My parents influenced us with the concepts of family, faith and love for one's motherland when l was young.Even though we struggled to make ends meet, they stressed how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. I got my first real job when l was ten.My dad, Benjamin, injured his back working in a cardboard - box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist.He rented space in a little mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr.Ben's Coiffure. The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week, which meant getting up at 3 a.m. to pick up rubbish. Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower.Mom and I emptied rubbish cans and picked up rubbish by hand.It took two to three hours to clean the lot.I'd s1eep in the car on the way home. I did this for two years, but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime, I acquired discipline  and a strong work morality , and learned at an early age the importance of balancing life's competing interests---in my case, school, homework and a job.This really helped during my senior year of high school, when l worked 40 hours a week flipping hamburgers at a fast-food joint while taking a full load of college-prepared courses. _ .I attended the U.S.Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degree in law and business from Harvard.Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California state committee.In these jobs and in everything else I've done, I have never forgotten those nights in the parking lot.The experience taught me that there is dignity in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families, that is something we should honor. In order to get a discount on rent,  _ A) his father had to work as a hairstylist B) his father had to work in a cardboard - box factory C) they had to clean the-parking lot three nights a week D) his father had to pick up litter by hand three hours a day
C


(Question)
When many people are worried that there are no more heroes in the modern times, two university students who lost their lives to rescue drowning children have shown that heroes still exist. According to the Inner Mongolia Morning Post, the tragedy   on the afternoon of December 14, 2002 when three school students skating on a frozen lake in Qingcheng Park in Hohhot fell through the ice into the freezing water. More than 20 university students who happened to be near the place where it happened immediately went to the rescue of the children. Two children were quickly rescued, but the third died. The child's body was not found for three hours. Two of the rescuers, Liu Ye and Hao Longbiao, also died of cold and tiredness. The body of Hao who took the lead in jumping into the lake was not found until the next day. A student who was unwilling to tell his name said he and his classmates from the local college were taking photos at the lake. When they heard the children's cries for help, they went to the ice hole hand in hand to rescue the children. But the ice kept breaking, causing most of them to fall into the icy water. Local people held mourning ceremonies   at the lake. Eight of the students were seriously affected by the freezing water and were being kept in hospital for further observation  , but their lives were no longer in danger. The author wrote the passage to    _   . A) warn people of the danger of skating on ice B) ask people to learn from the brave university students C) tell us a tragedy D) advise university students to cherish   their lives
(Answer)
B


Ques: Lisa has always been overweight. She wanted to lose weight, not just because she wanted to look more beautiful and healthier, but also because it would make life easier. For example, it was difficult for Lisa to find ready-made clothes that would fit. She had to ask a tailor to make clothes that were large enough. In school, she needed a special chair which was bigger and stronger than the other chairs. If she went for a walk, she got tired very quickly. She was also unhappy about the way people treated her sometimes. "People look at me and even make fun of me. That's unfair! It's true that I'm overweight, but I don't think people should treat me differently because I'm big. I can't enjoy having dinner with my friends because I'm afraid of getting fatter. "Her friends and family never made fun of her. They tried to help her instead. They wanted her to be happy and healthy. Sometimes when Lisa was feeling sad, she didn't want to speak to anyone.  But now things are quite different. Last month her classmates were preparing for the School Art Week. Someone advised Lisa to play the lead role of the Proud Queen who was tall and fat. Lisa agreed and practiced a lot.  Soon after the play, Lisa became the star! She did so well that everybody remembered the Proud Queen. They stood around her and said "Congratulations"to her. She even won the School Best Actress Award for her wonderful performance.  Now Lisa doesn't worry about being fat any more. She believes in the English saying " _ How did Lisa feel about her weight at first? A) Proud B) Worried C) Happy D) Strange
Ans: B


We are not who we think we are. The American self-image is spread with the golden glow of opportunity. We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society but as a place where class is mutable--a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one's birth. The Economic Mobility Project, an ambitious research led by Pew Charitable Trusts, looked at the economic fortunes of a large group of families over time, comparing the income of parents in the late 1960s with the income of their children in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Here is the finding: "The 'rags to riches' story is much more common in Hollywood than on Main Street. Only 6 percent of children born to parents with family income at the very bottom move to the top. That is right, just 6 percent of children born to parents who ranked in the bottom of the study sample, in terms of income, were able to bootstrap their way into the top . Meanwhile, an incredible 42 percent of children born into that lowest are still stuck at the bottom, having been unable to climb a single rung of the income ladder. It is noted that even in Britain---a nation we think of as burdened with a hidebound class system-children who are born poor have a better chance of moving up. When the studies were released, most reporters focused on the finding that African-Americans born to middle-class or upper middle-class families are earning slightly less, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than did their parents. One of the studies indicates, in fact, that most of the financial gains white families have made in the past three decades can be attributed to the entry of white women into the labor force. This is much less true for African-Americans. The picture that emerges from all the quintiles, correlations and percentages is of a nation in which, overall, "the current generation of adults is better off than the previous one", as one of the studies notes. The median income of the families in the sample group was... What might be the best title for this passage? A) Social Upward Mobility. B) Incredible Income Gains. C) Inequality in Wealth. D) America Not Land of Opportunity.

D