you may.”and she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such a young，innocent age？”I asked. She jokingly replied，“I'm here to meet a rich husband，get married，have a couple of children，and then retire and travel.”“No，seriously？”I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

 “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one. ”she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milk- shake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always attracted listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

 Over the course of the year，Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she enjoyed the attention from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium(講臺). As she began to deliver her prepared speech，she dropped her 3x5 cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed, she leaned into the microphone and simply said，“I'm sorry I'm so nervous. I gave up beer for Lent(一種威士忌的牌子)  and this whisky is killing me. I'll never get my speech back in order to let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began：“We do not stop playing because we are old；we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young，being happy，and achieving success.” “You have to laugh and find humor every day.” You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams，you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it.” “There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing，you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty－seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn eighty－eight. Anybody can grow older. It’s non-optional but that doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.” “Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did，but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.” She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in honor of the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be. When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it! These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

1.The writer provides the details about Rose in Paragraph 2 to show that_______.

A. she was an innocent and enthusiastic person

B. she was an optimistic and humorous person

C. she was an aggressive person with a strong sense of honor

D. she was an intelligent person with highly motivated personality

2.Why does the writer compare Rose to “time machine” in Paragraph 3?

A. To describe the friendship between Rose and her young schoolmates.

B. To stress her old age and rich wisdom and experience.

C. To show that she enjoyed dressing up in spite of her old age.

D. To emphasize that she took on the challenge at such an old age.

3.Which of the following best explains the sentence ”We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing”(Paragraph 6)?

A. “If we lose our dreams, we will regret for what we did when young.”

B. “If we don’t laugh every day, we will easily get old.”

C. “Once we stop seeking and working for our dreams, we will really become old.”

D. “Once we stop exercising, we will get weaker physically and mentally.”

4.It can be inferred from Paragraph 6 that________.

A. those who don’t have dreams are as good as dead

B. growing old is uncontrollable but growing up is optional

C. the elderly usually feel regretful for what they did

D. our talent and ability decline with age

5.The method the writer uses to describe the character of Rose is________.

A. making comments               B. making comparisons

C. providing arguments             D. giving examples

6.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Meeting challenges            B. Secrets to success

C. Dream in heart                D. My best friend

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know.
I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled，little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said，“Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I' m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug？”I laughed and enthusiastically responded，“Of course you may.”and she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such a young，innocent age？”I asked. She jokingly replied，“I'm here to meet a rich husband，get married，have a couple of children，and then retire and travel.”“No，seriously？”I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one. ”she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milk- shake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always attracted listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the course of the year，Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she enjoyed the attention from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium(講臺). As she began to deliver her prepared speech，she dropped her 3x5 cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed, she leaned into the microphone and simply said，“I'm sorry I'm so nervous. I gave up beer for Lent(一種威士忌的牌子)  and this whisky is killing me. I'll never get my speech back in order to let me just tell you what I know.”
As we laughed she cleared her throat and began：“We do not stop playing because we are old；we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young，being happy，and achieving success.” “You have to laugh and find humor every day.” You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams，you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it.” “There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing，you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. It’s non-optional but that doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.” “Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did，but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.” She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.
One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in honor of the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be. When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it! These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE

1. 1.

   The writer provides the details about Rose in Paragraph 2 to show that_______

   1. A.
      she was an innocent and enthusiastic person
   2. B.
      she was an optimistic and humorous person
   3. C.
      she was an aggressive person with a strong sense of honor
   4. D.
      she was an intelligent person with highly motivated personality
2. 2.

   Why does the writer compare Rose to “time machine” in Paragraph 3?

   1. A.
      To describe the friendship between Rose and her young schoolmates
   2. B.
      To stress her old age and rich wisdom and experience
   3. C.
      To show that she enjoyed dressing up in spite of her old age
   4. D.
      To emphasize that she took on the challenge at such an old age
3. 3.

   Which of the following best explains the sentence ”We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing”(Paragraph 6)?

   1. A.
      “If we lose our dreams, we will regret for what we did when young.”
   2. B.
      “If we don’t laugh every day, we will easily get old.”
   3. C.
      “Once we stop seeking and working for our dreams, we will really become old.”
   4. D.
      “Once we stop exercising, we will get weaker physically and mentally.”
4. 4.

   It can be inferred from Paragraph 6 that________

   1. A.
      those who don’t have dreams are as good as dead
   2. B.
      growing old is uncontrollable but growing up is optional
   3. C.
      the elderly usually feel regretful for what they did
   4. D.
      our talent and ability decline with age
5. 5.

