Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 AM. When I arrived there, I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to a hospice(臨終醫(yī)院). I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter(計價器).
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a special building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
In the early morning, she suddenly said,” I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I pay you?” she asked.
“Nothing.” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I gave her a hug(擁抱). She held on me and said, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”
【小題1】The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to ______.

My life suffered a lot in a summer five years ago. My father died in a car accident, leaving my mother, my two younger brothers and I alone. At that time, I was a senior high school student. After my father’s funeral (葬禮), I had no choice but to drop out of school and work in a factory.
I really wanted to return to school and wanted to go to college, but I couldn’t. I only hoped to bring up my two younger brothers. Life was not easy for me, for I can’t afford their tuition (學(xué)費) even if I worked from day to night without stopping. Without my father’s protection, I thought I was a slave (奴隸) to the fate.
Later on, something changed my life. I still remember that it was a rainy day. I put myself in the rain and walked slowly in the street.
Suddenly the rain stopped! I raised my head and found “the sky” was in fact a dark blue umbrella. Then I noticed a middle-aged man with one leg on crutch (拐杖) standing behind me. He said to me, “Why not run without an umbrella? If you didn’t run, you would get drenched.”
The man told me that he was promoter (推銷員). He once dreamed of being a policeman, but an accident ruined (毀滅) his dream. Though his present job was not suitable for his legs, it was wonderful start to him. He was very happy that he didn’t lose heart and still “ran” on the road of life…
I was encouraged by the man’s words. I went to a big city and I became an assurance representative (保險代理人). After two years’ running, I did well and my family condition turned better little by little. Later I returned to school and succeeded in my entrance to university.
Life is like this. When you are in rainy days in your life, if you couldn’t find a way to prevent you from being wet, you would be overwhelmed (被制服). But if you decide to get rid of it, you’ll discover that the rainy days last not so long as you imagine.
【小題1】What happened to the writer at the beginning of the story? 

Pieter Bruegel was a famous artist who lived in Europe five hundred years ago. He is well known for a painting called Children’s Games. People like this painting because it is full of fun. It shows how children in Pieter’s time enjoyed themselves in different ways. In all, there are about eighty games being played in the painting.
Children’s Games shows a busy street scene in a town long ago. The street is a wide and open space. There are no cars, so there is plenty of room to play. There are about two hundred children in the painting. Some play in groups and others play alone. They seem to be enjoying their freedom in the fresh air and their games. Some of the games are still played today.
The games in the painting do not require children to spend money on extra materials(材料). Instead, they use simple everyday objects like hats and sticks. A game might need a rope, some chalk, a hoop, a spinning top, or even a barrel. Some games are played without any toys at all. For example, one scene in the painting shows children turning somersaults(翻筋斗) inside the fence.
Even though Pieter Bruegel lived a long time ago, children today can learn an important lesson from what he painted. The painting shows us how little we need in order to enjoy ourselves. All children really need is one another. It’s not the toys or games that are found in the stores that create fun. Using our imagination can do this for us. 
【小題1】The painting shows about ______ games.

Pieter Bruegel was a famous artist who lived in Europe five hundred years ago. He is well known for a painting called Children’s Games. People like this painting because it is full of fun. It shows how children in Pieter’s time enjoyed themselves in different ways. In all, there are about eighty games being played in the painting.

Children’s Games shows a busy street scene in a town long ago. The street is a wide and open space. There are no cars, so there is plenty of room to play. There are about two hundred children in the painting. Some play in groups and others play alone. They seem to be enjoying their freedom in the fresh air and their games. Some of the games are still played today.

The games in the painting do not require children to spend money on extra materials(材料). Instead, they use simple everyday objects like hats and sticks. A game might need a rope, some chalk, a hoop, a spinning top, or even a barrel. Some games are played without any toys at all. For example, one scene in the painting shows children turning somersaults(翻筋斗) inside the fence.

Even though Pieter Bruegel lived a long time ago, children today can learn an important lesson from what he painted. The painting shows us how little we need in order to enjoy ourselves. All children really need is one another. It’s not the toys or games that are found in the stores that create fun. Using our imagination can do this for us. 

1.The painting shows about ______ games.

2.The children in the painting are playing ______.

3.From the painting we learn that ______.