We got up very early this morning _________ we could get there in time.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1．5分，满分30分）

    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。

It was half an hour before midnight on December 24th last year. I was a ticket-counter supervisor（主管）for a major airline and was looking forward to the   36   of my shift （轮班）at Stapleton International Airport in Denver. My wife was waiting up for me at home so that we could   37   our gifts for Christmas.

Just then, a very    38    gentleman went up to me.  He asked how he could get to Cheyenne, Wyoming. He had just arrived from Philadelphia and   39   his connecting flight. I pointed him to the ground transportation area, where he could rent a   40  . And then I called my wife to let her know I would be home   41  .

About fifteen minutes later, the gentleman   42   and informed me that all the buses were full and there were no cars   43  . I told him that he had to stay for a night at the airport. Hearing that, he burst into   44  .

I tried to make him calm down. He explained that his name was Tom, and that his only son was   45   ill at home and was not expected to   46   another year. He expected that this would likely be the   47   Christmas with his son.

I told Tom to   48   his luggage and wait for me at the gate. I was driving to Cheyenne. I called my wife Kathy, telling her about it and not to wait up for me. I drove fast   49   and we arrived in Cheyenne around 2:30 a. m.

Kathy was still   50   me when I got home in the early morning. We traded gifts and then our conversation   51   Tom. For Kathy and me, there was no   52   that driving Tom to Cheyenne was the   53   choice.

    A couple of days later, I   54   a Christmas card with a picture of Tom and his family. In it, Tom thanked me for the special   55   he had received that holiday season, but I knew the best gift was mine.

A. end B. turn C. role D. change

A. expect B. get  C. exchange D. make

A. kind   B. helpless C. sad  D. worried

A. mistook    B. missed   C. caught   D. continued

A. bus    B. flight       C. room D. car

A. soon    B. late C. early    D. lately

A. left   B. moved    C. came D. returned

A. reliable    B. present  C. available    D. acceptable

A. laughter   B. tears        C. anger    D. sorrow

A. really  B. slightly C. seriously    D. unluckily

A. suffer B. live C. share    D. grow

A. last    B. best C. happiest D. hardest

A. hand   B. find C. pack D. collect

A. for a while    B. all around   C. all the way  D. from time to time   

A. waiting for    B. caring for   C. thinking of  D. depending on

A. remembered     B. recalled  C. concerned    D. contained

A. idea    B. doubt        C. point    D. problem

A. main    B. only C. nice D. great

A. received   B. sent C. saved    D. discovered

A. drive  B. help C. deal D. gift

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

　　Early one morning，more than a hundred years ago，an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep．He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem：it seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle．

　　Though he was tired，Howe slept badly．He turned and turned．Then he had a dream．He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages（野人）whose king wanted to kill and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine．When he tried to do so，Howe ran into the same problem as before．The thread kept getting caught around the needle．The king flew into a cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe．They came up towards him with their spears raised．But suddenly the inventor noticed something．There was a hole in the tip of each spear．The inventor awoke from the dream，realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem．Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle，he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle．This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practical sewing machine．

　　Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way．

　　Thomas Edison，the inventor of the electric light lamp，said his best ideas came to him in dreams．SO did the great physicist Albert Einstein．Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre．

　　To know the value of dreams，you have to understand what happens when you are asleep．Even then，a part of your mind is still working．This is unconscious（无意识的），but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day．It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed．It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake．However，the unconscious part acts in a special way．It uses strange images（图像）which the conscious part may not understand at first．This is why dreams are sometimes called“secret messages to ourselves”．

1．According to the passage，Elias Howe was ________．

[　　]

A．the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleep

B．much more hard-working than other inventors

C．the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked

D．the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams

2．The problem Howe was trying to solve was ________．

[　　]

A．what kind of thread to use

B．how to design a needle which would not break

C．where to put the needle

D．how to stop the thread from getting around the needle

3．Thomas Edison is spoken of because ________．

[　　]

A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine

B．he got some of his ideas from dreams

C．he was one of Howe's friends

D．he also had difficulty in falling asleep

4．Dreams are sometimes called“secret message to ourselves”because ________．

[　　]

A．strange images are used to communicate ideas

B．images which have no meaning are used

C．we can never understand the real meaning

D．only specially trained people can understand them

　　Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep．He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle．

　　Though he was tired, Howe slept badly．He turned and turned．Then he had a dream．He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine．When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before．The thread kept getting caught around the needle．The king flew into the rage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe．They came up towards him with their spears raised．But suddenly the inventor noticed something．There was a hole in the tip of each spear．The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem．Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle．This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practised sewing machine．

　　Elias Howes was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way．

　　Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams．So did the great physicist Albert Einstein．Charlotte Bronte also drew on her dreams in writing Jane Eyre．

