One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift． Unlike other gifts，it came without wrap（包装）．
On September 11 ^th , 1 958，Mum gave birth to Richard．After she brought him home from hospital，she put him in my lap，saying, “I promised you a gift, and here it is．” What an honor! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own．I played with it day and night． I sang to it, I told it stories．I told it over and over how much I loved it!  
One morning, however，I found its bed empty． My doll was gone! I cried for it．Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital．It had a fever． For several days，I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as “hopeless”，“pitiful"，and “dying”, which sounded Ominous．
Christmas was coming, “Don’t expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room． “If your baby brother lives, that’ll be Christmas enough．” As he spoke，his eyes filled with tears． I’d never seen him cry before．
The phone rang early on Christmas morning．Dad jumped out of bed to answer it．From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He’s all right?” He hung up and shouted upstairs． “The hospital said we can bring Richard home!” “Thank God!” I heard Mum cry．
From the window upstairs，I watched my parents rush out to the car．I had never seen them so happy． And I was also full of joy． What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home． I ran downstairs． My socks still hung there flat．But I knew they were not empty: they were filled with love !
【小题1】What happened to the author on September 11^th,1958?

I shall never forget the day when the earthquake took place. It was about 5 o’clock in the afternoon and I was   16   to my daughter’s school. Our plan was to go   17 together. I’d stopped at a   18   to get some fresh fruit. We like to have some fruit to eat   19   our swim. I was driving along a high road on the way.  20   my road was another road which was built like a   21 . I was hungry so I put the bag of apples   22   me and started to eat one.  23   I saw the cars in front of me start to  24   from side to side. Then my car started to shake! I didn’t know what was happening. Perhaps something had   25   wrong with my car. I drove a little more slowly and then I   26   the car and at the same moment the road   27   onto the cars in front of me. I found myself in the __28  . I couldn’t move. My legs and feet were hurting badly and I couldn’t move them. All round me was  29  But above me I could hear shouts and a lot of noise. Then I memorized what had happened. I had been   30   an earthquake. For about two hours nobody came. Luckily I could reach the bag of   31  , so at least I had plenty to eat. Then I heard people   32   towards me. A team of people had come to   33   if anyone was under the   34  road. I called out, “I’m here!” I heard a shout. Soon a stranger climbed to my car. “How are you   35  ?”He asked. “Not too bad,”I said. They didn’t get me out until the next morning.

