Dad had his favorite reclining chair (躺椅) in his room where he would go after a long day at work. When he reclined in the chair, the change would fall from his pockets onto the floor under the chair, which was really a good chance for me to collect pennies. I'm sure he realized he had empty pockets when he took his clothes off, but he never said anything and never stopped sitting in the chair.

　　My kids learned early that change worked just as well as dollars and they also knew their dad saw no value in change. In fact, he saw it as a pain-in-the-neck so instead of asking him for money, they always asked if they could have his change.

　　Whenever I see a penny on a floor, I always pick it up. They've come in handy over the years, like at the check stand when someone needs a penny to check out, or my children are twelve cents short of their bus fare - little things, but important things.

8. Why is loose change ignored at present according to the author?

　A. Because people's lives have improved a lot.

　B. Because loose change is often noisy.

　C. Because loose change isn't easy to carry.

　D. Because people find it is of no use.

9. Why did the author's father ask her to work for her own "wants"?

　A. To help her earn a lot of money.

　B. To tell her that pennies add up.

　C. To save enough money for future use.

　D. To let her know it was hard to earn money.

10. We can infer from Paragraph 3 that the author's father _____.

　A. didn't care about loose change B. taught the author a good lesson

　C. was really a hard-working person D. was too tired to look after his child

11. The underlined word "pain-in-the-neck" means that the author's husband _____.

　A. was really rich B. was very generous

　C. had a problem with his neck D. paid little attention to change

　　 I was born in Thailand, where I feel at home. I am used to jumping on to a song taow (red taxi), and squeezing (挤过) in between two strangers. I am used to bargaining at the market to get a shirt that I like. I love telling bilingual (双语的) jokes and I am used to the surprised looks I get from the Thais when I can speak their language fluently.

Every two years my family goes to America for the summer, and every two years my world is turned upside down. The prices of everything are three times what they were in Thailand, but there is the sweet drink Dr. Pepper! And Bluebell Ice-cream! And everything you could imagine! I am amazed at it all, but the biggest change for me is the people. There are white people everywhere. I am not tall but average (中等的), my yellow hair is no longer out of place, and speaking English no longer draws looks. I should feel comfortable. I'm not out of place anymore, and nobody is looking at me, but I feel like they are. Now I feel out of place and different. I'm not used to giving people handshakes and hugs when I meet them for the first time. I get looks when I have trouble figuring out how much money to pay. I know different music, different places,