Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three months of travel through
Europe. I had been 1 a couple of times, but I could hardly 2 to know my ways around the continent.
3 , my knowledge of foreign languages was 4 to a little college French.
I 5 . How would I, unable to speak the language, 6 familiar with local geography or transportation
systems, conduct interviews and do 7 ? It seemed impossible, and with considerable 8 I sat down to
write a letter rejecting the 9 . Halfway through, a 10 ran through my mind: you can"t learn if you don"t
try. So I 11 the assignment. There were some bad 12 . But by the time I had finished the trip, I was an
experienced traveler. And ever since, I have never hesitated to head for even the most 13 places, without
guides or 14 advanced bookings, confident that somehow I will 15 .
The point is that the new, the different, is almost by definition 16 . But each time you try something,
you learn, and as the learning 17 , the World opens to you.
I"ve learned to ski at 40, and flown up the Rhine River in a(n) 18 . And I know I"ll go on doing such
things. It"s not because I"m braver or more daring than others. I"m not. But I"ll accept worry as another
name for 19 and I believe I can 20 wonders. |
( )1. A. aboard
( )2. A. claim
( )3. A. Somehow
( )4. A. accustomed
( )5. A. resigned
( )6. A. only too
( )7. A. operations
( )8. A. regret
( )9. A. request
( )10. A. reaction
( )11. A. accomplished
( )12. A. exchanges
( )13. A. remote
( )14. A. still
( )15. A. do
( )16. A. astonishing
( )17. A. comes up
( )18. A. airplane
( )19. A. goal
( )20. A. work | B. abroad
B. declare
B. However
B. added
B. hesitated
B. more than
B. experiments
B. doubt
B. job
B. thought
B. received
B. conditions
B. accessible
B. ever
B. manage
B. frightening
B. shows up
B. motorboat
B. opportunity
B. own | C. away
C. hope
C. Instead
C. limited
C. trembled
C. apart from
C. research
C. terror
C. trust
C. meaning
C. accepted
C. trips
C. interesting
C. even
C. make
C. fascinating
C. piles up
C. surfboard
C. struggle
C. win | D. out
D. deny
D. Moreover
D. suited
D. suspected
D. far from
D. business
D. disappointment
D. assignment
D. conflict
D. resisted
D. experiences
D. crowded
D. yet
D. fit
D. exciting
D. steps up
D. balloon
D. challenge
D. achieve | | 完形填空。 | My husband Jeff and I moved into our new home in Scottsbluff last year just before Christmas. I did not
have the 1 or energy to carry out my traditional Christmas decorating and baking activities. What was the
point, anyway? It was going to be a 2 Christmas after all.
3 , the neighborly nature of west Nebraska residents started to trickle (陆续来临) in.
There was a 4 on the door one evening. It was Jeff"s new colleague, John Smith, and his wife, Phyllis.
The Smiths had stopped by to 5 us to town with a loaf of homemade bread. They pointed out a 6 on the
porch (门廊). Apparently the doorbell wasn"t working in the cold snowy weather and we had 7 a visit from
the Browns, our across-the-street neighbors, who brought us a Christmas card and more Christmas cookies.
The 8 feelings brought by these thoughtful gestures lasted longer than the food.
As Jeff and I were clearing pre-Christmas 9 from our driveway, Ernie Guzman came over from next door
to 10 us to dig out.
Then, we received an invitation to 11 a Christmas Eve meal with our neighbors, Ernie and Nancy Sommer,
and their 12 -a 90-year-old lady, who also had no family in the immediate area with whom to spend the holiday.
Our Christmas Eve was quite merry, thanks to our 13 .
Our Christmas morning 14 was special, thanks to the Smiths" gift of bread. I was so 15 for these gestures
of welcome, especially during the holidays.
This year, we were again unable to be with our families for Christmas. The 16 and work schedules just
made things too difficult. 17 that sense of Christmas isolation (孤立) all too well, we decided to try to round
up some other folks who were 18 in the holidays.