   The method the writer uses to describe the character of Rose is________

   1. A.
      making comments
   2. B.
      making comparisons
   3. C.
      providing arguments
   4. D.
      giving examples
6. 6.

   Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Meeting challenges
   2. B.
      Secrets to success
   3. C.
      Dream in heart
   4. D.
      My best friend

In this age of ours, I find that almost all of my friends are becoming mere voices.
Not too long ago when friends came, they would fill half the drawing room and their voices would penetrate the four walls and disturb all the neighbors. Now they have all become, step by step, into invisible and untouched beings, whose tiny voices can only be heard by one ear through the telephone, no louder than the mosquitoes(蚊子).
Since this has become a necessary part of modern life, I too have learnt to live with this “ear language”. Many friends have become more distant because they are not very good at this way of communication（交流）, others have become closer through ear language, and there are some friends I know by voice only. There is one particular voice friend I got to know through a very curious incident.
One day my telephone rang. When I lifted the receiver- a young lady’s voice informed me that she was phoning in answer to an advertisement for a night club program hostess. Obviously she had got the wrong number. The incident should have ended there and then. Actually, it was a sweet voice, only her poor imitation（模仿）of Hong Kong pronunciation and intonation got on my nerve and especially the “wa!” gave me the goose flesh. I told her that if I were the boss of the club, I wouldn’t give her a second thought because of her poor pronunciation. The young lady at the other end of the phone immediately came up with a surprising suggestion that, of course in her true local accent, she wanted to learn proper standard spoken Chinese speech from me, because she valued every chance very much. To my great surprise, we became “phone” friends. Every day, at the agreed time, she would ring me up and our “lesson” would begin. And she was tested and interviewed by a radio station in the south and got acceptd. She phoned me for the last time to thank me and to say good-bye. We had already formed a very deep “voice” friendship and have left deep unchangeable vocal(聽覺的) impressions in each other’s mind. Any sudden appearance of visual images(視覺印象), good or bad, could only be destructive.

1. 1.

   The underlined word penetrate in the first paragraph means _____.

   1. A.
      pass quickly by             
   2. B.
      force a way through 
   3. C.
      hear accidentally      
   4. D.
      make a hole in
2. 2.

   The passage suggests us that _____.

   1. A.
      they would be friends forever
   2. B.
      they would meet in the future
   3. C.
      they hadn’t had and wouldn’t have any interview
   4. D.
      the young lady was able to sing sweet songs in standard Chinese
3. 3.

   We know from the passage that _____.

   1. A.
      in modern times people get in touch less than before
   2. B.
      young people enjoys getting together very much
   3. C.
      people are more ready to help others
   4. D.
      people can earn a lot of money in the night club
4. 4.

   Which is wrong according to the passage?

   1. A.
      The writer taught the young lady without pay.
   2. B.
      The young lady can’t be a native of Beijing.
   3. C.
      The writer is not fond of getting in touch with others
   4. D.
      Neither of the two is ready to see each other.    

“There’s going to be one less boy in the room!” The words rang in my ears as the criminal(罪犯) pointed his gun against my head. The floodgates opened and tears ran down my face. No one in the courtroom(法庭) moved. Everyone was held silent with fear. A few seconds passed and the criminal put down his gun, turning his back on me.
“Cut!” the director shouted with joy. One take! We had done the scene in just one take. Then all the people who acted in the film went off for lunch.
I got my food and joined them, and the criminal, who had moments before been so scary, took his seat beside me and told us many funny jokes. A table of adults surrounded me, but I was never uncomfortable talking with strangers. I worked with these people and they worked with me. We talked, we laughed, we got to know each other and sometimes we became friends. At the end of the day we all went our separate ways, but we had been drawn close by working together to make this play.
After the show was broadcast, my friends asked if I had been scared of the criminal. At first this sounded funny. He was, after all, a kind and intelligent man. Then I realized that they didn’t see that side of him. Television and films are about creating an alternate(交替的) life that appears real even if for a while. We had been successful in doing that. Even my friends, who knew the real me, were drawn in the make-believe world of our story.
Acting has helped me to feel comfortable in my own skin and in communicating with others. I feel relaxed during interviews and when leadership opportunities come. Change is not threatening(威脅) to me, and I am grateful for the chance to learn and to grow in knowledge and experience in my life.
【小題1】
In the film, what was the manner of the author’s character when facing the criminal?