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1、Growing Pains 6 minutesI guess it was not Scotties day. We did not know if something had happened, or if Scottie was just feeling his age. After all, how grown-up is a four-year-old supposed to act? But to really understand what happened, let us start at the beginning.Mary and I had invited our neph

2、ew, Scottie, over for his usual Sunday supper. We always looked forward to having him because he was a neat little boy. On this particular evening, he arrived on time as usual. However, instead of hugs and kisses, Scottie just pushed past us and headed for the sofa. I had to take a second look to ma

3、ke sure this was the right little boy.While we waited for the roast chicken - Scotties favorite - to finish cooking, we sat on the sofa talking. Right in the middle of one of my sentences, Scottie said suddenly, “Hey, Uncle Arnold, I want to play my record.” The conversation came to a halt. A minute

4、 later, the record player was on as loud as it could go with “Disco Duck.” Scottie was dancing and singing in the middle of the room. Mary was talking to me, but I could not hear a thing she was saying. I was puzzled that I let the matter pass with only a slight comment.Soon dinner was served. We sa

5、t down, lit the candles, and started to eat. Scottie usually would be the first to start eating, but tonight he just sat there and stared at me. “Arent you hungry?” I asked. “Yes,” replied Scottie. “Then arent you going to eat?” “No, Im not,” he answered. “Its your favorite dinner,” said my wife. “I

6、 dont want to eat,” answered Scottie. Paying no attention to his strange behavior for the moment, I said, “Okay, if you dont want to eat, you dont have to eat. You may sit and keep us company until we finish our delicious meal.” As we continued our dinner, Scotties face looked confused and uncertain

7、.After we finished dinner, we began clearing away the dishes, leaving Scottie to sit there with that look of disappointment on his little face. When I removed the dish containing the roast beef, it was more than he could bear. He stood up and threw his napkin across the table. Unfortunately, it hit

8、one of the candles and caught fire. I do not know who cried out the loudest, myself or Scottie. We both stood there with a look of horror on our faces. I took the napkin and put it out. Scottie started crying. “Im sorry,” he said. “I was just trying to be Dennis. My teacher read us the book about De

9、nnis the Menace, and we thought all the things he did were so funny. But they are not funny when I do them. I dont want to be Dennis any more.” We were glad that he was not Dennis any more, just our little Scottie. (Reading Time: 6 min.)In blanks 1-5 write Y for YES, if the statement agrees with the

10、 information; N for NO, if the statement contradicts the information; NG for NOT GIVEN, if there is no information on this in the text.1. The reason for Scotties unusual behavior was that he didnt like roast chicken. 2. Mary was Arnolds wife. 3. Scottie had always been a discipline problem. 4. The n

11、arrator was used to being kissed by Scottie. 5. “Disco Duck” was a pop song which children and grown-ups both liked. Complete the sentences below using a word or words from the text.6. Scottie had no intention of burning the .7. Scottie wanted to model himself on the comic book character .Working Wh

12、ile You Grow3 1/2 minutesKitchen Manager - JoeI had been working at a café called Pacific Desserts for two years. One day the kitchen manager left his job. I had worked there the longest. I was given the kitchen managers work, but not the title or the play.High school kids waited tables at nigh

13、t there. They often visited in the morning before the place was open. They came for free coffee. I had been making myself breakfast before the manager got there and I decided to expand. For the last three months of school, I made fried eggs and potato salad using the restaurants eggs, cheese, milk,

14、vegetables, potatoes, and spices. We started a morning coffee club, and charged $1 per plate. Soon the high school students started to bring their friends. One of them even made a signboard in his carpentry class that read “Joes Underground Café.” I usually made about $8 extra per day. This was

15、 the same as an increase in my pay. I was also spending an hour of the companys time for my own profit.Bicycle Messenger - KennyBeing a bike messenger in Seattle was hard, but our job was easy. We had to work extremely hard, but at least we got paid by the hour.The company always let us wear shorts,

16、 but we had to wear the company T-shirts. We cut off the sleeves to stay cool. Then, the company wanted to give a better impression of itself because we delivered to big businesses. They made us wear long pants and shirts made of heavy material. This was crazy! Try riding your bicycle fast for ten m

17、iles up hills, really big hills, with heavy packages while youre wearing long pants!All of the messengers agreed we could not continue like that. We decided that we wouldnt wash our clothes at all. We wore the same clothes every day. You can imagine what it was like when we were in an elevator. Our

18、clothes smelled terrible and our bodies also smelled bad. Within a month, the company received many complaints. They let us wear shorts again.In blanks 1-5 write Y for YES, if the statement agrees with the information; N for NO, if the statement contradicts the information; NG for NOT GIVEN, if ther

19、e is no information on this in the text.1. Joe took over the work of the kitchen manager and got an increase in his pay. 2. When Joe said “I decided to expand,” he meant that he decided to make money by making breakfast for students. 3. Joes “coffee club” had the approval of his boss. 4. Bike messen

