“Hurry up, Chris,” my dad said in a low voice. “He’s gonna get away. You need to   36  him now.” I was pointing my   37  at a duck. It was a(n)   38  day for me. Shooting those ducks would make my father   39  , but I just couldn’t. My father   40  fishing and hunting ducks. I thought fishing was boring,   41  Dad hardly ever asked me to go with him. I had gone hunting with Dad before but   42  brought a gun, because I didn’t own one, and his were too big for me. The gun was a present for my birthday. I’d been   43  almost every evening.

I   44  I could hit that duck, but I didn’t want to. I had never   45  killing things, and I hated people who killed animals for no reason at all. I liked   46  . I didn’t want to hurt it.

I pointed the gun at the duck. He was trying hard to find food and had to keep a careful eye on his   47  at the same time, and now my dad asked me to kill him so we could have one nice   48  . I hated myself for   49  pointing the gun at the duck, but I hated to   50  my father’s feelings too.

“I… I can’t tell which is the duck,” I explained.

“Just try, Chris. I know you can do it,” Dad   51  me.

“Thanks, Dad.” I   52  to myself. “Your words just make it harder for me.” My eyes filled with tears as my brain had made a(n)   53  —I wouldn’t shoot the duck.

“You really don’t want to shoot him, do you?” Dad quietly cut in on my   54  . I was too choked (哽咽的) to say anything.   55  , a nod was enough.

Hidden passengers traveling in ships, trams, or even cars can be a terrible trouble— especially when they are insects. As for this, there is a great ___36___ between human beings; and insects. The former ___37___ every possible effort to avoid being discovered, while the latter quickly ___38___ attention to themselves.

We can only show mercy to the ___39___ man who had to slop his car soon after ___40___ from a country village to drive to London. Hearing a strange noise from the ___41___of the car, he naturally got out to ___42___ the wheels carefully, but he found nothing wrong, so he ___43___ his way. Again the noise began, ___44___ and became even louder. Quickly ___45___ his head, the man saw what appeared to be a great ___46___ cloud following the car. When he stopped at a village further on, he was told that a queen bee must be hidden in his car as there were thousands of bees ___47___.

On learning this, the man drove away .as quickly as possible. After an hour’s ___48___ driving, he arrived safely in London, where he parked his car outside a ___49___ and went in- It was not long ___50___ a customer who had seen him arrive ___51___ in to inform him that his car was ___52___ with bees. The poor driver was ___53___ that the best way should be to call a ___54___. In a short time the man arrived. He found the unwelcome passenger hidden near the wheels at the back. of the car. Very thankful to the driver for this ___55___ gift, the bee-keeper took the queen and her thousand of followers home in a large box.

36. A. connection   B. difference   C. communication  D. similarity

37. A, do B. take    C. make  D. try

38. A. give     B. keep     C. pay      D. draw

39. A. unfortunate  B. careless      C. unpleasant  D. hopeless

40. A. passing by   B. leaving out   C. setting out     D. getting up

41. A. front    B. back     C. left      D. right

42. A. clean    B. change       C. test      D. examine

43. A. drove   B. continued C. pushed    D. forced

44. A. normally     B. gently C. actually      D. immediately

45. A. hiding  B. turning       C. shaking      D. raising

46. A. black    B. beautiful    C. white  D. colorful

47. A. below   B. ahead  C. nearby       D. behind

48. A. boring  B. careful       C. exciting      D. hard

49. A. hotel    B. museum     C. hospital      D. school

50. A. when    B. after   C. until   D. before

51. A. broke   B. moved       C. hurried       D. dropped

52. A. crowded      B. covered      C. filled  D. equipped

53. A. advised B. required     C. ordered      D. requested

54. A. bee-keeper B. policeman    C. waiter D. repairman

55. A. unfamiliar   B. unknown    C. unexpected D. uncertain