阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the favorite team in the four-man canoe race was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man by the name of Bill Havens.
As the time for the Olympics   36  it became clear that Bill’s wife would give birth to their first child about the time that the U.S. team would be   37  in the Paris games. In 1924 there were no jet airliners from Paris to the United States, only   38  ocean-going ships. And so Bill found himself in a   39 . Should he go to Paris and   40  not being at his wife’s side when their baby was born? Or should he   41  from the team and remain with his family?
Bill’s wife   42  that he go to Paris.   43 , competing in the Olympics was his life long   44 . But Bill felt   45 and, after much   46  searching decided to withdraw from the competition and remain home, where he could   47 his wife when the child arrived.
As it   48 , the United States four-man canoe team won the gold medal in Paris. And Bill’s wife was   49  in giving birth to their child. She was so late,   50 , that Bill could have competed in the event and returned home in time to be with her when she gave birth.
People said, “What a shame.” But Bill said he had no   51 . For the rest of his life, he believed he had made the   52  decision. Bill Havens knew what was most   53  to him. Not everybody figures that out. And he acted on what he believed was best.   54  everybody has the strength of character to say no to something he or she truly wants in order to say yes to something that truly   55 . But for Bill, it was the only way to peace; the only way to no regrets.

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从41—60题各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
It was raining．I went into a café and asked for a coffee．  41  I was waiting for my drink, I realized there were other people in the place, but I sensed   42 ．I saw their bodies, but I couldn’t feel their souls   43  their souls belonged to the   44 .
I stood up and walked between the tables．When I came to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man   45  in front of it．“I’m Steve,” he finally answered after I asked him a couple of times what his name was．“I can’t talk with you．I’m   46 ,”he said．He was chatting online and,   47 , he was playing a computer game—a war game．I was   48  .
Why didn’t Steve want to talk with me? I tried   49  to speak to that computer geek(怪人),   50  not a word came out of his mouth．I touched his shoulder, but no reaction(反应)．I was   51 ．I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to shout, “   52 !”
I took a few steps back, wondering if all those people in the café were looking at me．I   53 , and saw nobody showed any interest.
 54 , I realized that the people there were having a nice conversation with their machines, not with people．They were more   55  having a relationship with the   56 , particularly Steve．I wouldn’t want to   57  the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines   58  with people.
I was worried and sank in my thoughts．I didn’t even   59  that the coffee was bad,   60  Steve didn’t notice there was a person next to him.
【小题1】．

A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apples he grew. One day, his friend ___36__ him a young apple tree and told him to take it home and __37____it.
Seeing the gift, the farmer was very__38____, and he thought he would also have a lot of wonderful apples, but when he got home, he had a(n) ___39__. He didn’t know___40___ to plant it. He thought over and over and __41___ every place he could think of. __42____ he decided to plant the tree in his woods. There were many high trees with thick leaves in the woods. With those trees around no one else could___43___ the young apple tree. He even felt proud of himself for finding so___44___ a place for the apple tree. Every day he went to take care of the tree, __45___ it. To his surprise and ___46___, the apple tree didn’t grow as he had __47___. It died without sunlight and good soil.
Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a __48__ place. “ What’s the difference?” the farmer said angrily, “ If I had planted the tree near the___49____, passers-by would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted the tree in one of my fields, my neighbours would have come at night and ___50___ some of the apples! If I had planted it near my house, my own children would have taken the ___51_. No matter where I plant the tree, I can’t have__52____ to enjoy the apples. So there is no difference where I planted it.”
“ Yes,” said the friend, “but __53____ someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed everyone of the fruit, but also have __54___ a good apple tree! You don’t know the true meaning of ‘share’!”
We should learn to __55___ in our life, The more you want to own something all by yourself, the less you get at last.
【小题1】.

阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从41-60各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。）
I was on a bus one March evening. The driver didn’t   41  to start the bus soon because it was not yet   42   . A middle-aged woman got on. Tired and sad, she told her story  43  not to anyone in particular. On her way to the station, half of her   44   was stolen. The other half was hidden under her blouse, so she   45  still had some left. A few minutes later, she stopped crying, but still looked   46  .
When all the seats were taken, the driver started the engine. The conductor began to collect fares(车费). When she came to an old man in worn-out（破旧的）clothes, he   47  that he had spent all his money when he had accidentally got on a wrong bus and now he was trying to go home. On hearing this, she ordered the old man to   48   the bus. The old man was almost in tears as he   49   her to let him take the bus home. The driver took the conductor’s side(站在某人一边) and repeated the conductor’s   50   .
The woman was watching the incident.   51    the driver and the conductor raised their voices at the old man, she interfered(干预).
“Stop   52  him! Can’t you see he’s only trying to get home?”
“He doesn’t have any money! ” the driver   53  .
“Well, that’s no   54  to throw him off the bus,” she insisted.
Then she reached inside her blouse, look out her   55   money, and handed it to the conductor. “Here’s his fare and mine. Just stop giving him a   56 time.”
All heads turned to the woman. “It’s only money,” she shrugged（耸肩）.
She rode the rest of the way home  57 a happy smile, with the money she’d lost earlier  58  .
On the road of life, the help of strangers can  59 our loads（负担）and lift our spirits. How much sweeter the  60  will be when we make it a little smoother for others!

I went to a local post office to send a gift to Florida yesterday afternoon. When I __1  _ the door, there were many people waiting there. A bit   2  , I decided to calmly wait for my turn to place the precious package on the    3  .
Since I didn’t    4  the tape to seal(封住)the box, I went to buy the tape. As I   5 secure the top of the box, a woman in front of me, a similar situation, asked if she could use some    6  . I gave her some and helped her put the gift into her    7  . Then a woman behind me also asked me if she could have some tape, since her envelop had ripped and I gladly    8  it to her.
When the woman  in front of me    9  who I was sending the package to, I explained that my 80-year-old   10  Selma lives in Florida, 1200 miles from my home. She has a(n)   11  
neighbor named Diane who has, on several occasions, accompanied her to the hospital. My mom  12   her “her angel” and had asked me to send her two willow tree angel.
As we spoke, the line moved and she offered me a place in front of her. I was   13  and thanked her. At that moment, the other people in front of her ushered me in front of them by the time
I __14  the counter, we were all smiling and laughing and I thanked them sincerely.
A few inches of tape can seal the world    15  .

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had    1    a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and    2   his father could well    3   it, he told him that was all he wanted.
On the morning of his graduation day his father called him into his own study and told him how    4   he was to have such a fine son. He handed his son a beautiful gift box.   5    but slightly disappointed, the young man    6    the box and found a lovely book.     7   , he raised his voice at his father and said, “with all your money you give me a book?” And rushed out of the house,    8    the book in the study.
He did not contact his father for a whole year until one day he saw in the street an old man who looked like his father, he     9    he had to go back home and see his father.
When he arrived at his father’s house, he was told that his father had been in hospital for a week. The moment he was about to     10    the hospital, he saw on the desk the still new book, just as he had left it one year ago. He opened it and began to     11    the pages. Suddenly, a car key     12    from an envelope taped behind the book. It had a tag(标签) with the dealer’s name, the     13    dealer who had the sports car he had    14   . On the tag was the date of his graduation and the     15    PAID IN FULL.

I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself. And   36   assigned（指定）a seat by the teacher, I always   37  to sit at the back of the classroom.
All this   38 after I joined a sports team. It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team. At first I thought it was a crazy  39   because I didn’t have a good sense of balance, nor did I have the  40  to keep pace with the others on the team and they would tease me. But for the teacher who kept insisting on my “  41  for it”, I wouldn’t have decided to give a try.
Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts was only the   42  of it! When I first started  43   the practice sessions（练习赛）, I didn’t even know the rules of the game, much   44 what I was doing. Sometimes I’d get    45  and take a shot at the wrong direction—which made me feel really stupid.   46  , I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game, so I decided to   47  on learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t    48  “just yet”. 
I practiced and practiced. Soon I knew the   49  and the “moves”. Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive   50  in me was winning over my lack of confidence. With time, I learned how to play and made friends in the   51   — friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player. I never had so much fun!
With my   52  self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates. I have gone from   “53” in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself,   54  raising my hand— even when I sometimes wasn’t and not 100 percent   55 I had the right answer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

