【正文】 wife took the condition seriously. But it was actually acute appendicitis (急性闌尾炎 ), and the boy died suddenly that night. Knowing the death could have been prevented if he had realized the seriousness of the situation, Al?s emotional health became worse. Worse still, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his sixyearold younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could handle, and he turned to alcohol (酒 ) to avoid the pain. Gradually Al became an alcoholic (酒鬼 ) and began to lose everything he had. Finally, Al died alone in a San Francisco motel room. When I heard of Al?s death, I felt sorry for him. “What a plete failure!” I thought. “What a totally wasted life!” As time went by, I began to rethink my earlier judgment. I knew Al?s son, Ernie, one of the kindest and most caring men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his children and saw the free flow of love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had long e from somewhere. One day I worked up my courage to ask him. “I?m really puzzled by something,” I said. “I know your father was basically the only one to raise you. What did he do so that you became such a special person?” Ernie sat quietly and thought for a few moments. Then he said, “From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ?I love you, son.?” What a fool I had been to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions (財產(chǎn) ) behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known. 21. Al became an alcoholic because . A. he lost everything he had. B. he wasted his entire life C. his older son died and his wife left. D. he didn?t care about his younger son. 22. What made Ernie such a special person? A. His sufferings in the childhood. B. His father?s deep love. C. His lovely wife and children. D. His mother?s early leaving. 23. Which of the following can be the best title for the text? A. A Loving Story B. A Failure Father C. My Mistake D. Love You, Son B Most of us have friends as close as family, who, when necessary, we?d call at 3 . for fort or congratulations because we know they won?t get angry about us. They?re almost part of us, and we share with them with our troubles and successes. But although I love these Pour Your Heart Out friends, I also need the energy of my Let?s Party friends. These friends care on a different level—less stressful, less deep—but they still care. And such friendships are important. ?With some friends, you want to be playful rather than deeply opening your heart,? says psychotherapist (心理治療師 ) Susie Orbach. ?They feel relaxed and easy that you won?t keep talking about your problems or stories, and you also feel the same way. It?s healthy to have lots of different friends at different levels of closeness because not only is it impossible to be close to everyone, it?s also unnecessary. You need to look at yourself from different angles (角度 ). This is the only way you can experiment with different parts of yourself.? Of course, it?s upsetting to be with friends who can?torwon?t allow you to open up your heart when you really need to find someone to listen to. But if we accept our Let?s Party friends for what they want to offer us—fun, laughter, full stop—then we enrich our lives greatly. 24. The writer feels her relationships with her Let S Party friends . A. are often upsetting B. are valuable but not satisfying C. can be reliable in difficult times D. offer laughter, enjoyment and care 25. In paragraph 1, Pour Your Heart Out friends refer to friends . A. whom you can tell everything to B. whom you don?t care about C. whom you won?t share your secret with D. whom you can have fun with 26. The writer?s purpose of writing this passage is to . A. describe the importance of friends B. introduce a different lifestyle C. explain an opinion about Let?s Party friends D. report a research on friendship C Americans think that everything we British people say sounds smart. We think that they sound lowclass, but secretly we think they sound cool. These are just stereotypes about British and American English, but there is some truth in them. What is certainly true is that the differences between British and American English continue to interest us. When the US was only around 20 years old, people were already saying that British accents s