My parents are very happy to make ______ money.

A .many?????????? B. little??????????? C. a lot of

Dear Malia and Sasha,
I know that you’ve both had a lot of fun these two years. You have been to many picnics and had all kinds of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you eat. But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom. So now I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.
When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with those smiles and suddenly, all my big plans didn’t seem so important any more. I soon found that the greatest happiness in my life was that you were so happy. And I realized that my own life wouldn't mean much if I couldn’t make you two happy. In the end, girls, I ran for(竞选)President: Because of what I want for you and for every child in the US.
I want all our children to go to school so that they can learn and grow. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even though their parents don’t have enough money. And I want them to get good jobs.
I want us to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our earth cleaner and safer. And I want us to see no difference of different colors and areas because we are all equal.
I hope both of you will start to give others the chances you’ve had. You know, this country has given our family so much, so you have to, and really should, give something back. When you are doing something larger than yourself, you will realize how helpful you are.
These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world in which you can make your dreams come true. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and get what you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.
I am so proud of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am thankful every day because you behave so well when we get ready to start our new life together in the White House.
Love，
Dad
【小题1】From the letter we can see that the father is President of _______.

Chinese are very generous(慷慨的)when it comes to educating their children．Not caring about the  1  ，parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad—to England，the USA or Australia．The Chinese  2   that the more expensive the education is, the better it is． 3  parents will spend a lot of money on their children’s education．Even  4 parents will buy a computer for their son or daughter．Though they’re not rich，they would rather pay for the education．

    Parents can  5  that their children’s skills are different，skilled(有技能的)in some areas while poor in others．But most  6  fail to realize that the children today need more self-confidence．

   The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to  7  tests and how to study well, but they are not teaching them the most important skills that they need．And these skills are important to help them to be  8  ，happy and clever． 

    Parents can achieve this  9  teaching their children the skills like cooking or doing other housework．

    Teaching a child to cook will  10  many of the skills that he will need later in life．Cooking needs patience and time．It is an interesting but difficult experience．A good cook  11  tries to improve his cooking,，so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish  12  job successfully．His result，a well-cooked dinner，will make him  13  good and give him a lot of self-confidence．

    Some old machines，such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play  14 ，will make him interested and want to know more．He will spend hours studying them and trying to fix them．Your child might become an engineer when he  15  ．These activities are teaching a child not only to study at school，but also to think，to use his mind．And that is more important．

1．A．money         B．education          C．children

2．A．compare         B．believe                 C．disagree

3．A．Or                 B．So                    C．But

4．A．old              B．rich                  C．poor

5．A．see              B．hope                 C．allow

6．A．sons            B．daughters          C．parents

7．A．discuss           B．pass                 C．give

8．A．educational         B．different          C．confident

9．A．before           B．by                  C．of

10．A．improve         B．choose               C．miss

11．A．sometimes     B．always               C．never

12．A．my             B．his                  C．her

13．A．sound          B．look               C．feel

14．A．with           B．for                  C．against

15．A．wakes up       B．grows up               C．shows up

Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.

She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. "I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts(工作班次) are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school."

So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6.a.m. five nights a week for just￡90, before tax and insurance. "It's better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work 'unsocial hours' should get a bit extra."

The hours she's chosen to work meant that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn't think that puts any pressure on their relationship.

Her work isn't physically very hard, but it's not exactly pleasant, either. "I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they'd be a bit more careful."

The fact that she's working all night doesn't worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. "Since I've got to be here, I try to enjoy myself-and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags."

Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other. people when she tells them what she does for a living. "They think you're a cleaner because you don't know how to read and write," said Margaret. "I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I'd been doing, but I don't think that way any more. I don't dislike the work though I can't say I'm mad about it."

54. Margaret left her job as a nurse because_______.

　　 A. she needed the right time to look after her children

　　 B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure

　　 C. she wanted to earn more money to support her family

　　 D. she felt tired of taking care of patients

55. Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because_______.

　　 A. they never clean their offices　　　 　　　 B. they look down upon cleaners

　　 C. they never do their work carefully 　 D. they always make a mess in their offices

56. When at work, Margaret feels_______.

A. tired because of the heavy workload　 　　

B. happy because the building is fully lit

　　 C. light-hearted because of her fellow workers　　

D. bored because time passed slowly

57. The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret's parents would_______.

　　 A. help care for her children　　　　 B. feel disappointed in her

C. show sympathy (同情) for her D. regret what they had said