阅读下面短文，从短文后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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I was successful at my job . I worked very hard , but it ___1___ me and my family a fabulous (极好的) lifestyle . I’d worked for the same company for twenty years and had worked my way up to department director. ___2___, one afternoon last May, I was called to the office, and it was __3__ explained to me that they were letting me go. I just sat there __4__ they talked on and all I could think was, “I’ve ___5___ .” I’d been so well respected ; ___6___ I was of no value.

For six weeks, I was in a very __7__ place. I wandered around my house like a zombie (僵尸).I could __8__ things needed doing, but would not do anything . My beliefs in looking forward and seeing the positive(积极的) in everything ___9___ me .

Then, in late June, my youngest son’s football team made the city cup final. The year before, he’d been very sad when I __10___ the same final, so he was ___11___ when I told him I’d go. Not only did they win, but the look on his face as he saw me ___12___ him on was unbelievable. From then in , I spent the summer enjoying my sons and their passions (激情) . I attended match after match and performances of my elder son’s band —I ___13___ went to another city to watch him play. These moments were so ___14___. My life had been so much devoted to __15__ for so long , and I felt __16__ that my sons were happy to welcome me into their world.

___17___ , being unemployed gave me back a sense of purpose — I was someone’s mum! I felt a sense of being ___18____ again. Now I feel more positive about my professional ___19___ and I’m getting on better with my family than I ever have. Losing my job made me realize just how __20__ it is to achieve real balance in life.

1.A. promised  B. afforded  C. showed   D. left

2.A. Therefore  B. Anyhow  C. Otherwise D. However

3.A. quickly    B. gently    C. partly    D. easily

4.A. until      B. after     C. as       D. so

5.A. failed     B. finished    C. tried     D. changed

6.A. suddenly    B. finally     C. immediately     D. shortly

7.A. secret     B. quiet     C. lonely      D. dark

8.A. see       B. get       C. suggest    D. understand

9.A. defended   B. directed   C. deserted   D. disturbed

10.A. watched    B. missed    C. lost     D. won

11.A. disappointed B. worried   C.  honoured   D. delighted

12.A. cheering    B. taking     C. leading     D. passing

13.A. just        B. even       C. still         D. almost

14.A. hopeful     B. meaningful   C. difficult     D. strange

15.A. work       B. family        C. matches    D. performances

16.A. successful   B. thoughtful     C. thankful    D. peaceful

17.A. Naturally    B. Doubtfully     C. Disagreeably    D. Unexpectedly

18.A. employed    B. comforted     C. valued        D. encouraged

19.A. education     B. experience    C. relationship    D. future

20.A. important     B. interesting     C. simple       D. surprising

 

“Well, what did I say？Buck’s a real fighter, all right,” said Francois the next morning when he discovered that Spitz had disappeared and that Buck was covered in blood．

“Spitz fought like a wolf,” said Perrault, as he looked at the bites all over Buck．

“And Buck fought like ten wolves,” answered Francois. “And we'll travel faster now. No more Spitz，no more trouble.”

Francois started to harness the dogs. He needed a new lead-dog, and decided that Solleks was the best dog that he had. But Buck jumped at Solleks and took his place．

“Look at Buck！” said Francois，laughing. “He's killed Spitz，and now he wants to be lead-dog．Go away, Buck！”

He pulled Buck away and tried to harness Solleks again．Solleks was unhappy too. He was frightened of Buck, and when Francois turned his back，Buck took Solleks’ place again. Now Francois was angry．

“I'll show you! ” he cried，and went to get a heavy club from the sledge．

Buck remembered the man in the red coat，and moved away. This time，when Solleks was harnessed as lead-dog，Buck did not try to move in．He kept a few meters away and circled around Francois carefully. But when Francois called him to his old place in front of Dave, Buck refused．He had won his fight with Spitz and he wanted to be lead－dog．

