Hertford Estate, Two Bridges,
Rickmansworth, West Sussex.
Middx.
25th February
Dear sir,
Just over six months ago, I saw an advertisement in the Morning Mail for a set of the complete works
of William Shakespeare. Your company, Cosmo books Ltd., offered this set ( eight books of plays and
two books of poetry) at what was claimed to be a "remarkable" price: fifteen pounds and fifty pence,
including postage and packing. I had wanted a set of Shakespeare"s plays and poems for some time, and
these books, in red imitation leather, looked particularly attractive; so I sent for them.
Two weeks later, the books arrived, together with a set of the complete works of Charles Dickens
which I had not ordered. So I returned the Dickens books to you, with a cheque for fifteen pounds and
fifty pence for the works of Shakespeare. Two more weeks passed. Then there arrived on my door step
a second set of the works of Shakespeare, the same set of novels by Dickens and a six book set of the
plays of Moliere, in French. Since I do not read French, these were of no use to me at all. However, I
could not afford to post all these books back to you, so I wrote to you at the end of August of last year,
instructing you to come and collect all the books that I did not want, and asking you not to send any
other books until further notice.
You did not reply to that letter. Instead you sent me a bill for forty two pounds , and a set of the plays
of Schiller, in German. Since then, a new set of books has arrived every two weeks, the works of Goethe, the poems of Milton, the plays of Strindberg; I hardly know what I have. The books are still all in their
boxes, in the garage, and my car has to stand in the rain outside.
I have no room for any more books, and even if I read from now until the Last Judgement, I should not finish reading all the books that you have sent me.
Please send no more books, send no more bills, send no more angry letters demanding payment. Just
send one large lorry and take all the books away, leaving me only with the one set of the complete works
of Shakespeare for which I have paid.
Yours faithfully,
SIMON WALKER
B. urge Cosmo Books Ltd. to take away the books he had not ordered.
C. laugh at Cosmo Books Ltd..
D. advise readers not to order books from Cosmo Books Ltd..
B. a set of 10 books of the works of Shakespeare.
C. a book containing all the plays and poems of Shakespeare.
D. fifteen pounds and fifty pence.
B. he claimed that the books were being offered at a remarkable price.
C. he had ordered the set and had been waiting for them to come for some time.
D. the set he already had was not particularly attractive.
B. continued to send books that Mr. Walker did not order.
C. still not sent Mr. Walker the books that he ordered.
D. made a gift to Mr. Walker of several sets of books.
A. bitterness
B. respect
C. annoyance
D. humor
A few years ago I asked my children"s governess, Julia Vassilyevna, to come into my study.
" Sit down, Julia Vassilyevna," I said."Let"s settle our accounts. Although you most likely need some
money, you stand on ceremony and won"t ask for it yourself. Now then, we agree on thirty rubles a
month…"
" Forty."
" No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay the governess thirty. Now then, you"ve been here two
months, so…"
" Two months and five days."
" Exactly two months. I made a specific note of it. That means you have sixty rubles coming to you.
Subtract nine Sundays… you know you didn"t work with Kolya on Sundays, you only took walks. And
three holidays…"
Julia Vassilyevna flushed a deep red and picked at the flounce of her dress, but-not a word.
" Three holidays, therefore take off twelve rubles. Four days Kolya was sick and there were no
lessons, as you were occupied only with Vanya. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you
permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven-nineteen. Subtract…that leaves…hmm…forty-one
rubles. Correct?"
Julia Vassilyena"s left eye reddened and filled with moisture. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but-not a word.
" Around New Year"s you broke a teacup and saucer: take off two rubles. The cup cost more, it was
an heirloom, but-let it go. When didn"t I take a loss? Then, due to your neglect, Kolya climbed a tree
and tore his jacket: take off ten. Also due to your heedlessness the maid stole Vanya"s shoes. You ought
to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more rubles off. The tenth of January I gave
you ten rubles…"
" You didn"t " whispered Julia Vassilyevna.
" But I made a note of it."
" Well…all right."
" Take twenty-seven from forty-one-that leaves fourteen."
Both eyes filled with tears. Perspiration appeared on the thin, pretty little nose. Poor girl!
" Only once was I given any money," she said in a trembling voice, " and that was by your wife. Three
rubles, nothing more."
" Really? You see now, and I didn"t make a note of it! Take three from fourteen… leaves eleven.
Here"s your money, my dear. Three , three, three, one and one. Here it is!"
I handed her eleven rubles. She took them and with trembling fingers stuffed them into her pocket.
" Merci," she whispered.
I jumped up and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger.
" For what, this-"merci"?" I asked.
" For the money."
" But you know I"ve cheated you, God"s sake-robbed you! I have actually stolen from you! Why
this "merci"?"
" In my other places they didn"t give me anything at all."
