I had said goodbye to my husband, Joe, so often, but this time was ____.

We now had our first child. After nights of talks, we made the difficult ____ that Joe would go by himself to Alabama for the six-month training course, and I would stay behind with our new son. It was important that I ____ my teaching position near our home at Fort Hood. Also we were part of a strong network of friends ____ I could turn to for help.

On Joe's ____ evening at home, I bathed little Joey, got him into his sleeper and was heading to the bedroom when Joe gently touched ____ on the shoulder. Lifting the baby from my arms, he said he wanted to put Joey to bed tonight.

They headed down the hall, and I busied myself with meaningless tasks, ____ Joe to turn up from the bedroom within a few minutes. A half hour went by, and ____ he had not come back. Thinking he was having ____ getting our son to fall asleep, I walked quietly to the baby's room and ____ into the dimly-lit（灯光暗淡的）room.

Sitting in the rocking chair, moving slowly back and forth, was my husband with ____ in his eyes. He was holding our baby in his arms ____ he had fallen asleep long before. When his pained eyes met mine, he said, "I just can't put him down."

That night we stood over Joey's bed, holding each other and saying over and over that we would make it through this leaving and be ____ again soon.

Joey is six now, and he has a four-year-old brother named Jack. There have been many goodbyes ____ that night, yet my soldier still fights back tears when it's time to ____ once again in service to his country and give his boys that last, long hug goodbye.

1.A. dangerous                   B. different                C. impossible    D. terrible

2.A. promise                  B. wish                         C. suggestion             D. decision

3.A. miss                     B. keep                       C. get                          D. accept

4.A. whom                     B. whose            C. which            D. what

5.A. first                     B. next                        C. other                      D. last

6.A. us                            B. them                        C. me                          D. her

7.A. expecting                    B. remembering       C. agreeing                D. allowing

8.A. again                            B. still                          C. then                        D. ever

9.A. excuse                    B. fun                           C. trouble                   D. chance

10.A. moved                  B. talked             C. turned                    D. looked

11.A. colors                   B. tears                        C. joys                         D. fears

12.A. even though       B. as if                          C. so that                    D. now that

13.A. sure                           B. proud            C. alone                     D. together

14.A. on                         B. for                            C. since                       D. through

15.A. visit                             B. sleep                      C. leave                      D. play

 

With long brown hair，deep blue eyes，a tall and thin figure，Brad Pitt seems to be a born actor.He made his   26    appearance in a film in 1990.Though he    27    in the film for only 14 minutes，people flooded the cinema to see him.In his next    28   ,Pitt played the role of a fisherman.To make the film    29    ，he learned the skill of fishing from a fisherman．

Pitt，caring    30    about roles than money，has a special favour for the "hard" roles.After reading the screenplay of "Legends of the Fall"，he was attracted by the  leading character. He asked for a lower    31    from the shooting team and was  willing to work in hard conditions in the Rocky Mountains for six months. "The film    32    the chance to know life, I shall    33    remember the time when we were    34    the film，"Pitt said after completing it fully．

Pitt started his    35    of art when he was in university．    36    born in an ordinary family in 1964,he showed his    37   in film at an early age.After leaving high school,he went to university to  study law． Because he loved film more than law， shortly before he could graduate， he    38    out of school for a life of his own，with only 325 dollars in    39   ,sometimes as a porter    40    a waiter.Thanks to his hard work,he  finally opened up a new field of his own． 

1.A． last    B． first   C． second   D． other

2.A． was    B． worked C． stayed   D． appeared

3.A． part    B． cinema  C． film    D． appearance

4.A． earlier  B． later    C． better   D． cheaper

5.A． more   B． less    C． nothing  D． much

6.A． price   B． pay    C． money   D． degree

7.A． finds   B． leaves   C． gives   D． misses

8.A． always  B． never   C． ever    D． hardly

9.A． playing  B． making  C． seeing  D． directing

10.A． work   B． job     C． dream   D． show

11.A． Because  B． When  C． Since   D． Though

12.A． hope    B． interest  C． success  D． feelings

13.A． fled    B． stopped   C． dropped D． ran

14.A． hand   B． book     C． head    D． bag

15.A． but    B． and       C． or      D． so

 

I had said goodbye to my husband, Joe, so often, but this time was ____.

    We now had our first child. After nights of talks, we made the difficult ____ that Joe would go by himself to Alabama for the six-month training course, and I would stay behind with our new son. It was important that I ___ my teaching position near our home at Fort Hood. Also we were part of a strong network of friends ____ I could turn to for help.

    On Joe's ____ evening at home, I bathed little Joey, got him into his sleeper and was heading to the bedroom when Joe gently touched ___ on the shoulder. Lifting the baby from my arms, he said he wanted to put Joey to bed tonight.

    They headed down the hall, and I busied myself with meaningless tasks, ____ Joe to turn up from the bedroom within a few minutes. A half hour went by, and ___ he had not come back. Thinking he was having ____ getting our son to fall asleep, I walked quietly to the baby's room and ___ into the dimly-lit（灯光暗淡的）room.

    Sitting in the rocking chair, moving slowly back and forth, was my husband with ____ in his eyes. He was holding our baby in his arms ____ he had fallen asleep long before. When his pained eyes met mine, he said, "I just can't put him down."

    That night we stood over Joey's bed, holding each other and saying over and over that we would make it through this leaving and be ____ again soon.

