“Dad! He took a book without paying!” I yelled (大叫). My father looked surprised. Before the boy could say anything, his mother grabbed his arm and shook it. “Is it true? You stole? Tell me!” Everyone was quiet. The boy began to cry, and he nodded (點(diǎn)頭) his head. He pulled out the comic book (漫畫書) from under his shirt. “Oh, Mr Kim. I am sorry! My Ted made a big mistake!” Mrs Diaz told my father. She tried to take the comic book, but Ted wouldn’t let go. “It’s OK. He can keep it,” my father said with a smile. “Oh, no,” Mrs Diaz said. “Let me pay right now…” She dug in her purse. “How much?” “Three seventy-five.”
Mrs Diaz’s eyes widened, and she dug deeper. I saw her mouth make a small line. “Three seventy-five?” she asked.
“It’s OK. You can pay later,” my father said. “No,” Mrs Diaz said. She kept looking in her purse. “I have money here.” I felt bad for yelling, for I realized that Ted had tried to steal the comic book because he didn’t have the money. Maybe the boy could have a job, I thought. I had an idea. “What if he worked with me?” I asked. They turned to me. I said, “He can work with me to pay for the comic book.” “Good,” my father said smiling at me. Mrs Diaz nodded. She turned to her son, “You hear? You will work and buy the comic book!” “ Yes, Mama,” Ted said, hanging his head.
As they left, Ted looked back, and though he still seemed sad, he stuck out (伸出) tongue at me.
Ted has been working here for two weeks. He has paid for the comic book, but my father says he is such a good worker that he can work with me as long as he wants. We are friends now.
【小題1】Where did the story most probably take place?

A．In a classroom.	B．In a supermarket.
C．At a bookstore.	D．At a library.

【小題2】By saying “but Ted wouldn’t let go”(the underlined part), the author means __________.

A．Ted took the book by mistake	B．Ted wanted to keep the book
C．Ted didn’t want to go home	D．Ted didn’t think he was wrong

【小題3】From the second paragraph, we may infer (推斷) that Mrs Diaz __________.

A．didn’t think her son stole the book

B．had been out of work for a long time

C．forgot to take money with her that day

D．couldn’t afford to pay for the book

【小題4】In the last paragraph, what does the author mainly tell?

A．His idea was successful.

B．Ted didn’t like the job.

C．He liked Ted very much.

D．Ted was a naughty boy.

I'm one of those people who are terrible at saying no．I spend too much of my time doing things I'd rather not be．I get things done, but it's not always the best I can do, or the best way I can spend my time．That's why my newest goal, both as a professional and a person, is to be a quitter．

Being a quitter isn't being someone who gives up, who doesn't see important things through to the end．I want to quit doing things that I'm asked to do, for no other reason than I'm asked to do it．1 want to be able to quit something in mid-stream, because I realize there's nothing good coming from it．

A friend of mine once told me that "I knew I was an adult when I could stop reading a book, even after getting 500 pages into it．" Strange though it sounds, we all intend to do this．We get involved in something, realize we don't want to be a part of it, but just keep doing it．

What I advise is to quit as often as possible．If you're stuck doing something, and don't really want to do it anymore, step back for a second．Ask if you really have to do this, and what value is being produced from your doing it．Don't think about the time you've put into it or how much it's taken over your life．If you don't want to do it, and don't have to do it, don't do it．

By quitting these things, you'll free up time to do things that actually do create value, for yourself and for others．You'll be able to begin to put your time and effort into the things you'd actually like to do．

Let's learn how to say "no" at the beginning, or in the middle．Let's see to it that we're spending our time creating value, rather than worsening our losses．Let's be quitters together．

1．From the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3, we can see the friend of the writer seems to believe ____．

       A．a(chǎn)dults should always finish books completely

       B．a(chǎn)dults should stop reading after getting 500 pages

       C．a(chǎn)dults can stop reading if there's no value

       D．a(chǎn)dults can stop reading if he gets the main idea

2．The underlined phrase "free up time" in Paragraph 5 probably means"____"．

       A．give somebody extra time                     B．make bad use of time

       C．takes somebody more time                   D．spend less time

3．The best title of the passage should be ____．

       A．Stop Doing Things                               B．Try to Be a Quitter

       C．Learn to Say No                                  D．Create Our Value

Quit while you're ahead

I am one of those people who are terrible at saying no．I take on too many projects at once, and spend too much of my time doing things I'd rather not be doing．I get work done, but it's not always the best I can do, or the best way I could spend my time．