For an hour the two men tried to harness him．Buck did not run away，but he did not let them catch him．Finally，Francois sat down，and Perrault looked at his watch．It was getting late. The two men looked at one another and smiled. Francois walked up to Solleks，took off his harness， led him back and harnessed him in his old place．Then he called Buck. All the other dogs were harnessed and the only empty place was now the one at the front. But Buck did not move．

“Put down the club,” said Perrault．

Francois dropped the club, and immediately Buck came up to the front of the team．Francois harnessed him, and in a minute the sledge was moving．

Buck was an excellent leader. He moved and thought quickly and led the other dogs well. A new leader made no difference to Dave and Solleks; they continued to pull hard．But the other dogs had had an easy life when Spitz was leading．They were surprised when Buck made them work hard and punished them for their mistakes. Pike，the second dog，was usually lazy；but by the end of the first day he was pulling harder than he had ever pulled in his life. The first night in camp Buck fought Joe，another difficult dog，and after that there were no more problems with him．The team started to pull together，and to move faster and faster．

“I've never seen a dog like Buck!” cried Francois, “Never! He's worth a thousand dollars. What do you think, Perrault? ”

Perrault agreed．They were moving quickly，and covering more ground every day. The snow was good and hard，and no new snow fell．The temperature dropped to 45°C below zero, and didn't change．

This time there was more ice on the Thirty Mile River, and they crossed in a day．Some days they ran a hundred kilometers，or even more. They reached Skagway in fourteen days; the fastest time ever．

1.The writer mentioned “the man in the red coat” in the passage to show that____.

A．the man in the red coat once beat Buck severely with a club.

B．Buck remembered Francois was the man in the red coat.

C．the man in the red was quite friendly to Buck in his memory.

D．Buck remembered Francois was a friend of the man in the red coat.

2.Why did Buck fight Joe the first night in camp?

A．He wanted to get rid of Joe.

B．He wanted to make some trouble.

C．He was interested in fighting with others.

D．He wanted to teach Joe a lesson.

3.According to the passage, which of the following is true about the other dogs?

A．Dave stood in the second position in the team.

B．Joe was always quite lazy in the team.

C．Pike was a trouble-maker in the team.

D．Solleks was hard-working in the team.

4.What did Francois think of Buck at the end of the passage?

A．annoying          B．admirable         C．aggressive         D．average

5.Which of the following best shows that Buck was an excellent leader?

A．He killed Spitz at the beginning of the story.

B．He punished them for their mistakes.

C．He fought Joe the first night in camp.

D．They reached Skagway in the fastest time ever.

6.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．The Fight with Dogs                      B．The New Lead-dog

C．A Dog Called Buck                       D．A Real Fighter

 

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a car and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of __36____ and what color red is. It would be ___37____ to see again, but a(n) __38____ can do strange things to people. I don’t mean I would __39___ to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate more what I had _40_____.

My parents and my teachers saw something in me ----- a __41____ to live ---- which I didn’t see, and they made me want to fight in out with _42____.

The __43___ lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. I am not talking about simply the kind of __44____ that helps me down so unfamiliar staircase alone. I __45___ something bigger than that: a confidence that I am, despite being __46____, a real, positive person; that there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

It took me years to discover and strengthen this confidence. It had to start with the easy and simple things. __47____ a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was laughing at me and I was __48____. “I can’t use this,” I said. “Take with you,” he urged me, “and roll it around.” The words __49___ in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could _50_____ where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought _51____ before playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I _52___ a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.

I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to be clear about my _53____. It was no good crying for something that I knew at the start was __54___ out of reach because that only invited bitterness of failure. I would fail something anyway, __55___ on the average I made progress.