Lonely people are all around us, but most of us 19 notice them. Just take a look around you. Sometimes,
the smallest 20 gesture can make a world of difference. | ( )1. A. chance
( )2. A. merry
( )3. A. Therefore
( )4. A. card
( )5. A. welcome
( )6. A. tree
( )7. A. forgot
( )8. A. deep
( )9. A. snow
( )10. A. teach
( )11. A. share
( )12. A. aunt
( )13. A. folks
( )14. A. call
( )15. A. sorry
( )16. A. distance
( )17. A. Studying
( )18. A. alone
( )19. A. always
( )20. A. careful | B. time
B. free
B. Meanwhile
B. sign
B. invite
B. package
B. arranged
B. true
B. rubbish
B. help
B. prepare
B. guest
B. relatives
B. greeting
B. eager
B. expense
B. Showing
B. busy
B. seldom
B. patient | C. anxiety
C. lonely
C. Somehow
C. knock
C. drive
C. mail
C. received
C. warm
C. dust
C. urge
C. taste
C. maid
C. colleagues
C. breakfast
C. ready
C. season
C. Knowing
C. happy
C. finally
C. vague | D. ability
D. usual
D. However
D. note
D. send
D. flower
D. missed
D. mixed
D. leaves
D. forbid
D. exchange
D. partner
D. neighbors
D. meeting
D. grateful
D. situation
D. Discovering
D. active
D. usually
D. kind | | 阅读理解。 | Bobby Quails was shopping when he received a text message: Fire on Beechmont, one-story house, child
trapped inside. "I was picking out gifts for the family our engine house adopted for Christmas," remembers
Quails, who has been fighting fires in Memphis for 24 years. "I had this sinking feeling as I got in my car and
headed over."
The last time Quails had been on Beeehmont Street was to install smoke detectors (感应器) at the Bateman-
Tubbs home. He"d been on a secret task to see if they needed extra help during the holidays. There he discovered
that the four Bateman-Tubbs children were sleeping on bare mattresses (床垫), and he found two of the boys
playing outside in 30-degree weather with no shoes or coats.
Quails learned that Leonard Tubbs was doing his best to make ends meet laying floors while Kimberly
Bateman stayed home with the kids.
"When Bobby told me his team wanted to be Secret Santas and buy my kids toys, at first I thought we didn"t
need any help," Bateman recalls. "It really touched me. I told him what the kids really needed was warm clothes,"
That"s exactly what Qualls was shopping for on December 9, 2010: winter jackets for Christopher, seven;
JoJo, four; Madison, one; and two-month-old Charles. While driving over to Beechmont Street, he dialed
Bateman"s cell phone. She answered on the first ring, screaming, "The house is on fire-JoJo"s trapped inside!"
By the time Quails reached the house, the family had gotten out, but their home was severely damaged; His
coworkers had found JoJo hiding under a pile of clothes in a back bedroom. He had stopped breathing and had
been given CPR and rushed to the hospital. Quails learned that JoJo was now on life support and might not make
it through the night. He rushed to the hospital with Lt. Mark Eskew, who placed a stuffed teddy bear in a
firefighter"s suit on JoJo"s bed.
"I just kept praying my little boy would open his eyes," Bateman recalls. "There was nothing else I could do.
They were pumping black and thick liquid out of his lungs and stomach for days."
After a few days, though, JoJo regained consciousness, and the tubes were taken out of his throat. While he
began to slowly recover, the local newspaper and TV stations got hold of the story, and the Secret Santa Plan of
Quails and his fellow firefighters, snowballed. Before long, the fire station was overflowing with boxes of toys,
food, towels, and clothes. People called, wanting to donate furniture and appliances (电器) too. By December
23, Bateman and Tubbs had moved their kids into a new rental home. By Christmas Eve, JoJo was ready to
leave the hospital, and the firefighters were ready to deliver the family their very own Christmas miracle.
"These guys aren"t just firefighters," says Bateman, "they"re our guardian angels. If they hadn"t installed a
smoke detector that first day they came to our house, we wouldn"t have known when the fire started. Then they
went the extra ten miles to give us a Christmas." | | 1. What did Quails do after he received a text message? | A. He drove to the burning house.
B. He hurried to the fire station.
C. He went to pick out gifts.
D. He went shopping in Beechmont. | | 2. Who saved JoJo out of the burning house? | A. Bobby Qualls.
B. Leonard Tubbs.
C. Kimberly Bateman.
D. Firefighters. | | 3. We can learn from the story that _____. | A. JoJo is a naughty child
B. smoke detectors are very useful
C. Tubbs" home is filled with gifts
D. the fire was caused by the bare mattress | | 4. The author wrote this story mainly to _____. | A. encourage people to install smoke detectors
B. advise people to take good care of their children
C. ask people to give gifts to the firemen
D. praise the firemen for their good deeds | | 阅读理解。 | Mrs. Amatuli was my teacher in the fourth grade. One day at lunch time, I was getting ready to eat my
same old tuna fish (金枪鱼) sandwich and suddenly Mrs. Amatuli asked me if she could buy my sandwich
from me. She explained that, I could use the money to buy a hot lunch from the cafeteria.