　　To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep．Even then, a part of your mind is still working．This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day．It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed．It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake．However, the unconscious part acts in a special way．It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first．This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”．

1．According to the passage, Elias Howe was ________．

[　　]

A．the first person who solved problems in his sleep

B．much more hard-working than other inventors

C．the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked

D．the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams

2．The problem Howe was trying to solve was________．

[　　]

A．what kind of thread to use

B．how to design a needle which would not break

C．where to put the needle

D．how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needle

3．Thomas Edison is spoken of because________．

[　　]

A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine

B．he got some of his ideas from dreams

C．he was one of Howe's best friends

D．he also had difficulty in falling asleep

4．Dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”, because________．

[　　]

A．strange images are used to communicate ideas

B．images which have no meaning are used

C．we can never understand the real meaning

D．only specially trained people can understand them

Early this morning, I got up to make a batch of Rice Krispie Treats for my neighbor across the hall. She barely greets me when we see each other, and her sweet little boy, who's now four,  has picked up her mother's manner and will not talk to me, either．

Last Monday, she had called the firefighters when a pan I'd forgotten on the stove caused my flat to fog up while I was out taking a walk. When I came home, the street in front of our apartment house was blocked by a police car, a fire truck and an ambulance! The instant I saw them, I remembered the pan! Luckily, nothing serious had happened, and all my neighbors agreed with the firefighter who said, "It could have happened to anyone．" When I thanked the neighbor who had called the firefighters-let's call her Ivy-and apologized for causing the trouble, she just asked if my cats were all right．When I said they were fine, she said, "Well, that's ok then," and turned into her flat．l felt strangely safe, knowing that even though we don't get along, she'd done the right thing and didn't blame me．So, the Rice Krispie Treats．

Last Christmas, my neighbor carelessly let it out that she was holding a grudge （怨恨） towards me because of an incident we'd had four years ago．I had particularly apologized and asked if there was anything I could do to improve our relationship. She would not accept my apology．

It had taken me a lot of courage to apologize and ask that question instead of insisting that we both shared responsibility for what had happened．Her flat-out refusal to make amends（补偿） really shocked and saddened me．After that, I decided I'd just leave her be-a relationship takes two to work．So, you see, I was really scared she was going to refuse my offer again, leaving me standing on her doorstep, facing the closed door and holding my plate of treats． I know some people have a hard time understanding how the possibility of rejection can make an adult so afraid, but that's just the way I felt．

Then, I reminded myself of how loving and good I had felt yesterday when I'd done some random acts of kindness （thanks to helpothers．org）, after telling myself: Feet the fear,  and do it anyway! So I put the squares of Rice Krispie Treats on a beautiful plate, opened my apartment  door-and there she was, standing in the hallway．I smiled and said, "Hi," but when she saw me, she turned on her heels and went back inside, even though she seemed to have just stepped out．I went after her, regardless, and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I've got something for you ! I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you were paying attention on Monday．" When she heard me speaking, she turned around． As I held the plate towards her, explaining these were very sweet American treats, and that she could just try and see whether she and her family would like them, her eyebrows winged up-and she took the plate．l was so happy and excited．We then talked a bit about how she'd become aware of the smoke in my flat, and parted ways．

Back in my place, I did a "happy dance", because I had dared to be kind even though I hadn't been sure at all my kindness would be welcome．I do hope that our relationship will slowly get better; I know I was and still am biased（存有偏见）towards her at times, but even if we don't make amends, I want to be able to be kind without depending on other people's behaviors and reactions .

1.The neighbor held a grudge towards the writer most probably because_____．

A．the writer's cats disturb her neighbor frequently

B．the writer didn't thank her for calling the firefighters

C．the writer never apologized to her for her misbehaviors

D．the writer had an unpleasant experience with the neighbor long ago

2. From Paragraph 4, we can learn that the author_____.

A．was afraid of being rejected again by her neighbor

B．didn't know how to get along with her neighbor

C．didn't admit it was her fault in the last incident

D．refused to forgive her neighbor's rude behavior

3. After the writer said "Feel the fear, and do it anyway!", she decided to_____.

A．do an act of kindness

B．leave her neighbor be

C．apologize to her neighbor once more

D．do something to let her neighbor down

4.What can we learn about the writer?

A．She was a professional dancer．

B．She often had quarrels with her neighbor．

C．She had a bias against her neighbor sometimes．

D．She had an unpleasant experience at Christmas this year．

5. What does the author try to tell us?

A．Don't punish yourself because of other's mistakes．

B．We should be kind to others, regardless of their behavior．

C．We must keep a good relationship with our neighbors．

D．When we make a mistake, we should have the courage to admit it．