English was always my favorite subject. In my freshman year of high school, I could write a killer composition. In my junior year, my   1  allowed me to give spelling tests to the class. I had wonderful   2  of this year. Mrs. Alexander   3  me to sit at her desk and take over the class when she had to leave the room. Only my senior English class was   4 , as we had a teacher right out of college who expected college-level work. Every student received a “C” or “D” grade the first quarter.   5  English was still my subject.
I graduated from high school,  6  early and had children.   7  about my English, I often helped my kids with their English homework. And I   8  long articles and beautiful poetry for a newspaper. Fifteen years later, I went to college, and because I had been an “A” student, I   9  an “A” student. I lived up to my own expectations.
Yesterday, I   10  my high school report cards when I was reading old papers. That bundle (捆) of report cards   11  back the old days. I remembered sitting in my advisor’s office, explaining that I had always been excellent at English and complaining that I did not   12  a “D” from that inexperienced teacher of my senior year. The advisor was   13  but unable to change a grade.
My old   14  cards showed something else too. I wanted to tear them up or   15  them. I was not an “A” student in high school English! Somehow, I had convinced myself of this, when the grades clearly reflected an   16  student with an occasional “A” or “B”, but mostly “C”s.
Had I lived up to those   17  and define (定义) myself according to those letters, I would have never confidently   18  my writing career. Had I believed in my early grades instead of myself, I would have allowed my fear of   19  to defeat my enthusiasm and damage my creativity.   20 , I regarded my younger self as an “A” English student, except for that undeserved “D”.

When my grandfather died, my 83-year-old grandmother, once so full of life, slowly began to fade. No longer able to manage a home of her own, she moved in with my mother, where she was visited often by other members of her large, loving family. Although she still had her good days, it was often hard to arouse her interest.

But one chilly December afternoon three years ago, my daughter Meagan, then eight, and I were visiting her, when she noticed that Meagan was carrying her favorite doll.“I, too, had a special doll when I was a little girl,” she told a wide-eyed Meagan. “I got it one Christmas when I was about your age. I lived in an old farmhouse in Maine, with Mom, Dad and my four sisters, and the very first gift I opened that Christmas was the most beautiful doll you’d ever want to see.”

“She had an exquisite(优美的，高雅的), hand-painted face, and her long brown hair was pulled back with a big pink bow. Her eyes were blue, and they opened and closed. I remember she had a body of kidskin, and her arms and legs bent at the joints.”

GG’s voice dropped low, taking on an almost respectful tone. “My doll was dressed in a pretty pink gown, decorated with fine lace. … Getting such a fine doll was like a miracle for a little farm girl like me — my parents must have had to sacrifice so much to afford it But how happy I was that morning!”

GG’s eyes filled and her voice shook with emotion as she recalled that Christmas of long ago. “I played with my doll all morning long. And then it happened. My mother called us to the dining room for Christmas dinner and I laid my new doll down gently on the hall table. But as I went to join the family at the table, I heard a loud crash.”

“I hardly had to turn around — I knew it was my precious doll. And it was. Her lace skirt had hung down from the table just enough for my baby sister to reach up and pull on it. When I ran in, there lay my beautiful doll on the floor, her face smashed into a dozen pieces. She was gone forever.”

A few years later, GG’s baby sister was also gone, she told Meagan, a victim of pneumonia(肺炎). Now the tears in her eyes spilled over — tears, I knew, not only for a lost doll and a lost sister, but for a lost time.

Subdued(沉默的) for the rest of the visit, Meagan was no sooner in the car going home than she exclaimed, “Mom, I have a great idea! Let’s get GG a new doll for Christmas. Then she won’t cry when she thinks about it.”

My heart filled with pride as I listened to my sympathetic little daughter. But where would we find a doll to match GG’s fond memories?

Where there’s a will, as they say, there’s a way. When I told my best friends, Liz and Chris, about my problem, Liz put me in touch with a local doll-make. From a doll supply house I ordered a long brown hair and a kidskin body to copy the outfit GG had so lovingly described. Liz volunteered to put the doll together, and Chris helped me make the doll’s outfit. Meagan wrote the story of the lost doll by giving examples.

Finally our creation was finished. To our eyes it was perfect. But there was no way it could be exactly like the doll GG had loved so much and lost. Would she think it looked anything like it?

On Christmas Eve, Meagan and I carried our happily packed gift to GG, where she sat surrounded by children, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. “It’s for you,” Meagan said, “but first you have to read the story that goes with it.”

