When Andrew was preparing for work one Friday morning, he announced to his wife that he had finally decided to ask his boss for a salary raise. All day Andrew felt nervous as he thought about the upcoming showdown(摊牌). What if Mr. Larchmont refused his request? Andrew had worked so hard in the last 18 months and succeeded in winning a contract which was difficult to get for Barer and Hopkins Advertising Agency. Of course, he should get a salary raise．

The thought of walking into Mr. Larchmont’s office left Andrew weak in the knees. Late in the afternoon he was finally brave enough to approach his superior. To his delight and surprise, the ever-frugal(一贯节省的) Harvey Larchmont agreed to give Andrew a raise!   

Andrew arrived home that evening----despite breaking all city and state speed limits----to a beautiful table. His wife, Tina, had prepared a delicate meal including his favorite dishes. Immediately he figured out someone from the office had told her the news．

Next to his plate Andrew found a beautiful lettered note. It was from his wife. It read: “Congratulations，my love! I knew you’d get the raise! I prepared this dinner to show just how much I love you. I am so proud of your accomplishments!” He read it and stopped to reflect on how sensitive and caring Tina Was．

    After dinner, Andrew was on his way to the kitchen to get dessert when he noticed that a second card had slipped out of Tina’s pocket onto the floor. He bent forward to pick up. It read: “Don’t worry about not getting the raise! You do deserve one! You are a wonderful provider and I prepared this dinner to show you how much I love you though you did not get the increase.”

Suddenly tears welled in Andrew’s eyes. Total acceptance! Tina’s support for him was not conditional upon his success at work．

    The fear of rejection is often softened and we can face almost any difficulty when we know someone loves us regardless of our success or failure．

56. What was Andrew’s plan that Friday?

  A. To request a wage increase from his boss．  B. To get a promotion

  C. To celebrate his success                  D. To ask his boss to come for dinner．

57. On his way home, Andrew was ______.

   A. nervous        B. relaxed        C. excited         D. punished

58. Which of the following statements about the passage is FALSE?

  A. Andrew was afraid that his request would be refused．

  B. Andrew had worked hard and done his part for the company．

  C. Andrew’s boss agreed to his request.

  D. One of Andrew's colleagues had told his wife the good news.

59. We can conclude from the passage that ________.

  A. unconditional love brings courage and strength

  B. work hard and you will be rewarded．

  C. many fears turn out to be unfounded

  D. we should never be afraid to demand what is due to

Once when I was six years old I saw an amazing picture in a book called True Stories from Nature about the primeval（原始的）forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor(大蟒蛇) in the act of swallowing an animal. In the book it said：“Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole without chewing（嚼）it. After that they are not able to move and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion（消化）.”
I thought deeply then over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. I showed my work to the grown-ups and asked them whether the drawing frightened them. But they answered：“Frighten? Why should anyone be frightened by a hat？”
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing. I drew the inside of the boa constrictor so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. That's my Drawing Number Two.
The grown-ups' response this time was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of ba constrictors whether from the inside or the outside and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why at the age of six I gave up what might have been a great painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
So then I chose another profession（职业） and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
In the course of this life I have had lots of chances to meet with a great many people. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them. Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried showing him my Drawing Number One which I have always kept. I would try to find out if this was a person of true understanding. But whoever it was, he or she would always say: That is a hat. Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors or primeval forests or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge and golf and politics and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such an intelligent man.
【小题1】The writer drew his first picture in order to ________.

Once when I was six years old I saw an amazing picture in a book called True Stories from Nature about the primeval（原始的）forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor(大蟒蛇) in the act of swallowing an animal. In the book it said：“Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole without chewing（嚼）it. After that they are not able to move and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion（消化）.”
I thought deeply then over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. I showed my work to the grown-ups and asked them whether the drawing frightened them. But they answered：“Frighten? Why should anyone be frightened by a hat？”
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing. I drew the inside of the boa constrictor so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. That's my Drawing Number Two.
The grown-ups' response this time was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of ba constrictors whether from the inside or the outside and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why at the age of six I gave up what might have been a great painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
So then I chose another profession（职业） and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
In the course of this life I have had lots of chances to meet with a great many people. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them. Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried showing him my Drawing Number One which I have always kept. I would try to find out if this was a person of true understanding. But whoever it was, he or she would always say: That is a hat. Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors or primeval forests or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge and golf and politics and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such an intelligent man.

1. 1.

   The writer drew his first picture in order to ________.

   1. A.
      show the grown-ups what the book was about
   2. B.
      frighten the grown-ups trying to enter the forest
   3. C.
      remind himself of the adventures of the jungle
   4. D.
      illustrate（说明）a boa constrictor's act of digesting an animal
2. 2.

   How did the writer understand the grown-ups' response to his second drawing?

   1. A.
      He was actually only good at academic study.
   2. B.
      It was a waste of time for him to keep on drawing.
   3. C.
      He had difficulty in communicating with the adults.
   4. D.
      He was good at anything but geography.
3. 3.

   The underlined word disheartened in Paragraph 4 could most probably be replaced by ________.

   1. A.
      discouraged
   2. B.
      dissatisfied
   3. C.
      discovered
   4. D.
      disturbed
4. 4.

   Which of the following statements is true?

   1. A.
      The writer could have become a pilot if encouraged when young.
   2. B.
      The writer finally changed his opinion of grown-ups.
   3. C.
      The writer has been showing his two pictures to others ever since.
   4. D.
      The writer felt nobody could have really understood him.