20、gers make good money. 5. The bike messengers felt that it was a crazy idea to make them wear long pants. Complete the sentences below using a word or words from the text.6. In order to smell bad, all the bike messengers agreed not to wash their .7. The bike messengers were allowed to wear shorts aga

21、in, after the company had received numerous .Black and White6 1/2 minutesFrom the beginning, we knew we came from different worlds, yet it was surprising how much the same we were in many ways. When I first met Bud, I knew we were going to be friends, even though he was white and I was black. He was

22、 confident, forward, and very friendly. He would just walk up and start a conversation about anything. He really was very much like me. People said we both had the same kind of personality.We first met at the All-City Chorus. I thought I could sing a little, but Bud could really have a good voice. I

23、 really believe he could have broken a glass singing one of his high notes - just as you see on the TV ads. We stood side by side in the chorus, and he always made me look good, even if I missed a note. After practice, the two of us would always go to McDonalds for a hamburger and an ice-cream. We h

24、ad a lot in common, but our stories were really about two different worlds.Bud went to an all-white high school in a quiet, all-white neighborhood. There were very few big buildings or stores in his community. As a matter of fact, you would have to walk four or five blocks to get to the nearest shop

25、ping center. Bud always talked about how green and beautiful the neighborhood looked. He even lived close to a wide-open park where he first became interested in football. He started out as a fullback, and later became the best fullback on his high school football team. Buds house was another point

26、of interest. In his basement, he had a complete mini-gym. In his bedroom, he had a nice desk, complete with reference books and his own little TV on which he could play his video games.My home and neighborhood were totally different. My family lived in a nice apartment in an all-black housing projec

27、t. Our project housed many families, so we were used to living in small crowded quarters. Everyone in the project knew what everybody else was doing. It was like a city within a city. We never had to walk far to the nearest store. There were all kinds of stores nearby. For beauty, we had concrete bu

28、ildings, basketball courts, and the rose garden in front of the project building. If I wanted to exercise, I would have to stay late at school. As captain of my high school football team, I really had to keep physically fit, and I never had the convenience of a mini-gym in my basement. My study was

29、the kitchen table. After dinner, I would do my homework there and hope none of my five brothers and sisters would disturb me.Comparing worlds was always interesting. We never were jealous or looked down on one another, either. We always accepted one another as equals. As a matter of fact, we both fe

30、lt we had lost something because we lived in worlds set apart from others. Buds only contact with blacks his age was in the All-City Chorus. Because of this, he felt his life was sheltered and not as interesting as it would have been if he had grown up with people of different groups and races livin

31、g together. I felt the same way. Both races could learn a great deal from one another, and I knew this because Bud and I surely did learn from each other. It was only because society set us apart in different communities that we had never shared an experience like this before.Bud and I became great

32、friends. We even went to the same college, were roommates, and played on the same college football team. The fact that we came from different worlds did not mean a thing compared to the values we learned from each other and the friendship we gave to one another.In blanks 1-5 write Y for YES, if the

33、statement agrees with the information; N for NO, if the statement contradicts the information; NG for NOT GIVEN, if there is no information on this in the text.1. According to the passage, Bud and the author were the same because they both liked eating at McDonalds. 2. By saying that Bud “always mad

34、e me look good, even if I missed a not,” the author means that Buds good voice covered any mistakes the author made. 3. Bud was born in a well-to-do family. 4. We know from the passage that Bud lived in the suburbs. 5. Bud first learned to play football in a park near his neighborhood. Complete the

35、sentences below using a word or words from the text.6. The only place where the author could do his homework at home was at the .7. Both Bud and the author benefited immensely from their mutual .Friends4 minutes 20 secondsIt was Saturday morning. Nicky and I were just finishing our shopping. “Let me

36、 see ” Nicky said. “Weve been to the supermarket, the bakers and the greengrocers Is that the lot?”I looked at my list. “I just need a couple of things from the chemists,” I told her. “All right,” Nicky said. “While youre doing that, Ill just call in at the bookshop.”We arranged to meet at a caf

37、3; in a quarter of an hour. I arrived first. When Nicky came in, she looked quite excited.“Did you find your book, then?” I asked as she sat down.“Yes,” Nicky said.“Something special?” I asked. I was curious because Nicky was not a great reader, except for newspapers and magazines. She sometimes bor

38、rowed books, but she rarely bought them.“Well, yes,” Nicky admitted.“Whats all the mystery?” I asked. “Tell me all about it!”“It isnt exactly a mystery, Kay,” Nicky began. I waited for her to go on. “Well, do you remember that woman who used to live opposite the church - Miss Hunter?”“The one who us

39、ed to wear funny clothes and had a large dog? Wasnt she an artist?”“Well, yes,” Nicky said. “She did paint - but only as a hobby. As a matter of fact, she was a writer - and Ive just bought her latest book!” Nicky took the book out of her bag and passed it across the table. The title was Death Comes to the Village.“A detective story,” I said. “Hey, do you think were in it?”“Im pretty sure I am,” Nicky said, looking rather pleased with herself. “You see, Miss Hunter and I were quite good friends and she often said she was going to ut me into her next book!