【正文】 of my first lessons as an international student in New York City. My US history teacher had just finished his lesson. He sat back in his armchair fortably, and asked: “Was there anybody doing anything interesting yesterday?” “I drew a panda, which was lovely!” a girl beside me , the talk developed rapidly. Someone said he had received his learner’s driving permit, while another mentioned that she had spent the first salary from her parttime job. Everybody seemed to have something to say. Although there was a range of people, from different backgrounds, people seemed to feel at home with each other. Not me. I stayed aloof from the discussion. I looked through my notes until I looked up to see another teacher e in and share some cookies he had made yesterday. The beautifully baked cookies sent out a good smell, which made it impossible to concentrate on my work any longer. However, my seat was in the back row, and I was too shy to stand up and take a cookie for myself. “Go ahead and have one!” It was the history teacher: “If you don’t stand up, nobody is going to feed you!” I was still hesitant, but I got up and took a cookie with some other classmates. Now I felt more at ease. We laughed about how “greedy” we were. The “cookie crisis” had taught me a lesson. I would have to be less shy in the United States. Here was a mixed and various culture, and if I wanted to get anywhere I would have to brave its newness and difference and make myself heard, just as the teacher had said. Otherwise, “ Nobody is going to feed you.” It was something a person new to the US, such as myself, needed to learn. 21. The atmosphere in a US classroom is quite __________. A. lively B. lonely C. bad D. quiet 22. What does the underlined phrase “ aloof from” mean? A. in spite of B. instead of C. apart from D. away from 23. What prevented the writer from getting a cookie for himself at first? A. His bravery. B. His shyness. C. His strangeness. D. His weakness. 24. The “cookie crisis” in the last paragraph was __________ to the writer. A. an important problem B. a kind of valuable food C. a turning point in his life attitude D. a dream in his school life B Monday 2nd January I am in a small village in the Carpathian Mountains, north of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. I’ ve e to see the brown bears, which e to the villages at night to look for food. They walk 20 kilometres a night to get here. A farmer told me that some of his sheep have been killed by bears. But this is unusual. Usually, the bears just take bits of food which people have thrown away. Tonight I hope I’ ll see them. Tuesday 3rd January Last night I waited with a group of tourists and as it grew dark, we saw the huge black shapes of bears. It seems the bears don’ t go for people, unless they are attacked first. They were not afraid of the tourists, who took photos of them. Those clever bears knew where to go for their dinner. They jumped straight into the rubbish, where there was lots of food which people had thrown away. Wednesday 4th January Although it’ s wonderful to see the bears in the village, it can only mean one thing: their habitat is disappearing. They would prefer to stay hidden in the mountain forests, but the trees have been cut down for firewood. So they cannot find enough food any more. Thursday 5th January Today I met the head of the Carpathian Animal Protection Group. He says that there are only about 2,500 bears left, and is worried that they will soon bee extinct. Rich people from other countries pay a lot of money to e and shoot the bears for sport. The poor people from these villages need the money. But perhaps they could make more money from the tourists who want to e just watch the bears。 __61_ the improvement of life standards， there are a growing number of people travelling each year, ___62__ is a good way to enjoy life. Some people would like ___63___ (take) a package tour, while others would rather ___64___ (travel) on their own. I prefer to __65__ latter, because I feel that it’s much ___ 66___ (convenient) and cheaper than taking a package tour as I did before. First of all, travelling on my own, I can arrange my time and route more freely. For example, when I get to someplace I like, I __67__ choose to stay longer and don’t have to think about others. Secondly, to save time, the schedule is relatively（相對地） tight joining package tours, and tourists can only stay very short time in each tourist attraction. ___68___ is difficult to enjoy every landscape carefully. ___69___, in order to earn money, some travel agencies（旅行社） force tourists to consume. In the meantime, travelling on my own is much cheaper and get more fun. Finally, the trip is designed to relax. However, many people say that package tours are not to make them