" They didn"t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach
you … I"m going to give you the entire eighty rubles! Here they are in an envelope all ready for you…Is it
really possible to be so spineless? Why don"t you protest? Why be silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws-to be such a nincompoop?"
She smiled crookedly and I read in her expression: " It is possible."
I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and , to her great surprise, gave her the eighty rubles. She
murmured her litter "merci" several times and went out. I looked after her and thought: "How easy it is to
crush the weak in this world!"
to do was _______
B. to criticize her for neglecting her duties as a governess.
C. to play a joke on her so as to amuse himself.
D. to teach her not to be so spineless.
B. he wanted to pay her as little money as possible.
C. he wanted to make her realize that she was being cheated and protest against it.
D. he wanted to make her feel miserable.
B. she was a very dumb girl.
C. she thought it was of no use to protest to her employer.
D. she loved the children she taught.
B. she didn"t protest to him.
C. he thought that by simply saying " Merci" she wasn"t polite enough.
D. he didn"t like the way in which she stuffed the money into per pocket and expressed her thanks.
B. how an employer tried to teach the governess a cruel lesson.
C. how a governess was fired by her employer for being a nincompoop.
D. how an employer punished the governess for not having done a good job.
often treated 2 . People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not give her good 3 ,
or take her seriously. 4 they pretended not to understand her, or even acted 5 they did not hear her.
My mother has long realized the 6 of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she 7 have me call
people on the phone to 8 I was she. I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who
had been rude to her. One time 1 had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人). I said in an adolescent voice that was not very 9 , "This is Mrs. Tan." And my mother was standing beside me, 10 loudly, "Why he don"t send me check, already two week late." And then, in perfect English I said, "I"m getting rather 11 . You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it 12 . "Then s
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want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss. "And so I 13 the stockbroker again, "I can"t
14 any more excuse. If I don"t receive the cheek immediately, I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week. "
The next week we 15 in New York. While I was sitting there 16 , my mother,
the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English.
When I was a teen
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my mother"s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it,
is vivid, direct, and full of observation and 18 . It was the language that helped 19 the way 1 saw
things, expressed ideas, and made 20 of the world.
( )2. A. anxiously
( )3. A. checks
( )4. A. otherwise
( )5. A. even though
( )6. A. features
( )7. A. could
( )8. A. pretend
( )19. A. awkward
( )10. A. whispering
( )11. A. pleased
( )12. A. hasn"t arrived
( )13. A. turned to
( )14. A. accept
( )15. A. set off
( )16. A. red-faced
( )17. A. annoyed
( )18. A. value
( )19. A. set
( )20. A. sense
B. instantly
B. attitudes
B. therefore
B. as if
B. disadvantages
B. would
B. protect
B. convincing
B. shouting
B. irritated
B. doesn"t arrive
B. spoke to
B. hold
B. ended up
B. excited
B. embarrassed
B. importance
B. shape
B. fun
C. carefully
C. expressions
C. instead
C. now that
C. limitations
C. might
C. prevent
C. perfect
C. talking
C. concerned
C. didn"t arrive
C. came to
C. tolerate
C. settled down
C. bored
C. frightened
C. use
C. choose
C. use
D. unfairly
D. service
D. however
D. if only
D. effects
D. should
D. prefer
D. useful
D. crying
D. interested
D. isn"t to arrive
D. referred to
D. notice
D. called on
D. scared
D. amused
D. wisdom
D. build
D. comment
had just completed her first brain surgery to remove a tumor and was going through radiation treatment,
was now officially given a two percent chance of survival as this type of cancer had no cure.
My wife and I decided to take our daughter to lunch before continuing our afternoon conversation.
We went to a local restaurant where we sat in silence waiting for the waitress. I noticed a very elderly
couple sitting a few booths away, who were also in silence and did not speak a word. I couldn"t help but
wonder what challenges they had faced in their life and if they ever faced such terrible news about a child
of theirs.
We eventually ordered our lunch and still sitting in silence we ate what we could. At some point I
became intrigued (好奇的) by the old couple. I thought to myself that they hadn"t yet spoken to each
other and I wondered if it was the peace they were enjoying or the food or maybe both. However, at
some point I lost interest and put my focus back on my lunch.
Molly was still talking away and enjoying her meal. Her mom and I both listened and tried to be happy
in her presence but it wasn"t going very well. All of a sudden I saw a hand come out of nowhere. It was
huge and I could tell that it had been afflicted with arthritis (关节炎). I couldn"t take my eyes off that
hand. It landed on my daughter"s tiny six-year-old hand and as it did I looked up; it was the old woman
who had been sitting with the old man in silence eating their lunch.
I looked into her eyes and she spoke, but not to me. She looked at my daughter and simply
whispered, "If I could do more for you I would…" and then she smiled and moved away to join her
husband, who had moved towards the door.