1.A. sky              B. cloud            C. sunshine           D. mist

2.A. helpful          B. wonderful        C. hopeful            D. successful

3.A. disaster         B. environment      C. incident           D. wonder

4.A. manage           B. try              C. want               D. prefer

5.A. lost             B. left             C. used               D. cared

6.A. purpose          B. potential        C. pressure           D. preparation

7.A. energy           B. happiness        C. luck               D. blindness

8.A. hardest          B. dullest          C. simplest           D. easiest

9.A. self-respect B. self-control         C. self-confidence    D. self-defence

10.A. think           B. consider         C. guess              D. mean

11.A. imperfect B. perfect                C. unfair             D. fair

12.A. Later           B. Soon             C. Once               D. Then

13.A. worried         B. encouraged       C. shocked            D. hurt

14.A. stuck           B. impressed        C. occupied           D. held

15.A. see             B. hear             C. notice             D. observe

16.A. important B. unimportant            C. possible           D. impossible

17.A. invented B. discovered              C. instructed         D. directed

18.A. experience B. advantages            C. knowledge          D. limitation

19.A. hardly          B. wildly           C. highly             D. deeply

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

 

 It doesn't matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That's what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin. Al Herpin, it was said, never slept. Could this be true ? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.

Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day. They never saw Herpin sleeping. In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.

The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness. They found only one answer that might explain his condition. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason ? No one could be sure. Herpin died at the age of 94.

1.The main idea of this passage is that _______.

A．a person was found who actually didn't need any sleep

B．large numbers of people do not need sleep

C．everyone needs some sleep to stay alive

D．people can live longer by trying not to sleep

2. The doctors came to visit Herpin, expecting to _______.

A．cure him of his sleeplessness

B．find a way to free people from the need of sleeping

C．find that his sleeplessness was not really true

D．find out why some old people didn't need any asleep

3.After watching him closely, the doctors came to believe that Al Herpin _______.

A．was too old to need any sleep

B．needed no sleep at all

C．often slept in a chair

D．needed some kind of sleep

4.One reason that might explain Herpin's sleeplessness was _______.

A．that he hadn't got a bed

B．that he had gradually got tired of the sleeping habit

C．his mother's injury before he was born

D．his magnificent physical condition

 

（2011·安徽卷）C

They are the sort of friends who are so close they trust each other with their lives. If one falls, the other is there to catch him.

They are Wellman, whose legs were permanently injured nine years ago in a rock-climbing accident, and Corbett, an experienced rock climber. Together, they climbed up Half Dome, the famous 2,000-foot rock in the Yosemite National Park, through one of the most difficult routes(路线).

During the climb, Corbett took the lead, hit in the metal spikes（尖状物）that guided the ropes and climbed up. Then, after Wellman pulled himself up the rope, Corbett went down to remove the spikes and climbed up again. This process was repeated time and again, inch by inch, for 13 days.

    Wellman’s job was not easy either. He got himself up the rope through upper body strength alone. In all, Wellman figured that he had done 5,000 pull-ups up the rope on the climb. 

However, when the two men first met, they never talked about climbing. “He knew that was how I got injured.” Wellman said. Until one day Wellman decided that he wanted to climb again and they started training.

Their climb of Half Dome was not all smooth. At one point, pieces of rock gave way, and Corbett dropped down quickly. Wellman locked their rope in place, stopping the fall at 20 feet. His quick action probably saved his friend’s life.

“Your partner can save your life — you can save your partner’s life,” Wellman said as the pair received congratulations from friends. “There are real close ties.”

64. Which of the following was a challenge for Corbett in climbing Half Dome?

A. To climb up to remove the spikes.         B. To climb it twice

C. To do 5,000 pull-ups up the rope.          D. To lock the rope in place.

65. Why did the two men never talk about climbing when they first met?

A. Corbett was poorly trained.

B. Wellman had lost interest in climbing.

C. Corbett didn’t want to hurt Wellman.

D. Wellman hadn’t decided whether to climb again.

66. What do we know about Wellman?

A. He climbed Half Dome by himself.

B. He was disabled in a traffic accident.

C. He stopped rock-climbing for some time.

D. He was saved by Corbett during the climb.

67. The main idea of the text is that             .

A. two heads are better than one

B. friendship is precious in life

C. the disabled should never give up

D. a man can be destroyed but cannot be defeated