I was thrilled. I never bought my lunch at the cafeteria. It was too expensive for my family, and we always
carried our lunch and brought the bag back home to use again the next day. My sandwiches were either
bologna (大腊肠) or tuna fish. It rarely varied beyond that.
You can understand my delight when I had the opportunity to buy a hot lunch.
When we finished lunch that day, Mrs. Amatuli took me aside and said she wanted to explain why she had
bought my sandwich. I really didn"t care why, but it gave me a few minutes of her precious attention so I was
very quiet as she explained. You see, she was Catholic and she told me that Catholics didn"t eat red meat on
Fridays-they ate fish on Fridays.
Oh, I couldn"t wait to get home and tell my Mama that from now on I wanted tuna fish on Fridays. After,
my Mama understood why, she gladly fixed tuna fish for me on Fridays. She even fixed it on brown bread
because she knew Mrs. Amatuli liked brown bread. From then on, every Friday I could get in line with the
rest of the kids for a hot lunch. I didn"t care how many of the kids complained about cafeteria food-it tasted
divine to me!
I realize now that Mrs. Amatuli could have fixed herself a tuna sandwich of Friday. But she bought my
sandwich because she saw a little girl who was thrilled over the simple act of having a hot lunch.
I will never forget her for her compassion and generosity and what I should do is follow her example. | | 1. Mrs. Amatuli bought the writer"s sandwich because _____. | A. she was tired of cafeteria food
B. she hated getting in line with kids
C. she didn"t eat red meat on Friday
D. she wanted to show care to the writer | | 2. What can we learn about the cafeteria food? | A. It was terrific.
B. It was terrible.
C. The writer enjoyed it.
D. Most kids were fond of it. | | 3. The underlined word "divine" in Paragraph 5 means _____. | A. perfect
B. sweet
C. unpleasant
D. special | | 4. Which of the following can best show the theme of this text? | A. It is hard to please all.
B. Better to give than to receive.
C. Love makes the world go around.
D. The more you offer, the more you are rewarded. | | 完形填空。 | It was a cold winter. The day my husband fell to his death, it started to snow, just 1 any November day.
His 2 , when I found it, was lightly covered with snow. It snowed almost every day for the next four months,
while I sat on the couch and watched it 3 . One morning, I walked slowly 4 and was surprised to see a
snow remover clearing my driveway and the bent back of a woman clearing my walk. I dropped to my knees
and crawled back upstairs, 5 those good people would not see me I was 6 . My first thought was, how
would I ever 7 them? I didn"t have the 8 to brash my hair, 9 clear someone"s walk.
Before Jon"s death, I felt proud that I 10 asked for favors. I identified myself by my competence and 11 .
So who was I if I was no longer capable? How could I 12 myself if I iust sat on the couch every day and
watched the snow fall?
Learning to receive the love and 13 from others wasn"t easy. Friends cooked for me and I cried. Finally,
my friend Kathy said, "Mary, cooking for you isn"t a 14 for me; it makes me feel good to be able to do
something for you."
Over and over, I heard 15 words from the people who supported me during those 16 days. One wise
man told me, "You aren"t doing nothing because being fully open to your 17 may be the hardest work you will
ever do."
I am not the person I 18 was, but in many ways I have changed for the 19 . I"ve been surprised to learn
that there is incredible freedom coming from 20 one"s worst fear and walking away whole. I believe there is
strength, for sure, in accepting a dark period of our life. | ( )1. A. on
( )2. A. body
( )3. A. sweep up
( )4. A. upstairs
( )5. A. so
( )6. A. delighted
( )7. A. pay
( )8. A. courage
( )9. A. stand alone
( )10. A. frequently
( )11. A. intelligence
( )12. A. achieve
( )13. A. supply
( )14. A. burden
( )15. A. sensitive
( )16. A. blue
( )17. A. despair
( )18. A. still
( )19. A. worse
( )20. A. facing | B. in
B. soul
B. drop off
B. downstairs
B. yet
B. disappointed
B. award
B. strength
B. leave alone
B. gradually
B. independence
B. praise
B. support
B. job
B. same
B. rainy
B. difficulty
B. once
B. less
B. noticing | C. like
C. shoe
C. fall down
C. indoors
C. and
C. annoyed
C. reward
C. spirit
C. sit alone
C. hardly
C. excellence
C. respect
C. contribution
C. business
C. considerate
C. bright
C. pain
C. even
C. more
C. managing | D. for
D. footprint
D. pile up
D. outdoors
D. for
D. ashamed
D. treat
D. power
D. let alone
D. uncertainly
D. qualification
D. promote
D. encouragement
D. sorrow
D. similar
D. snowy
D. regret
D. never
D. better
D. expressing |
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