�、�. supply the missing conclusion. (20%)

　　directions: study the following passage carefully and write a conclusion in no more than 100 words. make sure that the tone and vocabulary you use are in unity with the passage provided.

　　an unforgettable experience

　　when i was a sophomore in high school, i ran around with a group of guys that were pretty wild. they were in and out of trouble at school for doing things like smoking in the parking lot, setting trashcans on fire, and giving teachers a bad time. but on the day they did their wildest deed, i was home sick with the flu.

　　they had all ditched school on a wednesday and gone up to the lake for the day. they’d gone swimming, had a picnic, and drunk a lot of beer. they’d have all probably gotten off with a little detention for ditching school, but some of them made the stupid mistake of coming back on campus late in the afternoon, staggering drunk. once caught, those on campus were given three�瞱eek suspensions, and the administration just waited to round up the rest of them the next day.

　　so i return to school on thursday, weak from the flu but feeling better, and am immediately called into the dean’s office. mr. harger begins by saying, “louie, i know where you were yesterday and what you were doing. you might as well tell the truth.”

　　“what are you talking about?” i asked. “i was home sick with the flu.”

　　“louie, you were up at the lake drinking. we caught joe, steve, felipe, and martin drunk on campus, and they told us everything. lying will just make it worse.”

　　“i’m not lying,” i said firmly, getting madder by the minute. “call my mom if you don’t believe me.”

　　“well, i thought you’d at least have the guts to admit it,” harger said. “you really are a loser.”

　　i stormed out of his office, slamming the door, tears burning my eyes. “i hate that bastard”, i said to the trophy case in the hall. but it wasn’t just harger who knew i was guilty. all day long, students stared at me, teachers pulled me aside for lecturing, and even the guys that got caught said, “you’d have been up there too if you weren’t sick, louie.” a letter from my mom saying i was sick got me cleared officially, but it also made things worse. then i started hearing things like, “ mommy get you off the hook, louie?” or “you’re just going to let your buddies hang, huh louie?”

　　there was no winning. everyone knew i was guilty, and i wasn’t only a ditching drunk, i was also a cowardly liar. the only way i could satisfy anyone was to lie and “confess” to being at the lake, and that’s what i did. i took the three week’s suspension i didn’t deserve, plus i got more lectures from the administration for trying to cover up.

　　my group of friends thought i was a great guy for “doing time” with them, but if they were really friends, they would have backed me up to begin with. when i got back to school, other kids didn’t bother me anymore, and harger said i’d “cleaned my slate” and could start over. i began to realize being truthful is a bunch of bull. if people think you are guilty, you are, and nothing else matters.

　　ⅱ. write an outline. (20%)

　　directions: read the following passage carefully and try to compose an outline for the passage provided.

　　learning on the job

　　when i went to work part-time for carlton’s construction concepts, i expected to learn about home renovation, but the job also taught me a great deal about myself. carlton’s is a six - person construction company that specializes in renovating older houses. during a particularly busy time, carlton’s was looking for an extra pair of hands. this job offered more money than anything else available to me at the time. even though i had limited experience, i had no trouble getting the job. william carlton, the company’s owner, is my uncle.

　　at first, i thought my education would be limited to carpentry and related matters. indeed, my coworkers taught me how to put in insulation, how to attach sheet-rock, how to install windows and doors, and how to use tools that i’d never known existed. i also furthered my education by watching electricians run wires, plumbers join pipes, and masons build brick steps. several months of construction work caused me to realize something unexpected about myself: i liked doing hands — on physical labor. before coming to carlton’s, i’d always assumed that my ultimate employment destination would be a chair behind a desk, not a ladder against a beam. who’d have thought that pounding nails and sawing wood would have made me this happy?

　　i learned something else about myself too, something probably even more important. i loved being part of a “team”. before working with carlton’s crew, every job i’d ever held required essentially an independent effort. for example, i’d worked as a department store salesperson, as a cashier in a coffee shop, and as a driver for a delivery service. doing home construction day after day with six other people made me feel more personally involved in my work than ever before. i also felt as though my contribution to the team effort really mattered, a feeling that had been missing from my previous jobs.

　　it’s funny how some of life’s most meaningful lessons occur so unexpectedly. i’m truly grateful to my uncle for providing a learning experience that’s proved more significant than either of us could have imagined.

　　ⅲ. composition (60%)

　　directions: you are to write an essay about 300 words on the following topic:

　　many statistical facts suggest that the smartest children may not become successful in their later career. how to explain the phenomenon? what factors lead to success? give your explanation.