Passage 2

Loving a child is a circular business. The more you give, the more you get. The more you want to give, Penalapy Leach once said. What she said proves to be true of my blended family. I was born in 1931as the youngest of 6 children, I learn to share my parents' love. Raising 6 children during the difficult times of the Great Depression took its toll on my parents' relationship and resulted in their divorce when I was 18 years old. Daddy never had very close relationships with his children and drifted even farther away from us after the divorce. Several years later, a wonderful woman came into his life, and they were married. She had 2 sons. One of them is still at home. Under her influence we became a blended family and a good relationship developed between the 2 families. She always treated us as if we were her own children. It was because of our other mother, daddy's second wife, that he became closer to his own children. They shared over 25 years together before our father passed away. At the time of his death, the question came up of my mother, daddy's first wife, attending his funeral. I will never forget the unconditional love shown by my stepmother, when I asked her if she would object to mother attending daddy's funeral. Without giving it a second thought, she immediately replied, "of course not, honey, she is the mother of my children."

Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you've just heard.

29. According to the speaker, what contributed to her parents' divorce?

The difficult time of the Great Depression

30. What brought his father closer to his children?

A wonderful woman, his stepmother

31. What message does the speaker want to convey in this talk?

Unconditional love may contribute greatly to keeping closer relationship between family members.

Passage three

In February last year, my wife lost her job. Just as suddenly, the owner of the greenhouse where I worked as manager died of a heart attack. His family announced that they were going to close the business because no one in the family wanted to run it. Things looked pretty gloomy. My wife and I read the want-ads each day. Then one morning, as I was hanging out "Going out of Business" sign at the greenhouse, the door opened and in walked a customer. She was an office manager whose company has just moved into the new office park on the edge of town. She was looking for petite plants to place in the reception areas and offices. "I don't know anything about plants," she said. "I'm sure in a few weeks they'll all be dead." Why was I helping her select her purchases? My mind was racing. Perhaps as many as a dozen firms have recently opened offices in the new office park, and there were several hundred more acres with construction under way. That afternoon, I drove out to the office park. By six o'clock that evening I had signed contracts with seven companies to rent plants from me and pay me a fee to maintain them. Within a week, I had worked out an agreement to lease the greenhouse from the owner's family. Business is now increasing rapidly.

And one day, we hope to be the proud owners of the greenhouse.

32．What do we learn about the greenhouse?

It is a place where we can buy plants.

33. What was the speaker doing when the customer walked in one morning?

He just finish making a phone call.

34 What did the speaker think of when serving the office manager?

He does not know for sure why he helps her

35. What was the speaker's hope for the future?