I stayed around as a _______________ for another 18 months or so before I really quit.

听力原文：WB Can I help you find someone？

MB Yes. I'm trying to find Gladys Marino. She told me she was located in the East Wing, in row F-six.

WB She used to be. But the entire accounting department moved over to the South Wing just yesterday. Everyone here is from the sales department. And now the IT people are where we used to sit. A lot of moving around!

MB Yes, my group—I'm with public relations—just moved from the North Wing to the West Wing. I probably should have called Gladys before trying to find her. I was talking to her about this expense report last week but forgot about the moves. I think everyone's extension stayed the same though. Could I borrow your phone so I can call her？

Where does this conversation probably take place？

A．At an office

B．At a conference

C．On the telephone

D．In a sales demonstration

Even though we had a hard life, she still maintained the attitude that everything was fine. I remember her coming home tired from her job at the restaurant and saying that we were lucky. We didn't have a lot of clothes or toys, but my mother always made sure we had enough to eat.

Her love and devotion for my brother and me made our lack of material possessions seem insignificant. Even today, if I were given a choice between having love at home and wealth, I would want it just the way I had it. I grew up poor in material things but rich in love.

Since my father was never around long enough to teach me physical things or to play games with me, I didn't succeed in any competitive sport. My mother did her best as a substitute, throwing a ball with me in the lot(空地) behind our house, but it wasn't the same. She was too protective of me, and I didn't have enough confidence in my own abilities to really try anything physically demanding.

The story suggests that the author is______his mother.

A．proud of

B．worried about

C．pitiful for

D．concerned about

ad (disappeared).

A、gone out of sight

B、gathered together

C、given up hope

D、stayed away

A．He worked in a bank to make money

B．He stayed at home and wrote more

C．He went to travel and work in Europe

D．He gave lectures around the country

A．He looked around

B．I’m home

C．veryone stayed calm

D．The leaves turned red

Walt stayed because ______.

A．there were no people around

B．Shorty had gone shopping

C．people went fishing on the lake

D．Shorty had asked him to watch the boats and the shop

What did women do since they were not allowed to participate in the Olympics？

A．They stayed at home doing nothing.

B．They organized protests in the city.

C．They had their own games.

D．They set up tents around the site.

What did women do since they were not allowed to participate in the Olympics？

A．They stayed at home doing nothing.

B．They organized protests in the city.

C．They had their own games.

D．They set up tents around the site.

A．he gave lectures around the country

B．he went to travel and work in Europe

C．he worked in an bank to make money

D．he stayed at home and wrote more

In Greek mythology（神话）, the gods punished Sisyphus by forcing him to roll a rock up a steep hill for eternity（来世）. But he was probably better off than if they’d forced him to sit and stare into space until the end of time, conclude the authors of a new study on keeping busy. They found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit around. “The general phenomenon I’m interested in is why people are too busy doing what they are doing in modern society,” says Christopher K. Hsee, of the University of Chicago. “People are running around, working hard, the way beyond the basic level.” Sure, there are reasons, like making a living, earning money, and so on. But, Hsee says, “I think there’s something deeper: We have extra energy and we want to avoid idleness.” In a study 98 students were asked to complete two surveys. After they had completed the first they were made to wait 15 minutes to receive the next one. They were given a choice of either handing in the first survey nearby or at a more distant location they had to walk to. Whichever option they chose, they received a chocolate bar. Not everyone chose to go to the faraway location. Two-thirds chose the lazy option. Yet those who chose to stay busy by going to the faraway location were found to be happier than those who hadstayed put. But if the chocolate bars offered at the two locations were different, they were more likely to choose the far location—because they could make up a good and acceptable reason for the trip, Hsee and his colleagues say. Hsee thinks it may be possible to use this principle—people like being busy, and they like being able to show being busy right or reasonable—to benefit society. “If we can find a way for idle people to engage in activity that is at least not harmful, I think it is better than destructive business,” he says. Hsee himself has been known to give a research assistant a useless task when he doesn’t have anything to do, so he isn’t sitting around the office getting bored and depressed. 小题1:The author starts the passage with the Greek mythology story to ________. A．make it easier to understand the passage B．draw readers’ attention to Greek culture C．show Greek people enjoyed being busy D．bring about the subject of the passage 小题2:According to Hsee, people are busy in modern society because they want to _________. A．make others think they are not lazy B．keep their energy at the basic level C．earn more money to support their family D．avoid the state of having nothing to do 小题3:The underlined phrase “stayed put” in Paragraph 3 probably means __________. A．remained there B．kept occupied C．got around D．stayed awake 小题4:How does Hsee’s assistant probably feel while performing a task？ A．Blue. B．Empty. C．Contented. D．Trapped.