The weather was warm, the food was inviting and the view was pretty — ____ we had a pleasant holiday．

         A．exactly           B．meanwhile            C．finally      D．a(chǎn)ltogether

Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.

Given that I teach students who are training to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”. “What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.

“Surgery(外科手術(shù))”, one replied. I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job. One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. “They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows, you can get at least 5cm taller!”

At that point, I was shocked. I am short, I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of agony(痛苦) just to be a few centimeters taller. I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall! It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.

No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost. In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career.

1.We can know from the passage that the author works as ______.

A. a doctor              B. a model              C. a teacher             D. a reporter

2.Many graduates today turn to cosmetic surgery to______.

A. marry a better man\woman

B. become a model

C. get an advantage over others in job-hunt

D. attract more admirers

3.According to the passage, the author believes that ______.

A. everyone should purchase perfection, whatever the cost

B. it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs

C. media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery

D. it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career

4. What does the author think of his height?

A. He hates to be called a short man.

B. He tries to increase his height through surgery.

C. He always wears shoes with thick soles to hide the fact.

D. He just accepts it as it is

It was early spring. The sun was strong and warm. I went over the hillside fields behind my village,    36    buntings and linnets, the birds I loved most.

I turned along a bush between two fields where I had seen the birds before, but on this fine day almost the first birds that I saw were winter visitors. I was    37    not to see a bunting straightaway, but I went on, stopping occasionally to look at the black-thorn (黑刺李) flowers in the bush, and    38    I did hear a bunting singing. Or was it? Was I not perhaps turning a note of skylark (云雀) song into that of the song I was hoping to hear?

But the bunting’s song was pretty clear, and within a few minutes I was proved

   39   . The song was coming from the bush, and as I approached    40    I saw the brown bird resting in a small tree. It opened its mouth, and    41    once more. Then it flew off. It was the only one I saw that day, but at least I had found one of the birds I had

   42   .

It was not until I was on my way back home that I caught sight of some    43   . I saw five of them gathering on the ground when I was just coming back beside the

   44    where I had found the bunting. As I came nearer, they flew up, spreading their tails so that their white edges    45    to look like a white fan in the sky. Then, to my

   46   , some big pigeons suddenly came flying and joined the linnets.

A moment later they had all    47   — but I had fulfilled my hopes for the day.

A. looking at  B. looking for C. looking up  D. looking after

A. disappointed      B. dismissed   C. dissatisfied D. disturbed

A. directly      B. gradually   C. suddenly    D. immediately

A. proper       B. right C. useful        D. true

A. sadly  B. hurriedly   C. proudly     D. quietly

A. danced       B. ate      C. sang    D. shouted

A. observed   B. noticed       C. expected     D. described

A. linnets       B. skylarks     C. pigeons     D. buntings

A. bush B. road   C. grass   D. black-thorn

A. widened     B. enlarged     C. lengthened  D. expanded

A. knowledge        B. pleasure     C. amusement       D. honour

A. gathered     B. lost     C. missed       D. gone

Jimmy is an automotive mechanic, but he lost his job a few months ago. He has a good heart, but always feared applying for a new job.

One day, he gathered up all his strength and decided to attend a job interview. His appointment was at 10 am and it was already 8:30. While waiting for a bus to the office where he was supposed to be interviewed, he saw an elderly man wildly kicking the tyre of his car. Obviously there was something wrong with the car. Jimmy immediately went up to lend him a hand. When Jimmy finished working on the car, the old man asked him how much he should pay for the service. Jimmy said there was no need to pay him; he just helped someone in need, and he had to rush for an interview. Then the old man said, “Well, I could take you to the office for your interview. It’s the least I could do. Please, I insist.” Jimmy agreed.

