Today, most horses are used for riding2 and racing. But long ago, when I was a boy, most horses were used for pulling.

　　They were big horses, for big work. They pulled plows and heavy loads. Such horses are called draft horses.

　　Draft horses often worked in teams of two, four or six horses. What a beautiful sight a fine matched team was! The horses were all of the same size and color. Their coats were brushed and shining. The big animals moved together as though (仿佛) they were dancing.

　　My father drove and trained teams of draft horses. I learned from him how to handle them. He showed me that such horse is different. To work well with horses, I needed to know each one.

　　“But some things are true for all horses,” he said.“Before you walk behind a horse, always let him know you are there. Before you go into a horse's stall (廄) , give him time to make room for you. When a horse is suddenly afraid, get to his head fast, hold him at the bit(馬嚼子). That is the only place you can hold a frightened horse, John.”

1．Draft horses were horses used ________ .

[　　]

2．A fine matched team of draft horses should be ________ .

[　　]

A．more than ten different horses

B．hundreds of the same horses

C．three or five horses with beautiful and shining hair

D．four or six horses of the same size and color

3．If you want draft horses to work well, you must ________ .

[　　]

A．give them something good to eat

B．try to know each of them well

C．be very hard on all of them

D．get something shining for them to wear

4．Which is the right way to get into a horse's stall?

[　　]

A．Walk quickly into the stall without any hesitation (猶豫).

B．Stand outside the stall shouting for a while.

C．Wait for some time till the horses to make room for you.

D．Rush into the stall with a whip (鞭子) in hand.

5．When a horse is suddenly afraid ________ .

[　　]

A．get to his head fast, hold him at the bit

B．walk quietly behind him and hold his tail

C．run away as quickly as possible and never come back again

D．go and fetch a whip and beat him till he is calm (鎮(zhèn)靜)

Dear Boris，

    Thanks for your nice letter．

    After I had spent a week with my English family，I slowly began to understand

their English a little better．It，s very different from what I learned at school!

Students in my group are from different cities of Britain and their dialects(方言)are different too! Some of their accents(口音)are quite strong and they also have their own words and expressions．

   But it's not the language that’s different and surprising．Before I。came to England I had thought that fish and chips were eaten every day．That's quite wrong! I get rather mad now when I hear all the foolish words about typical(典型的)English

food.

   I had expected to see“London fog”．Do you remember our texts about it? We

had no idea that most of this‘thick fog’disappeared many years ago when people

stopped using coal in their homes．But the idea to speak about weather was very helpfu1．The weather in London is really changeable．

  On the other hand habits are different．People tell me what is typically British

1ere in London is not always typical in Wales or Scotland．Local habits and traditions

are not the same as what we knew．

But what is ordinary for all British is that they follow traditions．Probably Britain has more living, signs of its．past than many other countries．And ways been proud of having ancient buildings in capitals, big cities and the countryside．

    I will tell you more about Britain in my other letters．

                                                         Love from Britain,

                                                                    Pete

1．What does Pete feel about the English language?

  A．At first it was difficult for him to understand people．

  B．He can understand different dialects and accents．

C．He can speak English better than others．

D．People can't understand his English．

2．Typical English food____.

A．makes people mad

B．can not be seen now

  C．is always fish and chips

  D．is not what he knew

3．The British people like to talk about weather because

  A．there is thick fog in London

  B．they like the weather in Britain

  C．the weather changes a lot

  D．it can be helpful 

4．What do you know about habits in Britain from the passage?

  A．They are not the same in different parts of Britain．

  C．Habits in Wales and Scotland are typically British．

  B．There are no typical British habits in Britain．

  D．A11 that is typically British is in London．

5．Which is NOT true according to the passage?

  A. What he's seen is quite different from what he’d learned．

  B．British people like to follow traditions．

  C．Pete had learned about Britain before．

  D．Pete doesn't like his life in Britain．

One Sunday afternoon, I went shopping at Wal-Mart . But I never thought I would have a life ­changing experience at WalMart.
Although my thoughts were only on speed, the checkout line I was standing in wasn’t moving as quickly as I wanted, and I looked towards the cashier.
There stood a man in his seventies, wearing glasses and a nice smile. I thought, well, he’s an old guy!
For the next few minutes I watched him. He greeted every customer before scanning the items. Sure, his words were the usual, “How’s it going？” But he did something different—he listened to people carefully and then he would reply to what they had said
I thought it was strange. I has grown used to people asking me how I was doing simply out of conversational habit. I could say, “I just found out I have six months to live，” and someone would reply, “Have a great day！”
But that wasn't the end.
He gave them the change, walked around the counter (柜臺), and hugged them with his right hand in an act of friendship. He looked at the customers in the eyes. “I want to thank you for shopping here today,” he told them. “You have a great day. Bye-bye.”
The smiling looks on the faces of the customers were priceless. All had been touched by his simple gesture—and in a place they never expected. They would gather their things and walk out, smiling.
Of course, he did the same to me and I got to know his name—Marty.
Who was that guy? It was as if Sam Walton (沃爾瑪的創(chuàng)始人)had come back from the dead and invaded this old guy’s body.
I had never walked away from that shop feeling like that.

【小題1】The underlined word “customer” mean________ in Chinese.