--- Is this machine often in need of repair?

--- No. _______ problems to arise.

A．Never had we wanted                     B．Hardly did we wish  

C．Never do we hope                                 D．Seldom do we expect

The year I went away to college was a very difficult transition（过渡期）for me.   1   is probably true with many people．I got quite homesick and   2   thought about going home.

Although the   3   time for many students is getting   4   from home, my mailbox was frequently   2   . One day when I went to the mailbox, there was a postcard   6   out at me．I sat down to read it,   7   a note from someone back home.  8   I became increasingly puzzled as   9   postcard were like this: It was a full news report about a woman named Mabel and her newborn baby. I took the card back to my room and   10   about it.

Several days later I   11   another postcard, this one  12   news about Maybe line, Mabel’s cousin. Soon after, another card arrived and then another,   13   full of news of different people. I began to   14   look forward to the next one, 15 to see what this author would come up with 16   . I was never  17   .

Finally, the cards   18   coming, right about the time I had begun to feel   19   about college life. They had been such a happy distraction （调剂） that, I have 20  all the postcards and still bring them out to read whenever I need a life.

1．A．If                        B．So                      C．As                     D．What

2．A．often                    B．carefully             C．seldom               D．merely

3．A．hard                     B．last                     C．busiest               D．happiest

4．A．visitors                 B．letters                 C．calls                   D．directions

5．A．empty                  B．full                     C．closed                D．open

6．A．pouring                 B．reaching             C．staring                D．rolling

7．A．describing             B．considering          C．enjoying             D．expecting

8．A．But                      B．Thus                  C．Also                   D．Even

9．A．any                      B．no                      C．some                  D．such

10．A．joked                  B．talked                 C．forgot                D．cared

11．A．mailed                B．accepted             C．wrote                 D．received

12．A．delivering            B．demanding          C．discovering         D．developing

13．A．one                    B．each                   C．either                 D．both

14．A．hardly                B．possibly              C．usually               D．really

15．A．promising           B．surprised            C．interested            D．pretending

16．A．below                 B．lately                  C．next                   D．behind

17．A．frightened           B．disappointed        C．excited               D．pleased

18．A．continued            B．stopped              C．started                D．avoided

19．A．easy                   B．safe                    C．tired                   D．anxious

20．A．lost                     B．collected       C．torn                     D．saved

My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other  __1 , including her “sixth sense”, that she seldom gives the impression (印象) that she’s  2__   anything. It’s really amazing.
Michelle  3  her children pretty much like the rest of us, except that she isn’t too hard on them. Her children really benefit a lot from her  4 __attitude. She knows when to clean the house, and she moves around so fast that 5 often don’t realize she’s blind.
I 6   this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very   7  about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was  8  excited about her finger-painting project.
“Mom, guess what?” said Kayla, all smiles. “I learned how to 9 colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle  10  with us”. 
To my great  11 , my child had learnt about color from a blind friend! Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my   12  showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment (成就). She really   13  what I was doing!” Kayla said she had never known how good finger paints felt  14  Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.
I realized Kayla didn’t know that Michelle was blind. It had just never come  15  in conversation. When I told my daughter Michelle was blind, she was   16  for a moment. At first, she didn’t believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla  __17 . I knew my child was _18  because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her art work. Michelle had also “heard” Kayla’s 19 in her work.
We were silent for a minute. Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my __20__.” Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.

My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other  __1 , including her “sixth sense”, that she seldom gives the impression (印象) that she’s  2__   anything. It’s really amazing.

Michelle  3  her children pretty much like the rest of us, except that she isn’t too hard on them. Her children really benefit a lot from her  4 __attitude. She knows when to clean the house, and she moves around so fast that 5 often don’t realize she’s blind.

I 6   this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very   7  about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was  8  excited about her finger-painting project.

“Mom, guess what?” said Kayla, all smiles. “I learned how to 9 colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle  10  with us”. 

To my great  11 , my child had learnt about color from a blind friend! Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my   12  showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment (成就). She really   13  what I was doing!” Kayla said she had never known how good finger paints felt  14  Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.

I realized Kayla didn’t know that Michelle was blind. It had just never come  15  in conversation. When I told my daughter Michelle was blind, she was   16  for a moment. At first, she didn’t believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla  __17 . I knew my child was _18  because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her art work. Michelle had also “heard” Kayla’s 19 in her work.

We were silent for a minute. Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my __20__.” Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.

1.                A．ways           B．means          C．methods  D．senses

2.                A．enjoyed        B．found          C．missed   D．held

3.                A．comes across    B．looks after       C．picks out  D．learns from

4.                A．relaxed         B．nervous        C．anxious   D．secret

5.                A．parents         B．family          C．guests    D．friends

6.                A．realized        B．heard          C．forgot    D．witnessed

7.                A．sad            B．calm           C．excited   D．puzzled

8.                A．especially       B．seldom         C．frequently D．hardly

9.                A．paint           B．draw           C．create    D．mix

10.               A．stayed         B．painted         C．talked D．competed

11.               A．excitement      B．encouragement  C．delight    D．surprise

12.               A．attitude        B．color          C．picture    D．paper

13.               A．touched        B．considered      C．saw   D．understood

14.               A．after           B．unless          C．until D．if

15.               A．up            B．down          C．back  D．on

16.               A．curious         B．quiet           C．angry D．worried

17.               A．whispered      B．insisted         C．introduced D．informed

18.               A．right           B．wrong          C．worried   D．uncertain

19.               A．shortcomings    B．difficulties      C．pride D．disappointment

20.               A．paper          B．pens           C．hands D．eyes

All of us have read thrilling（惊险的）stories in which the hero had only a limited time to live．Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours, but we were always interested in discovering just how the hero chose to spend his last days or his last hours．

Such stories make us think and wonder what we should do under similar circumstances．What happiness and regrets should we find in thinking about the past?

Sometimes, I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow．Such an attitude would emphasize （强调）sharply the values of life．We should live each day with appreciation which is often lost when time stretches（延伸）before us with more days and months and years to come．

Most of us take life for granted．We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future．When we are in pleasant health, death is unimaginable．We seldom think of it．The days stretch out endlessly．So we go about our little task, hardly aware of our dull attitude towards life．

The same attitude, I am afraid, falls on the use of our abilities and senses．Only the deaf appreciate hearing; only the blind realize the importance of sight．But those who have never lost hearing and sight seldom make the fullest use of these abilities．Their ears take in sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation．People seldom realize how good it is being in good health until they have fallen ill．It is the same old story of not being grateful（感激的）without missing．

1．When reading the thrilling stories, we usually ________．

A．have curiosity about the hero’s limited life      

B．show great interest in our own lives

C．find many regrets in thinking about the past    

D．have pity on ourselves

2． From the passage, we can learn that ________．

A．if we want to live an excellent life we should die tomorrow

B．the disabled are eager to lose their abilities and senses

C．each of us should treasure what we have today

D．most of us are able to make full use of our time

3．The underlined word “hazily” in the last paragraph probably means ________．

A．happily              B．unclearly             C．freely             D．sadly

4．The best title for this passage may probably be ________．

A．Not Being Grateful without Missing         B．Giving a Hand to the Disabled

C．Making Use of Our Senses                            D．Learning from Thrilling Stories