Upon arrival, Jimmy found a long line of applicants waiting to be interviewed. Jimmy still had some grease on him after the car repair, but he did not have much time to wash it off or have a change of shirt. One by one, the applicants left the interviewer’s office with disappointed look on their faces. Finally his name was called. The interviewer was sitting on a large chair facing the office window. Rocking the chair back and forth, he asked, “Do you really need to be interviewed?” Jimmy’s heart sank. “With the way I look now, how could I possibly pass this interview?” he thought to himself.

Then the interviewer turned the chair and to Jimmy’s surprise, it was the old man he helped earlier in the morning. It turned out he was the General Manager of the company.

“Sorry I had to keep you waiting, but I was pretty sure I made the right decision to have you as part of our workforce before you even stepped into the office. I just know you’d be a trustworthy worker. Congratulations!” Jimmy sat down and they shared a cup of well-deserved coffee as he landed himself a new job.

1. Why did Jimmy apply for a new job?

A．He was out of work                      B．He was bored with his job

C．He wanted a higher position               D．He hoped to find a better boss

2.What did Jimmy see on the way to the interview?

A．A friend’s car had a flat tyre              B．a(chǎn) wild man was pushing a car

C．a(chǎn) terrible accident happened              D．a(chǎn)n old man’s car broke down

3.Why did the old man offer Jimmy a ride?

A．He was also to be interviewed              B．He needed a traveling companion

C．He always helped people in need           D．He was thankful to Jimmy

4.How did Jimmy feel on hearing the interviewer’s question?

A．He was sorry for the other applicants

B．There was no hope for him to get the job

C．He regretted helping the old man

D．The interviewer was very rude

5.What can we learn from Jimmy’s experience？

A．Where there is a will, there’s a way

B．A friend in need is a friend indeed

C．Good is rewarded with good.

D．Two heads are better than one

   I decided early in my college years that I wanted to experience living abroad before entering in the real world. During my senior year, while most of my friends were interviewing for “real world” jobs, I was investigating how I could go work in a different country. At that early stage of my inquiry I was pretty open about where to go and what kind of work to undertake. My desire to live abroad was so strong that I was willing to do anything anywhere.

   Soon I learned about BUNAC, a program that seemed to be designed precisely for student with such interests. BUNAC offers work visas ( 簽證 ) for students or recent graduates to work overseas. Of the six countries available, I chose England because of the language and opportunities for employment.

   Two months after I graduated from college I went to Britain. I traveled throughout Europe for six weeks before arriving in London. I got to London on August 24, 1997 with a work visa, but no job or place to live. I have to admit it was pretty scary! The day after I arrived, I experienced my first British holiday --- a Bank Holiday, a national holiday that everything is closed for the day. It wasn’t until my third day that I visited the BUNAC office and I learned all about living and working in Britain, paying taxes, getting health insurance, traveling around Britain, finding accommodations and most importantly, finding a job. I was most scared about finding a job since my financial resources were running low and I needed to get my pay soon.

   It turned out that finding a job was not so difficult. The BUNAC program is very well known in London and many employers participate in the program. As a result there are many employers in many different fields to choose from. My job search began when I chose three different business employers and faxed them my resume (簡(jiǎn)歷). That first week I had three interviews. I accepted my first offer working for Merrill Lynch International Bank. The Merrill Lynch office I worked at was in a beautiful, old building located two blocks from Buckingham Palace. The people were nice and the work interesting.

   It was easy to adjust to life in London. And there is so much to see that after six months exploring I probably covered only half of what I intended.

1. When the author studied at college she decided _________.

A. to enter the “real world” after graduation

B. to go and work in a foreign country

C. to settle in a different country

D. to find a job in the home country

2.The author chose England because ______.

A. it is a beautiful country and people there are nice

B. England is spoken there and it is easy to find a job

C. it is in Europe, not far from her own country

D. the BUNAC office is located there

3. After the author arrived in London, what worried her most was ________.

A. getting a job                     B. buying health insurance

C. traveling around Britain          D. finding a place to live

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A. A Trip to Britain                 B. What I Want to Be

C. Living in a Different Country     D. My Work Experience