GG no sooner got through the first page than her voice cracked and she was unable to go on, but Meagan took over where she left off. Then it was time to open her present.

I’ll never forget the look on GG’s face as she lifted the doll and held it to her chest. Once again her tears fell, but this time they were tears of joy. Holding the doll in her frail arms, she repeated over and over again, “She’s exactly like my old doll, exactly like her.” 

And perhaps she wasn't saying that just to be kind. Perhaps however impossible it seemed, we had managed to produce a close copy of the doll she remembered. But as I watched my eight-year-old daughter and her great-grandmother examining the doll together, I thought of a likelier explanation. What GG really recognized, perhaps, was the love that inspired the gift. And love, wherever it comes from, always looks the same.

1.GG moved in with her daughter because ______.

A．she wanted to live with a large family

B．she was not able to live on her own due to her weakness

C．her husband passed away

D．she thought it was the children’s obligation to take care of her

2.Why did GG become very emotional on a December afternoon?

A．Because she saw her great granddaughter’s doll.

B．Because she recalled her long deceased parents.

C．Because she was surrounded by her offspring.

D．Because she felt lonely during the Christmas season.

3.What can we infer from the underlined sentence in paragraph 4? 

A．GG’s doll was important and was a symbol of many things.

B．GG showed great respect for his husband’s love.

C．GG missed the great old days she spent with her family

D．GG was grateful for her long life.

4.What happened to GG’s baby sister?

A．She envied her sister all her life.

B．She felt guilty for breaking GG’s doll and decided to go.

C．She left home at a young age.

D．She died of some disease at a young age.

5.Why did Meagan’s mum feel proud of her daughter?

A．Because she was clever.                  B．Because she was loving.

C．Because she was amiable.                 D．Because she was imaginative.

6.This passage implies that ______.

A．treating the elderly well is moral

B．it is impossible to copy the exact doll for the elderly

C．love, the permanent rhythm of life, will always remain in the elderly’s heart

D．physical comfort from children rather than psychological care is important

Last week after a long day of traveling, I found myself delayed at a bus station. The bus was running two hours late! I was a little ____ and had to wait there reading a book. Just then a woman _____ and asked me if I had any spare change to help her ____ a bus ticket.

“Oh, sure,” I said.

With the words, I reached into my bag for some _____. As I handed her five dollars I _____her stomach rumble (发出辘辘声) and I knew she was very ______.

I then reached back into my _____ and brought out a Danish pastry (酥皮糕点) I had bought earlier and _____it to her with a smile.

She took the pastry and gave me a bus ticket to Milwaukee to show her _____. I don’t live in Milwaukee and the ticket will probably ____ be used, but I took it. A look of ____ spread over her face. Then she went to get her ____ and I went back to my ____.

She came back a few ____ later, apologized, and told me there were five dollars ____. I gave her the money and slipped(悄悄地塞) a twenty ____. She thanked me and went back to the counter. ____ I went back to my book.

        Five minutes later she came back again and ____ to return my twenty. ____ I said it was for her so she could get something else to eat and that I wasn’t taking it back, she _____crying and hugged me.

From then on, I always help others in trouble, because I believe I am really making a difference to them!

1.A. worried                                  B. terrified                                     C. interested                                 D. moved

2.A. looked around                B. came up                    C. walked about                  D. ran away

3.A. exchange                               B. check                                         C. find                                            D. get

4.A. books                                     B. newspapers                              C. money                                  D. food

5.A. felt                                          B. heard                                         C. imagined                                   D. proved

6.A. weak                             B. sick                                             C. tired                                           D. hungry

7.A. bag                                          B. counter                                     C. pocket                                  D. suitcase

8.A. handed                                  B. showed                                      C. lent                                             D. sold

9.A. trouble                                   B. thankfulness                    C. kindness                                    D. belief

10.A. always                                  B. ever                                           C. never                                         D. still

11.A. surprise                               B. relief                                          C. excitement                               D. fear

12.A. luggage                                B. pastry                                         C. coffee                                        D. ticket

13.A. speech                                 B. seat                                            C. book                                           D. room

14.A. days                                      B. minutes                                     C. hours                                         D. weeks

15.A. short                                    B. missing                             C. available                                    D. unused

16.A. as well                                  B. in return                       C. with anger                           D. by chance

17.A. Sometimes                          B. Once                                          C. Again                                          D. Often

