PAssAGE 52
A Young Computer Expert
Zhou Yongji, a quiet and shy boy from Kongjiang High School, Shanghai, took part in a recent International Computer Programming Contest for University Students. Zhou, with his two partners, came out as third winners, next to the teams from Qinghua University in Beijing and Shanghai Jiaotong University.
Zhou took up computer six years ago. He took his parent’s advice and entered his name for a computer class.
When asked how to balance his school work and his after school computer class, Zhou said that it was difficult to keep balanced between the two. Thanks to his hard work, he is always listed as one of the five best students in his class after examinations.
Zhou gets no guidance(指导）from his parents. Whenever he has problems he discusses with his classmates. Self-teaching is not an easy thing, but zhou Yongji is not discouraged. He also regards the computer as a tool for studying mathematics and other subjects. He also does some programming for fun in his spare time.
Talking about the international contest, Zhou seemed to be a little excited. He said he and his two partners were supposed to solve eight problems within five hours, including the meal time. They divided the wok among themselves and finally settled six problems with joint efforts. What impressed him most was that when a problem was solved, the team would be given a balloon as an encouragement. So once in a while, they would look around and wonder how other teams were going.
Surprisingly, Zhou Yongji hasn’t decided whether to work as a full-time computer programmer in the future. He prefers to do what he likes most and will regard computer only as an instrument.
Length 287
Total Reading Time__________

Question
Answer the following questions without referring to the reading:
1.Which of the following is the best title?
A.Self-teaching is Not Easy
B.Self-taught Student Becomes Young Computer Expert
C.A Young Student’s Success.
D.The Secret of Success
2.We can know from the passage that Zhou Yongji took up computer when he was six years old T F
3.As a result of learning computer, he always got the first place in examinations. T F
4.Whenever Zhou has some problems, he discusses them with is classmates. T F
5.Because of his hard work, Zhou is always listed as one of the five best students after examinations. T F
6.During the contest, Zhou and his two partners solved five problems within five hours separately. T F
7.Zhou and his partners worked out six problems with joint efforts within five hours. T F
8.In this passage the word balance means_________.
A.keep something in a state of balance
B.put something in a higher place
C.keep something in the first place
D.put something in a most important place
Words per minute___________
% Comprehension___________




PASSAGE 53
Manners
Suppose you are a visitor in the land of Mongolia（内蒙古）, some friends ask you to eat with them. What kind of manners do they want you to have? They want you to give a loud “burp” after you finish eating. Burping shows that you like the food.
In some countries, if you give a loud burp, you are told to say “Excuse me, please.”
In many places people like to eat together. But in some parts of Polynesia（波利尼西亚）it is bad manners to be seen eating at all. People show good manners by turning their backs on others while they eat.
What are manners like in an East African town? People try not to see you. They are being polite. You may see a friend. He may not see you at all. If you are polite, you will sit down beside him. You will wait until he finishes what he is doing. Then he will talk to you.
Manners are different all over the world. But it is good to know that all manners begin in the same way. People need ways to show that they want to be friends
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