Joey is six now, and he has a four-year-old brother named Jack. There have been many goodbyes ____ that night, yet my soldier still fights back tears when it's time to ____ once again in service to his country and give his boys that last, long hug goodbye.

1.A. dangerous          B. different         C. impossible          D. terrible

2.A. promise            B. wish            C. suggestion          D. decision

3.A. miss               B. keep            C. get                D. accept

4.A. whom              B. whose          C. which              D. what

5.A. first               B. next             C. other              D. Last

6.A. us                 B. them            C. me                D. her

7.A. expecting           B. remembering     C. agreeing            D. allowing

8.A. again              B. still             C. then                D. ever

9.A. excuse             B. fun              C. trouble             D. chance

10.A. moved            B. talked            C. turned             D. looked

11.A. colors             B. tears            C. joys               D. fears

12.A. even though        B. as if             C. so that             D. now that

13.A. sure               B. proud            C. alone              D. together

14.A. on                B. for              C. since              D. through

15.A. visit               B. sleep            C. leave              D. play

 

 

"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked. When the baby was lying in her arms and she moved the cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped(吃力地喘着气). The doctor turned quickly and looked out of the hospital window. The baby had been born without ears. Luckily, time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. Though the misfortune(不幸)happened to him, he grew into a handsome boy. Yet he felt ashamed when he communicated with others.

“You should get in touch with other young people,” his mother told him, with a kindness in her heart. The boy’s father talked with the family doctor about his ears. “Could nothing be done?” the father asked. “I believe I could give him a pair of outer ears, if they could be got,” the doctor replied.

Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, “You are going to the hospital, Son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need, but it’s a secret.” The operation is a big success. Later he married and entered the diplomatic(外交的)service. One day, he asked his father, “Who gave the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her.”

“You could, my son,” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know…not yet.”

The years kept their secret, but one of the darkest days did come. He stood with his father over his mother’s casket(棺材). Slowly, the father stretched forth(伸出) a hand

and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to reveal the mother had no outer ears.

"Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut," his father whispered gently, "and nobody ever thought mother less beautiful, did they?"

1.Why did Mother gasp when she saw her newborn baby?

A. Because her son had a tiny face.    

B. Because she saw her son crying.

C. Because her son was in her arms.    

D. Because her son was born imperfect.

2.Who gave the son the ears?

A. His mother.      B. His father.      C. A doctor.        D. A stranger.

3.The underlined word “reveal” in the last but one paragraph means “________”．

A. see              B. show             C. find             D. search

4.The best title for the passage would be ________.

A. Mother’s hair                     

B. An unforgettable memory

C. Who gave me the ears?              

D. Who is my best respectable person?

5.The main purpose of the passage is to tell readers that ________.

A. The secret was kept until the mother died. 

B. Real love lies in what is done but not known.

C. The operation on the boy was a great success.

D. The boy entered the diplomatic service when he grew up.

 

 

7 January, 2014

A new report says more and more international students are attending colleges and universities in the United States. It also notes a large increase in the number of international students from China.

These findings are from the latest Open Doors Report. The report documents the record number of international students in the United States during 2012, 2013 school year. It says more than seven hundred sixty-four thousand four-hundred such students were attending American colleges and universities during the last two years. That represents an increase of almost six percent than one year earlier.

On the other hand, the number of Americans studying overseas (海外) increased by one percent, which reached nineteen thousand this year.

The report says one hundred ninety-four thousand students at American colleges and universities were from

China. That is an increase of more than twenty-three percent over the year before. Peggy Blumenthal, an expert(专家) of international education, described the effect of the increase in Chinese students.

"Now they have been coming for some time. But this year was the highest level ever." She says many Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children. The children mainly choose to study in America.

"We know many of them have enough income to be able to afford to send them anywhere in the world that they want to go. And for the most part, looking around the world, Chinese students still prefer to come to the United States as their choice."

Chinese students are not the only ones who want to attend American colleges and universities. After China, India sends the second largest number of students to the United States for higher education. India has about one hundred thousand students in American schools. South Korea is third with about seventy two thousand students.

Why do so many foreign students study in the United States? Peggy Blumenthal provides one reason.

"The advantage America has is that we have a huge system and a very perfect system. So there are over four thousand universities and colleges in the United States. Among them are some top ones in the world, and what that tells us is there is still a lot of room to host international students."

Foreign students represent less than four percent of the total student population in American higher education. And from Learning English, that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Bob Doughty. Thanks for listening.

1.Bob Doughty seems to be ________.

A. an exchange student from the USA         

B. an expert of international education

C. a viewer of VOA                             

D. a reporter from VOA

2.Which country below has the fewest students studying overseas?

A. South Korea              B. India                   C. China           D. America

3.Which is NOT the reason why so many Chinese students go to the USA for further study?

A. Lots of Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children

B. The USA has a huge and a very perfect education system.

C. There is a lot of room to host international students in the USA.

D. The USA has some top universities and colleges in the world.

4.Which of the following statement is true?

A. China has 122,000 more students than South Korea at American colleges and universities.

B. The number of Americans studying overseas is becoming smaller and smaller.

C. The number of Asian students has an increase of 6% over the past two years.

D. Most of the international students in the United States are Chinese.

5.This passage from VOA Special English is most likely to be ________.

A. An advertisement          B. A radio programme  C. A science report           D. A tour guide