18.A. refused                                B. pretended                                C. agreed                                      D. tried

19.A. Since                                    B. After                                          C. Though                             D. If

20.A. forgot                                   B. considered                               C. started                                  D. avoided

It was the first snow of winter — an exciting day for every child but not for most teachers. Up until now, I had been able to dress myself for recess(课间休息), but today I would need some help. Miss Finlayson, my kindergarten teacher, had been through first snow days many times in her long career, but I think she may still remember this one.
I managed to get into my wool snow pants. But I struggled with my jacket because it didn’t fit well. It was a hand-me-down from my brother, and it made me wonder why I had to wear his ugly clothes. At least my hat and matching scarf(围巾) were mine, and they were quite pretty. Finally it was time to have Miss Finlayson help me with my boots(靴子). In her calm, motherly voice she said, "By the end of winter, you will be able to put on your own boots.” I didn’t realize at the time that this was more a statement of hope than of confidence.
I handed her my boots and stuck out my foot. Like most children, I expected the adult to do all the work. After much wiggling and pushing, she managed to get first one into place and then, with a sigh, worked the second one on too.
I announced，“They’re on the wrong feet.” With the grace that only experience can bring，she struggled to get the boots off and went through the joyless task of putting them on again. Then I said，“These aren’t my boots, you know.” As she pulled the offending boots from my feet, she still managed to look both helpful and interested. Once they were off, I said，“They are my brother’s boots. My mother makes me wear them, and I hate them!” Somehow, from long years of practice, she managed to act as though I wasn’t an annoying(烦人的) little girl．She pushed and shoved, less gently this time, and the boots were returned to their proper place on my feet. With a great sigh of relief, seeing the end of her struggle with me, she asked, “Now, where are your gloves?’’
I looked into her eyes and said, “I didn’t want to lose them, so I put them into the toes of my boots.”
【小题1】According to the passage, the little girl got_______from her brother.

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
A woman in her sixties lived alone in her little cottage（村舍）with a pear tree at her door. She spent all her time taking care of the tree. But the children nearby drove her  36  by making fun of her. They would climb her tree and then run away with pears,  37   “Aunty Misery” at her.  One evening, a passer-by（过路者） asked to  38  for the night. Seeing that he had an 39  face, she let him in and gave him a nice  40  . The next morning the stranger, actually a sorcerer (巫师), thanked her by granting (允准) her  41  that anyone who climbed up her tree  42  not be able to come back down until she  43  it.                                                                                                                                                                                               When the children came back to steal her  44 , she had them stuck（粘）on the tree. They had to beg her long  45  she gave the tree permission to let  46  go. Aunty Misery was free from the  47  at last.                                                                                        One day another man   48  her door. This one did not look trustworthy（值得相信的）to her,   49   she asked who he was . “I am Death, I’ve come to take you   50   me.” said he.                                                   Thinking fast, Aunty Misery said, “Fine, but I’d like to  51  some pears from my dear tree to remember the  52  it brought to me in this life. But I am too  53  to climb high to get the best fruit. Will you be so   54   as to do it for me?” With a deep sigh (叹气), Mr. Death climbed up the tree 55 and was immediately stuck to it. No matter how much he warned or begged, Aunty Misery would not allow the tree to let Death go.                                                               
36．A．hopeless      B．painful           C．dull            D．crazy               
37．A．calling       B．shouting          C．announcing     D．whispering                       
38．A．stay          B．live             C．hide            D．lie               
39．A．interesting     B．honest            C．anxious          D．angry                   
40．A．gift            B．kiss              C．treat           D．smile                   
41．A．suggestion    B．demand           C．permission         D．wish                  
42．A．could        B．should            C．might          D．must                 
43．A．permitted     B．promised         C．answered        D．declared
44．A．branch        B．food             C．tree            D．fruit                     
45．A．after              B．while         C．since              D．before                      
46．A．it               B．them           C．him               D．her                        
47．A．trick               B．question        C．trouble            D．difficulty               
48．A．stepped into         B．left for        C．stopped at          D．walked around   
49．A．so                B．but            C．although          D．because               
50．A．with             B．off            C．upon             D．for                      
51．A．choose           B．pick           C．shake            D．hit                          
52．A．honor             B．pleasure             C．hope             D．excitement                     
53．A．light              B．short         C．old              D．thin                 
54．A．proud             B．kind           C．fine             D．smart
55．A．disappointedly   B．cheerfully         C．unwillingly       D．eagerly