John was born in a rich family. When John finished school, he was already 18 years old. His father said to him, “Get a job in the town. If you stay at home, you will get nothing from me."A few weeks later, John went to an office and asked for a job there. A man took him into a small room and gave him some questions on a piece of paper. John answered the questions quickly, then he gave the paper to the man. The man looked at the paper for a few minutes and asked, “You were born on September 23. But which year you were born in?”John answered, “Oh, every year.”

 根据短文内容判断正误，正确的选择A，错误的选择B。

Lasting a Lifetime

      Sidney Wilson's watch was old and it did not work well. It was either too fast or too slow. It spent more time in the repair shop than on his wrist (手腕). So he decided to buy himself a new watch.

      He went into a jewelry shop and said to the saleswoman behind the counter.

      “I want to buy a new watch, please. Show me the best watch you have.”

      The saleswoman smiled happily. This was the kind of customer she liked.

     “Certainly, sir,” she said, and showed Sidney a gold watch.

      “This watch is made of gold and has twenty-four jewels,” she explained.

      “How much is it?” Sidney asked.

      “$5,000,” the saleswoman said.

      “Oh,” Sidney said. “I'm sorry. You did not understand me. I want to see the best watch you have for under $100.”

      The sales woman now lost interest in Sidney. She pushed some cheap watches at him. “Choose one from these,” she said rudely.       “They are all under $100.”

      Sidney picked up one of the watches, “Will it last me a lifetime?” he asked.

     “Of course,” the saleswoman said.

     “Then I'll buy it,” Sidney told her. He paid for the watch and left the shop.

      Two days later the watch stopped. Sidney could not make it work again. He took it back to the shop.

      “This watch is broken,” he said to the saleswoman. “You told me it would last me a lifetime.”

     “When you bought it, sir,” the saleswoman said, “you didn't look very well.”

Choose the best answer to each question about the story.

    They say that "travel is the best teacher" and there is no better example of this idea than the Ming dynasty travel writer and geographer Xu Xiake (1587-1641). His book The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake, not only encouraged a love of travelling among Chinese people but provided important scientific information about the country's land and geography.

    Born into a wealthy Jiangyin family, Xu became interested in books about different places at anearly age and wanted to travel. When he was 18, however. Xu's father died and so, it seemed, did his travelling dreams. He now was responsible for the family farm and taking care of his 60-year-old mother as tradition required.

    But his mother had different ideas. Understanding her son, slove of travel and valuing the knowledge he could get from such experiences, this modern-thinking woman refused to keep her son at home. She agreed that Xu could travel for three months every year, when there was less farm work.

    So at the age of twenty and with his mother's support, Xu set off for the first time, leaving behind not only his mother but his new wife as well. He would repeat this goodbye each year for most of the next 30 years. During this time, he travelled throughout the Ming kingdom, carefully studying the lands he passed through and recording his experiences and many discoveries in a diary. This diary, which once had over 500,000 words, would eventually become The Travel Notes of Xu Xiake.

    Although rich, Xu avoided comfortable travel, preferring to go almost everywhere on foot. This way he could research the environment in detail and get a true picture of the natural world. Many of his trips were to hard-to-reach mountain areas, and through wild forests where few people lived. His willingness to face hardships came at a cost however. Progress was slow and tiring and he was frequently sick, robbed and beaten during his journeys

    Sadly Xu became seriously ill during his last and longest journey, a 4-year trip through the Southwest of China. He died in 1641, soon after returning to his hometown for the last time. When his diary was finally printed years after his death, much of it had been destroyed or lost. Although incomplete, it still made Xu a travelling legend around the world.

    A train stopped at a small station. A man looked out of the window and saw a woman who was selling cakes. People from the train were buying them. The man wanted to buy a cake, but the woman was standing far from the window. It was raining, and the man didn't want to go out in the rain. Suddenly he saw a boy who was walking on the platform(站台) not far from him.

    "Come here, boy!" the man said. "Do you know how much those cakes cost?" "Five cents for each," the boy answered. The man gave the boy ten cents and asked him to buy two cakes. "One for me, and one for you," he told the boy. A few minutes later, the boy came back. He was eating a cake. He gave the man five cents and said, "There was only one cake."