My first full-time job after high school was selling vacation packages via the telephone for a well-known company. One day, I was put through to a man who sounded a bit out of breath. I started with my normal pitch  , expecting to hear the normal reply --"I don't want any." Instead, he spoke in a faint, weak voice and told me how he wished to take a vacation I was offering, but he couldn't because he was dying of illness. He explained how he was lacking in oxygen then, and it took almost all his energy to answer the call. He asked if I smoked, which I did, and begged me to stop. He told me smoking was what was killing him. He told me to spend every day with my loved ones, and tell them how much I love them. At this point, I couldn't control myself. We ended the call, but I held on my phone to prevent another call coming in so I could _  I wrote down his name and address, and sent him a card appreciating his advice and praying for him and his family. Shortly after, I received a letter from Frank, along with a picture of him and his wife. We continued to write back and forth over the next few months, and became very fond of each other. He was old enough to be my grandfather, and in many ways, I felt as if he was. About a year later I received a letter from his wife. When I started to read, tears came to my eyes. She told me how Frank's battle with the disease had finally come to an end, and he passed away shortly before the Christmas. She wanted to thank me for the letters to Frank, and explained how Frank touched many lives over the years. At his funeral, to show just that, they read the 1st letter I had written to Frank to show how he affected a 19-year-old he'd never met. At Frank's funeral the author's 1st letter to Frank was read in order to   _  . A) encourage people to fight against disease and live bravely B) indicate that Frank touched many people's hearts C) show the good relationship between Frank and the author D) praise Frank and give thanks to the author
B

Difficult times often bring out the best in people. And this was the case for basketball star Yao Ming, who hosted a television show in Shanghai that raised US $ 300, 000 to help researchers find a cure for SARS. Fund-raising, or charity, is an act of goodwill towards others.  Charities in the West have more ways. Look at a typical day for Ruth, a wealthy woman in the UK, for example. Ruth wakes up in the morning and collects her post. There's a letter addressed to her with a picture of a half-dead, beaten horse. It's from a charity asking Ruth to donate money to save the animals. The door bell rings and there, on Ruth's doorstep, is an old woman asking for money to help the aged. She turns on the television, hears sad music and sees a picture of a wide-eyed child dying of hunger in Africa with an appeal for money to help the child. Ruth then goes shopping for a dress to wear to that evening's large party for the rich and famous. The tickets for charity shows often cost her a large sum of money, but she doesn't mind because most of the money is going to a charity that fights AIDS. She feels good about going because she's helping the sick.  Edna, a little old lady, looks after an old secondhand shop. Any profit it has made goes to a cancer charity. Now that she has retired, she has plenty of spare time to offer her services for free.  www.ks5u.com For people like Yao Ming, Ruth and Edna, charity is a virtue that holds the same importance in life as faith and hope. "As you look back on your life, the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others," said Scottish author Henry Drummond. What's the writer's attitude towards charity? A) It's something only people like Ruth can afford to do. B) The writer only informs us of the ways to perform charity. C) Charity is a virtue and he admires those who practice it. D) The writer doesn't make it clear in the passage.
C

Mr. Harris used to work in Dover, but then he changed his work, and he and his wife moved to another town. They did not have many friends there, but they soon met a lot of interesting people, and after a few weeks, they often went to dinner or to parties at other people's houses. Then Mrs. Harris said to her husband, "We've been to a lot of other people's houses, and now we must invite them to our house, mustn't we?" "Yes, certainly," answered her husband, "A big party will be the easiest thing, won't it? Then we can start to invite people to dinner in small numbers next month." So Mrs. Harris said, "Yes, I'll invite all our friends here to a big party on 5th December." "How many will that be?" Mr. Harris asked. "Don't invite too many." Mrs. Harris was beginning to write the invitations when her husband saw that she was writing, "Party. 6.30 to 8.30 p.m." "That isn't very nice, is it?" he said. "You're telling our guests that they must go at 8.30." So Mrs. Harris just wrote "Party. 6.30 p.m." A lot of guests came, and they all had a good time, so they did not go home at 8.30. In fact they were still there at mid-night when the door bell rang and a policeman arrived. He said, "You must stop making a noise, because someone has complained." Mr. Harris said he did not want to quarrel with the policeman, so everyone went home. They were sorry to have to go. When Mr. and Mrs. Harris were alone again, she said to him. "That was a surprise, wasn't it? Who complained about the noise?" "I did," Mr Harris answered in a tired voice. How long would Mrs. Harris like the party to last? A) From the morning till night. B) About fourteen hours. C) About two hours. D) Till midnight

C