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33 Chilean miners were trapped nearly a half-mile underground after the mine accident. They had no real hope that they’d ever be found. Luckily, though, the men had Luis Urzua. They were rescued to safety on October 13, 2010.Urzua, 54, was the shift leader at the time of the disaster, and used all his wisdoms and his leadership talents to help his men stay calm and in control for the 17 terrible days it took for rescuers to make their first contact with them.

It was no surprise that Urzua was the last of the 33 miners to leave the mine.

Urzua --- after shaking hands with rescue workers ---- climbed into a capsule barely wider than a man’s shoulders at 9:46 and was hauled up (拖上来) from a narrow hole drilled through 2,000 feet of rock. He arrived at the top 11 minutes later.

“We have done what the entire world was waiting for,” he told Chilean President Sebastian Pinera immediately after his rescue. “The 69 days that we fought so hard were not in vain.” Pinera greeted Urzua, saying “You have been rescued, coming out last like a good leader… You have no idea how all Chileans share with

you your hardships, your hope, and your joy. You are an inspiration.” With Urzua by his side, the president led the crowd in singing the national anthem.Robinson Marquez once worked with Urzua in a nearby mine. He described Urzua as a calm, professional person and a born leader. “He is very protective of his men and obviously loves them. He wouldn’t have left until all of his men were safely above ground,” Marquez said.

Under Urzua’s leadership, the men stretched an emergency food supply meant to last just 48 hours over two and a half weeks, taking tiny sips of milk and bites of fish every other day.He described the difficulties of the first days, saying that it took about three hours for the dust to settle before the men could inspect where tons of collapsed rock sealed off (堵住) the main way out. When the rescuers first made contact by drilling a narrow hole into their refuge (避难处), the miners were so excited that everyone wanted to hug the drill hammer.After the collapse, Urzua was the first to speak to Pinera and to urge him not to let him and his men down. “Don’t leave us alone,” he asked the president, who assured the workers that they would not be abandoned, telling them he would do everything he could to get them back to the surface.

1.The mine collapsed on ____.

2.Which word can’t be used to describe Urzua?

3.What do you know about the capsule?

4.The emergency food supply was designed to last ____.

In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.

The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.    

It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They had to move back to an apartment in New York City.

Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Joneses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

1.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.

2.It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.

3.What’s the author’s attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?

Tess was eight years old. Her little brother Andrew was very sick and their parents were completely out of money. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother, “Only a miracle can save him now.”

Tess took her money and made her way six blocks to Rexall’s Drug Store.

“And what do you want?” the chemist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. “I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen for ages.”

“Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. “He’s really sick. He has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?”

“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” the chemist said, softening a little.

“Listen, I can help you.” The chemist’s brother was a well-dressed man. He asked Tess, “What kind of miracle does your brother need?”

“I don’t know,” Tess replied. “Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.”

“How much do you have?” asked the man from Chicago. “One dollar and eleven cents,” Tess answered. “And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more, if I need to.”

“Well，what a coincidence (巧合),” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents － the exact price of a miracle for your little brother. Take me to where you live. Let’s see if 1 have the kind of miracle you need.”

That man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon in neurosurgery (神经外科). The operation was completed without charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well．

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost… one dollar and eleven  cents… plus the faith of a little child.

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?

2.Why did the chemist get annoyed first？

3.What can we learn about Dr. Carlton Armstrong?

4.What can be the best title？

Doing community service work, I spent three or four hours handing out warm dinner to the homeless out in the streets. After that I went to a   16  shelter not far from the Bay Bridge.

I was in high school and at the time my sister was too young to   17  . She wanted to help,    18  she made four or five dozen chocolate chip cookies for me to    19   and hand out to people. When getting to the homeless shelter I passed out the remaining meals. I had the containers with my   20  cookies in them and began to   21  , offering them to anyone near me.

I    22   an old gentleman and said, “Sir, would you like a cookie?” He stopped and turned around, looked at me    23  in the eye and said, “What did you say? Did you call me sir?” I told him I had, and his eyes    24   a little bit and he said, “No one has    25   called me sir.” He was completely taken aback.

It struck me. 

I explained I had been raised that    26   color and social status, everyone deserved     27   . It made me    28   to think that just because he was homeless, no one    29  him the honor. It broke my   30  , and I couldn’t help   31  cry. I just didn’t understand    32  no one ever called him sir? I had never thought that anyone was below me because I wasn’t raised that way. Every    33  person deserves to be treated with dignity. Years later, I still carry that memory and the    34  it taught me. Sometimes, what we take for granted can    35  make a difference in someone’s life.

How have you made a difference to others? How have others made a difference to you?

---You don’t seem to be quite yourself today, do you?

---I’m suffering from a cold. Nothing serious, ____.