"Look, a whole dollar," Molly spoke with excitement as she discovered a crumpled one dollar bill left
behind by the old lady. I looked up to thank her, but she was gone. I sat stunned, not sure what had just
happened and then I looked over at my wife. In almost unison, we broke out into a smile. The sadness of
the day had been wiped out by the crippled hand and generous touch of the old lady. The dollar, although exciting to Molly, was not what made us smile; it was the offer from the old lady, who felt our suffering.
The crippled hand symbolized a healing touch and made us realize that we did not have to fight this battle
alone.
B. didn"t need any more operations.
C. was likely to die soon.
D. had been treated by radiation.
B. confused
C. upset
D. indifferent
B. she had the responsibility for the safety of Molly.
C. she was an old friend of the author and can lend some money to them.
D. she would like to help Molly as much as possible.
B. The old couple had once gone through the same trouble as the author did.
C. The one dollar bill made the author feel touched by the warmth from others.
D. The old woman sympathized with Molly because she suffered from serious arthritis herself.
B. A touch of heaven
C. A crumpled dollar bill
D. A kind-hearted couple
black car drove out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and 3 the other car by 4 inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started
yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and 5 at the guy. And I mean,he was really 6 . So I asked, "Why did
you just do that? This guy almost 7 your car and sent us to the 8 !" This is when my taxi driver taught me 9 I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."
He 10 that many people are like garbage 11 . They run around full of garbage, full of frustration,
full of anger, and full of 12 . As their garbage piles 13 , they need a place to 14 it and sometimes
they"ll dump it on you. Don"t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don"t take
their garbage and 15 it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that 16 people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life"s 17 short to
wake up in the morning with 18 . So....Love the people who treat you right. 19 for the ones who don"t. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent 20 you take it!
( )2. A. immediately
( )3. A. missed
( )4. A. nearly
( )5. A. glanced
( )6. A. impatient
( )7. A. took
( )8. A. church
( )9. A. what
( )10. A. explained
( )11. A. cans
( )12. A. curiosity
( )13. A. away
( )14. A. drop
( )15. A. spare
( )16. A. wealthy
( )17. A. very
( )18. A. delight
( )19. A. Search
( )20. A. where
B. suddenly
B. lost
B. even
B. shouted
B. friendly
B. dropped
B. prison
B. that
B. argued
B. trucks
B. expectation
B. off
B. dump
B. suffer
B. thankful
B. so
B. regrets
B. Account
B. that
C. finally
C. caught
C. just
C. nodded
C. excited
C. moved
C. police station
C. which
C. stated
C. bins
C. disappointment
C. on
C. throw
C. spread
C. successful
C. too
C. satisfaction
C. Pray
C. why
D. quickly
D. crashed
D. still
D. waved
D. painful
D. ruined
D. hospital
D. how
D. described
D. collections
D. confidence
D. up
D. burn
D. share
D. faithful
D. far
D. generosity
D. Charge
D. how
from the Ukraine recently spent five weeks in a cage with Katya, a 200-kilo African lioness. Why? Well
for a start, he wanted to raise awareness of the treatment of animals in captivity. Secondly, he hoped to
break the Guinness World Record for time spent living in a cage with a lion. And thirdly? "I wanted to
show my children what kind of man I am," said Oleksander.
For 36 days, Oleksander and Katya shared the cage together. They ate hunks of meat thrown into
the cage by Oleksander"s wife, and slept side by side on a bed of hay. Oleksander did have a few more
creature comforts than his feline flatmate - he built himself a shower and toilet inside the enclosure. But he
didn"t use any soap as the sharp scent is upsetting to lions.
And as if living with the king of the jungle wasn"t dangerous enough, Katya was also pregnant at the
time. She gave birth during Oleksander"s stay. Wild animals are very protective of their young but the
zookeeper said Katya trusted him completely. Oleksander" wife, Olena, was also very trusting. "when he
first told me about the plan I was very scared. But I decided to support my husband."
Once the five weeks was up, Oleksander stepped out of the cage and declared the experiment a
success. He told a Russian news agency, "Katya taught me a lot about honesty and kindness." Also, a
representative from Guinness World Records confirmed that Oleksander ahd beaten the previous record
by three weeks.
But the parting was also bittersweet. "Katya was very sad to see me go," Oleksander noted. Oleksander"s wife, on the other hand, was very happy to have her husband back.
B. He hoped to break the Guinness World Record for time spent living in a cage with a lion.
C. He wanted to show his children his kindness as a man.
D. He wanted to earn money by taking the risk of living with a lion.
B. He equipped the enclosure with modern facilities, for example, a computer.
C. He put up a tent to protect himself from sun and rain.
D. He himself built a shower and toilet inside the enclosure.
B. He didn"t have any access to soap.
C. He didn"t like the smell of soap.
D. Soap was forbidden in the zoo.
B. objective
C. opposed
D. supportive
B. two
C. three
D. four
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