When I was a baby, I entertained you and made you laugh. Whenever I was “bad”, you'd shake your finger at me and ask, “How could you?”--but then you'd give up, and roll me over for a belly scratch and I believed that life could not be any more perfect.
My housetraining was a long process, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. We went for long walks, runs in the park and car rides. We stopped for ice cream. I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.
Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. Eventually, you fell in love. She, now your wife, is not a dog person, but I still welcomed her into our home. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement, I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them too. Your wife was afraid I would bite them. But nevertheless, as they began to grow, I became their friend.
Now, you have a new job in another city and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your “family”, but there was a time when I was your only family.
I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the dog pound. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said, “I know you will find a good home for her.” They shrugged and gave you a pained look. The children were in tears as they waved me goodbye. And “How could you?” were the only three words that swept over my mind.
Is it better to live with hope or without hope? At first, whenever anyone passed my pen (围栏), I rushed to the front, hoping it was you, that you had changed your mind and that this was all a bad dream.
My beloved master, I will think of you and wait for you forever. I hope you receive more faithfulness from your family than you showed to me.
【小题1】Who tells this story?

Elizabeth Clay decided to go home and spend the holiday with her parents. The next day she drove her old car home along the road.    36    she found she got a flat. The 22-year-old student    37    to stop her car by the side of the road in the winter night and opened the trunk. No    38   tire.
At this time, a car   39   . Paul and Diane told Clay to   40    them to a service station near their    41   . They arrived to see that it had no suitable tires to   42    with her car. “Follow us home,” said Paul.
The couple called around to find a tire. No   43     . They decided to let her use their own car. “Here,” Paul said, handing Clay a    44    of keys, “Take our car. We   45    be using it over the holiday.”
Clay was    46     . “But I’m going all the way to South Carolina, and I’ll be gone for two weeks,” she    47    them.
“We know,” Paul said. “We’ll be    48    when you get back. Here’s our number if you need to    49    us.”
Unable to believe her eyes, Clay watched as the    50     put her luggage into their car and then   51     her off. Two weeks later she    52    to find her old car cleaned inside and out with three new tires and the radio     53  .
“Thank you so much,” she said. “How much do I    54    you?” “Oh, no,” Paul said, “we don’t want any money. It’s our    55    .” Clay realized that while it might have been their pleasure, it was now her duty to pass on their “do unto others” spirit.

A poor boy , named Howard Kelly , was trying to pay his way through school by selling goods door to door . He was hungry ,  36  he decided to beg something to eat .
When a young woman opened the door , instead of a  37  he asked for a drink of water . Thinking he looked  38  she brought him a large glass of milk . He drank it and then asked , “How much do I  39  you ? ”
“No , you don’t owe me anything , ” she replied . “Mother has taught me  40  to accept pay for a kindness . ” Leaving that house , he not only felt stronger  41  , but it also increased his faith in God and the human race . He was about to  42  before this point .
 43  later the young woman became seriously ill . The local doctors couldn’t cure her illness . They sent her to the big city , where specialists can be  44  to study her disease . Dr . Howard Kelly , now  45  , came for the consultation (会诊) . When he heard the name of the town where she came from , a strange light filled his eyes .  46  , he went into her room .
47  in his doctor’s gown (罩衣) he went in to see her . He  48  her at once . He went back to the  49  and determined to do his best to save her life . From that day on , he gave special attention to her case .
Finally , the battle was won . Dr . Kelly asked a nurse to  50  the bill to her room . She was afraid to open it  51  she knew that it would  52  the rest of her life to pay it off . Finally she looked and read these words on the side of the bill :
“Paid in full with a glass of  53  . ” (Signed ) Dr . Howard Kelly .
Tears of  54  flooded her eyes as she  55  silently : “Thank you , God . Your love has spread through human hearts and hands. ”