1.A. driving    B. leading  C. walking      D. running

2.A. shopping       B. dancing    C. swimming   D. sightseeing

3.A. farm           B. shop         C. park        D. school

4.A. after          B. during           C. since        D. once

5.A. Under          B. Along        C. Over         D. Beside

6.A. bridge         B. roof         C. cover       D. top

7.A. under          B. along            C. inside       D. beside

8.A. Finally        B. Actually     C. Suddenly    D. Slowly

9.A. move       B. roll         C. burst       D. jump

10.A. been        B. broken    C. gone     D. done

11.A. parked      B. started    C. moved    D. stopped

12.A. put         B. ran       C. fell       D. jumped

13.A. dark        B. afternoon  C. sun       D. car

14.A. noisy       B. dusty     C. quiet      D. blood

15.A. on        B. at       C. by        D. in

16.A. food       B. sandwiches  C. apples    D. bread

17.A. climbing    B. shouting    C. moving   D. driving

18.A. know      B. tell        C. understand  D. see

19.A. falling      B. broken     C. breaking   D. dirty

20.A. sleeping     B. feeling     C. eating     D. going

A couple of years ago, I went to a lady’s house to buy some vitamins. Upon entering the house, I  36  that there was an electronic keyboard on a stand, leaning  37  the wall. Being a piano music lover and  38 , I asked, if the woman played. She nodded and added that she had been  39  lessons at age 54! I told her that it was very   40  that she was pursuing （追求） her passion（热情）to play the piano.
Then she asked me  41  question. “I have been playing for 8 years now,” I answered. 
“Then you must play a song for me before you leave,” she  42 .I thought she was joking and I simply smiled. At the end of the deal of the vitamins, she  43 me of our musical “ 44 _”. She then showed me to an old upright piano in the living room,  45   asked me to play a song for her. I thought  46   and decided to play David Lantz’s “Return to the Heart”, since she had so much passion for  47 ,and it was my soul-searching song. 
I played the song to the best of my ability, and with my emotions  48  into it as possible. She loved it.  49  I was about to step out of the door, I heard a weak voice calling out, “Young man!”
I turned around. And there was an old lady  50  one little step at a time with the help of another woman. “I wanted to come out to  51  you for the beautiful song that you played. I have been very sick, and it’s very hard for me to  52 my bed, but your music made me feel good ”she said. With that, she turned around and walked  53  back to her room. 
I was deeply  54  by her appreciation and felt a deeper understanding for the song. It served its purpose beautifully, returning to one’s  55  for peace and joy. 

I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard my name called for the leading role in our high school play. Mrs. Dermit, my drama(戏剧) teacher, had been looking for someone to play an energetic boy in a play. Luckily for me, she thought that I could act the   1 .

That afternoon my friend Kevin and I talked   2  about the play. Although Kevin hadn’t been   3   for a role on the stage, his job with helping all the actors was important to the success of the play. I told him I was a little __4  because I had a lot of lines(台词)to memorize. “You can do it.” he said. I knew I could   5  on him: we had been friends since the third grade, and we made a good team.

Preparations for the play moved at a rapid pace. While doing his own work, Kevin also spent hours helping me learn my lines. He often said my lines with me by silently moving his lips. We   6  that he could probably play my part as well as I could.

Three days before the    7  night, everything was ready for the performance. But when I woke up with a high fever on the day of the play, the whole production came to a sudden   __8 . Everyone in the drama department was worried,   9  there was no way I could perform. The play was   10  to open in fewer than six hours, and we had no time to cancel. I tried to think of a way to help. Then it hit me---Kevin knew the   11  as well as I did. I called Mrs. Dermit to give her my   12 . Within a few short hours, Kevin stood on the stage in costume(戏服) and makeup. The amusing lines he had   13  with me so many times made the crowd laugh and cheer. In a strange turn of events, Kevin and I had   14  the day for everyone by working as a team.

Of course, I was terribly disappointed to have missed my chance in the spotlight, but I was extremely   15  to have such a good friend.

1.                A．part           B．play            C．band D．scene

2.                A．calmly          B．sadly           C．excitedly  D．anxiously

3.                A．had            B．chosen         C．invited   D．trained

4.                A．pleased        B．bored          C．nervous  D．confused

5.                A．rely           B．operate         C．base     D．agree

6.                A．expected       B．debated        C．agreed   D．joked

7.                A．ending         B．closing         C．opening  D．greeting

8.                A．change         B．turn           C．stop D．close

9.                A．for            B．but            C．and  D．so

10.               A．written         B．taken          C．said  D．scheduled

11.               A．steps          B．lines           C．point D．case

12.               A．introduction     B．instruction      C．explanation D．suggestion

13.               A．saw           B．read           C．practiced  D．watched

14.               A．valued         B．saved          C．left   D．kept

15.               A．successful      B．thankful        C．trustful    D．hopeful

The friendship between us never fades. Mary Allen was my best friend—like a sister I never had. We did everything together: piano lessons, movies, swimming, horseback riding, and so on.

When I was 13, my family moved. Mary and I   36  in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special  37  — like my wedding and Mary’s. Soon we were  38  with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less. One day a card that I sent came back,  39  “Address Unknown.” I had no idea how to   40   Mary.

Over the years, I thought of Mary often. I wanted to  41  stories of my children and then grandchildren. I need to share my   42 when my brother and then my mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Mary could  43 .

One day I was reading a newspaper   44  I notice a picture of a young woman who looked a lot like Mary and whose last name was Wagman— Mary’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmans,” I thought,  45 I wrote to her anyway.

She called as soon as she got my letter. “Mrs. Tobin!” she said excitedly, “Mary Allen Wagman is my mother”. Minutes later I heard a voice that I  46   at once, even after 40 years. We laughed and cried and asked about each other’s   47  .

Now the empty place in my heart is filled, and there is one thing that Mary and I know for sure: We won’t lose each other again!