A、It was stressful. B、It was colorful. C、It was peaceful. D、It was boring. A题目询问作者过去的生活是怎样的。说话人说“过去我有一份压力很大的工作”，故选A。

I live in a small village in the country. My wife and I run the village shop. We have a very peaceful life—boring, some might say, but we love it. We know all the people in the village, and have plenty of time to stop and chat. I have plenty of time for my hobbies, too—gardening, fishing, and walking in the countryside. I love the outdoor life. It wasn’t always like this, though. I used to have a really stressful job, working till late at the office every evening, and often bringing work home at the weekend. The advertising world is very competitive, and when I look back, I can’t imagine how I stood it. I had no private life at all, no time for the really important things in life. Because of the pressure of the job, I used to smoke and drink too much. The crisis came when my wife left me. She complained that she never saw me and that I had no time for family life. This made me realize what was really important to me. I talked things through with her, and decided to get back with her again and to start a new and better life together. I gave up tobacco and alcohol and searched for new hobbies. Now, I’m afraid of looking back, since the past life seemed a horrible nightmare.
16 What did the speaker use to do for a living?
17 What do we know about the speaker’s life in the past?
18 What made the speaker change his life style?