That's why my newest goal, both as a professional and a person, is to be a quitter．

Being a quitter isn't being someone who gives up, who doesn't see important things through to the end．I aspire （渴望） to be the opposite of that．The quitter I want to be is someone who gets out when there's no value in what he's doing, or when that value comes at the expense of something more important．

A friend of mine once told me, "I knew I was an adult when I could stop reading a book, even after getting 500 pages into it．" Strange though it sounds, we all tend to do this．We get involved in something, realize we don't want to be a part of it, but keep on going．We say "Well, I've already invested so much time in this, I might as well stick it out．"

I propose the opposite: quit as often as possible, regardless of project status or time invested．If you're reading a book, and don't like it, stop reading．Cut your losses, realize that the smartest thing to do is to stop before your losses grow even more, and quit．Instead of reading an entire book you hate, read half of a bad one and half of a good one．Isn't that a better use of your time?

Step back for a second．Let's learn how to say "no" at the beginning, or in the middle, and free up more of our time to do the things we'd like to be doing, and the things actually worth doing． Saying no is hard, and admitting a mistaken yes is even harder．If we do both, we'll start to make sure that we're spending our time creating value, rather than increasing our losses．Let's be quitters together．

60．The author wants to be a quitter, because he _____．

　　　 A．hopes to improve his personality

　　　 B．wishes to have more time for relaxation

　　　 C．expects to make more efficient use of his time

　　　 D．has found it hard to do several things at one time

61．In what circumstances does the author suggest quitting is a good idea?

　　　 A．When you feel tired and need a rest．

　　　 B．When you know a task cannot be finished．

　　　 C．When you meet with difficulties along the way in your life．

　　　 D．When you realize what you are doing is not worth the time．

62．If you stop reading a book you hate, the author might think that ______．

　　　 A．you are wise to cut your losses

　　　 B．it's a pity that you have wasted so much time

　　　 C．you should finish a book that you have started

　　　 D．you should regret choosing the wrong book

63．The message the author tries to convey is to ______．

　　　 A．learn to say no B．live your life to the fullest

C．create more value D．stop doing many things at once

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項(xiàng)中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)。選項(xiàng)中有兩項(xiàng)為多余選項(xiàng)。

Since the pre-historic times, man has had an urge to satisfy his needs, but as we climbed the steps of evolution with giant leaps, we somehow left behind common sense and logical thinking — we forgot that we have stopped thinking ahead of times．

If you are hungry, what do you do? Grab a piece of your favorite meal and stay quiet after that? ____1_____ But it never lets you know, because you keep it busy thinking about your favorite star and many such absurd things．When mind looses its freedom to grow, creativity gets a full stop．This might be the reason why we all sometimes think "What happens next?", "Why can't I think?"．Well this is the aftermath of using our brain for thinking of not-so-worthy things．

Hunger of the mind can be actually satisfied through extensive reading．Now why reading and not watching TV? ___2___ Just like that to develop other aspects of our life, we have to take advantage of reading．You have innumerable number of books in this world which will answer all your “How to?” questions．___3___ Now this seed is unknowingly used by you in your future to develop new ideas．The same seed if used many times, can help you link and relate a lot of things, of which you would have never thought of in your wildest dreams! This is nothing other than creativity．The larger number of books you read, your mind will open up like never before．Also this improves your speaking skills to a large extent and also makes a significant contribution to your vocabulary in writing．___4____

Actually, I had a problem in speaking English fluently, but as I read, I could improve significantly．___5____ So guys do join me and give food for your thoughts by reading, reading and more reading．Now what are you waiting for?

A．Soon you will find no difficulty employing the right words when speaking．

B．The interesting part of the book is stored in your mind as a seed．

C．I am still on the path of improvement to satisfy my thirst．

D．Just like your stomach, even your mind is hungry．

E．Because reading has been the most educative tool used by us right from the childhood．

F．Within no time you never seem to run out of the right words at the right time．

G．Because watching TV too often will make you a “couch potato”．