Once there were five beggars (乞丐). One was English, one Turkish (土耳其人), one Greek (希臘人),
one was an Arab (阿拉伯人) and one was Persian (波斯人). One day they met and decided to stay together,
sharing what they had and helping each other in trouble times.
    Soon a man passed them in the street and gave them a coin. They talked about what to do with it. At last
they decided to buy something to eat.
     "Let's buy some grapes!" said the Englishman. But the Turkish wanted"uzum", the Arab"aneb", the Greek
"stafelea", and the Persian insisted on (堅持) "angur". They did not understand each other's language very well.
Soon they quarreled and even fought.
     While they were fighting about how to spend the money, a stranger came along. He knew all the five
languages. He asked them why they were fighting. After they told him, he said,"Give me your coin. I will buy
what you want."
     He was soon back with a bunch of grapes. Each beggar was happy, as each had what he had wanted.
They all asked for the same thing, but the word for "grapes" is different in different languages.
     If people could understand each other, there would be no need to fight.

1. The five ___________ came from different countries, so they didn't speak the ___________ language.
2. ___________ the money, they decided to buy ___________ to eat.
3. They quarreled and even ___________ because they didn't ___________ each other's language very well.
4. With the ___________ of the stranger, they were ___________ to get what they wanted.
5. In fact, all of them wanted to buy ___________. If everyone can know different languages,
    we have no ___________ understanding people.

     Dick was born in a poor family. His father had a small boat and went fishing in the morning and sold the
fish in the market in the afternoon. Then he bought some food for his family.
     (A) "No, it's much cheaper," said the man."But another name was engraved (刻) on it.""It doesn't matter,"
said Dick. "My aunt couldn't read."
     (B) The woman was very happy but one day she died in a traffic accident. The young man was very sad.
After he buried her, he decided to buy a beautiful tombstone (墓碑) for her. He went to town and came in a
shop, but all the tombstones were too expensive.
     (C) He asked,"Do you sell an old tombstone, sir?""Yes, we do, sir." answered the shopkeeper."Is it as
expensive as the new one?"
     (D) Twenty years passed. Dick became a tall, strong man. He found work on a farm. He worked hard and
wanted to get more money. He often went to see his aunt with some nice presents.
     (E) When winter came, they were often hungry. One morning the hungry man fell into the river and wasn't
found. Dick's mother left her three-year-old son without saying good-bye. His aunt had to look after him. 
      __________________________________________

     Lucy looks out of the window. She finds a bird sitting on the grass. It can't fly. Lucy goes out and
picks up the bird. She looks at the bird carefully and she is very sad to find that the bird's wings get hurt (受
傷了). Lucy takes care of the bird. A few months later its wings are better. Lucy lets the bird fly away. Now
the bird comes to Lucy's window every morning to wake her up. After hearing the bird singing, Lucy gets up
quickly. She is never late for school any more. In the afternoon, when Lucy comes back home, the bird is
waiting for her. She gives it some bird food. Lucy and the bird become good friends.

1. The story is about _______.

A. a happy day
B. walking to school
C. a girl's getting a present
D. a girl and a bird

2. Lucy sees the bird _______.

A. on the grass
B. in the tree
C. on the table
D. under the bed

3. What does Lucy do when she meets the bird?

A. She kills the bird.
B. She takes care of the bird.
C. She hurts the bird.
D. She plays with the bird.

4. The bird's _______ get hurt.

A. legs
B. head
C. body
D. wings

5. Lucy gives the bird _______ to eat.

A. grass
B. bird food
C. money
D. water

     It was Mother's Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn't go back home. When he passed
by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind."I'll send Mum some roses (玫瑰)."
     While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside."How many roses can I get for only five
dollars, Madam?" he asked. The assistant was trying to tell him roses were as expensive as forty dollars a
dozen (一打). Maybe he would be happy with carnations (康乃馨).
    "No, I have to have red roses." He said,"My mum was badly ill last year and I didn't get to spend much
time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses as rose is her favorite."
     After hearing it, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them,
the assistant said,"Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you."Taking the roses, the young
man almost jumped into the air and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty-five dollars John paid to see
the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the assistant to send them to his mother.
     As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park.
But soon he realized it was not a park but a cemetery (墓地). Crying, the young man carefully laid the roses,"
Mum, oh, Mum, why didn't I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mum and tell her I
love her."
     Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.

1. The assistant tried to ask the young man to buy carnations instead of roses because _______.

A. carnations were nicer than roses
B. roses were saved for John
C. roses were more expensive than carnations
D. carnations were special flowers for Mother's Day

2. John spent _______ altogether (總共) in the flower shop that day.

A. $5
B. $25
C. $30
D. $55

3. The young man cried at the tomb because he _______.

A. had spent all his money on the roses
B. wasn't able to tell his mother he loved her himself
C. felt sorry to ask John to pay for his flowers
D. hadn't got enough money for his sick mother

4. At last John changed his mind and went home because he wanted to _______.

A. tell his mother he loved her himself
B. ask his mother for more money
C. tell his mother the young man's story
D. ask his mother if she liked roses

5. The writer writes the passage to tell us "_______".

A. Buy roses for your mother when she is ill
B. Let your mother know how much you love her
C. Work hard to get more money for your mother
D. Send your mother flowers on Mother's Day

     Walter owns three Italian restaurants which are running very well in Rhode Island in America. Every day
his restaurants welcome crowds of customers (顧客) all over the world.
     He studied to be a cook, but he sees now that his success is the result of a lifetime education. When he
opened his first restaurant, all of a sudden his schooling knowledge, the history of his family and the ethics
(道德準則) of his father came into play. It made him a person who studied and explored the secret in the
food business.   
     Walter's learning never stops. He says,"The food business is one where you need to stay on top. Cooks
should be trained. You have to keep on studying or you will be left behind." So he spends more time in reading.
Every time he gets new ideas from the book, he brings them into his work.
     Walter also has a clear understanding about success. That is he would like to be remembered as a person
who is innovative (創(chuàng)新的), who believes in the Italian cooking culture (文化) in America. Food is like a bridge
connecting to the past, to the family and to the country. He says,"Success to me is not how much money I
make, but if at the end of the day I am able to make fifteen or twenty customers happy, I'm a happy man."

1. The underlined (劃線的) phrase" came into play" means _______.

A. played a joke on him
B. needed to be used
C. gave him much help
D. began to be studied

2. . The secret of Waiter's success is _______.

A. building a bridge to the country
B. keeping on learning without any stop
C. getting new cooking ideas from his family
D. bringing the Italian cooking culture into America

3. From the last sentence of the passage, we can infer (推斷) that it is _______.

A. rewarding to make a lot of money
B. exciting to have more and more customers
C. important to make the customers pleased
D. impossible to make 15 or 20 customers happy every day

4. We can learn from the passage that _______.

A. the lifetime education is important
B. innovative spirit always comes first
C. exploring the food business is more difficult
D. new ideas are necessary in running a restaurant

5. The best title (題目) for the passage is _______.

A. Culture is Important for Cooks
B. A Cook and His Customers
C. The Story of Three Restaurants
D. A Winner is Made, not Born