(2007年普通高等学校夏季招生考试英语（北京卷）)C

 Lying in the sun on a rock, the cougar （美洲狮） saw Jeb and his son, Tom, before they saw it. Jeb put his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands, making himself look big to the cougar. It worked. The cougar hesitated, ready to attack Jeb, but ready to forget the whole thing, too.

 Jeb let go of his jacket, grasped Tom and held him across his body, making a cross. Now the cougar’s enemy looked even bigger, and it rose up, ready to move away, but unfortunately Tom got scared and struggled free of Jeb.

 “Tom, no!” shouted his father.

  But Tom broke and ran and that’s the last thing you do with a cougar. The second Tom broke free, Jeb threw himself on the cougar, just as it jumped from the rock. They hit each other in mid-air and both fell. The cougar was on Jeb in a flash, forgetting about Tom, which was what Jeb wanted.

  Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined man stands a chance, even with just his fists. As the cougar’s claws（爪子）got into his left shoulder, Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit, hard. The animal howled（吼叫）and put its head back. Jeb followed up with his other fist. Then out of the comer of his eye, Jeb saw Tom. The boy was running back to help his father.

 “Knife, Tom,” shouted Jeb.

  The boy ran to his father’s bag, while Jeb started shouting as well as hitting, to keep the cougar’s attention away from Tom. Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb. The cougar was moving its head in and out, trying to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms. Tom swung with the knife, into the cougar’s back. It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains.

  The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds.

63. Why did Jeb pull his jacket open when he saw the cougar?

A. To get ready to fight.              B. To frighten it away.   C. To protect the boy.    D. To cool down.

64. What do we know about cougars?

A. They are afraid of noises.                                     B. They hesitate before they hit.

C. They are bigger than we think.                             D. They like to attack running people.

65. How did Jeb try to hold the cougar’s attention?

A. By keeping shouting and hitting.                          B. By making a wall out of his arms.

C. By throwing himself on the cougar.                      D. By swinging his fists at the cougar’s eyes.

66. Which of the following happened first?

A. The cougar jumped from the rock.                        B. Tom struggled free of his father.

C. Jeb asked Tom to get the knife.                                   D. Jeb held Tom across his body.

（2011·北京卷）完形填空

I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself. And   36    otherwise 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, 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.

36. A. as            B. until             C. unless               D. though

37. A. hoped         B. agreed           C. meant               D. chose

38. A. continued      B. changed          C. settled              D. started

39. A. idea           B. plan             C.belief               D. saying

40. A. right          B. chance           C. ability               D.patience

41. A. going          B. looking          C. cheering             D. applying

42. A. point           B. half             C. rest               D. basis

43. A. enjoying         B. preparing        C. attending            D. watching

44. A. less             B. later           C. worse            D. further

45. A. committed        B. motivated      C. embarrassed       D. confused

46. A. Interestingly       B. Fortunately     C. Obviously         D. hopefully

47. A. focus            B. act            C. rely            D. try

48. A. want             B. do           C. support          D. know

49. A. steps            B. orders          C. rules             D. games

50. A. roles           B. part           C. mind            D. value

51. A. process         B. operation       C. movement        D. situation

52. A. expressed      B. improved       C. preserved       D. recognized

53. A. dreaming       B. playing         C. relaxing         D. hiding

54. A. by            B. for            C. with           D. to

55. A. lucky         B. happy          C. sure           D. satisfied

（北京卷26）. --I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow you. Did you say you wanted to return on September 20?

   --Sorry, I      myself clear. We want to return on October 20.

A. hadn't made     B. wouldn't make    C. don't make        D. haven't made

（2011·北京卷）A

“I Went Skydiving at 84!”

As a young girl growing up in the 1930s, I always wanted to fly a plane, but back then it was almost unheard of for a woman to do that. I got a taste of that dream in 2011,when my husband arranged for me to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. But the experience turned out to be very dull. Around that time,I told my husband that I wanted to skydive. So when our retirement community（社区）announced that they were having an essay competition and the topic was an experience of a lifetime that you wanted to have, I decided to write about my dream.

In the essay, I wrote about my desire to skydive, stating George Brush Sr. did it at age 80. Why not me? I was just 84 and in pretty good health. A year went by and I heard nothing. But then at a community party in late April 2009, they announced that I was one of the winners. I just couldn’t believe it. Inspired by this.I deeided to realize my dream,even though some of my family members and my doctor were against it.

On June 11, 2009, nearly 40 of my family and friends gathered in the area close to where I would land while I headed up in the airplane. My instructor, Jay, guided me through the experience. The plane was the noisiest one I had ever been in, but I wasn’t frightened—I was really just looking forward to the experience. When we reached 13,000 feet, Jay instructed me to throw myself out of the plane. When we first hit the air, the wind was so strong that I could hardly breathe. For a second I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” But then everything got calmer. We were in a free fall for about a minute before Jay opened the parachute（降落伞）, then we just floated downward for about five minutes. Being up in the clouds and looking at the view below was unlike anything I have ever felt—much better than the hot air ballon. I was just enjoying it.

Skydiving was really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope other people will look at me and realize that you don’t stop living just because you are 84 years old. If there’s something you want to experience, look into it. If it’s something that is possible, make it happen.

56. What happened to the auther in 2001?

A. She flew an airplane

B. She entered a competition

C. She went on a hot air balloon ride

D. She moved into a retirement community

57. The author mentioned George Bush Sr. in her essay to       .

A. build up her own reputation

B. show her admiration for him

C. compare their health conditon

D. make her argument persuasive

58. How did the author feel immediately after she jumped out of the plane?

A. Excited    B. Scared    C. Nervous    D. Regretful

59. What did the author enjoy most when she was skydiving?

A.The beautiful clouds     B. The wonderful view

C. The company of Jay     D. The one-minute free fall

  

（北京卷28）. It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate what they __ for me.

  A. had done        B. did            C. would do         D. were doing