I've always loved pigeons(鸽子). Some years ago I managed to persuade my wife to let me buy a few and start   16  them myself. They cost a lot of money and so it spoilt(破坏) our 17 a bit, but my wife never actually stopped me so I  18  carried on. I learnt so much about them that I could  19 a good racer anywhere and I bought some beauties. My pigeons won some top races, and I even began to make a bit of   20 .

You see, people are prepared to pay big prices if they get to know that your pigeons are 21 big prizes.

My wife had been changing her  22  to the pigeons over the last year or two anyway. She was quite   23  of all the prizes we’d won. Then there was the travelling, which she liked. You see some one has to take the pigeons a  24  way off and set them free. Some of the   25  were really nice. I never travelled. I used to like to wait at home and see them come in. They’ve got this wonderful sense of  26 , which can bring them back home so quickly. They’d flown hundreds of miles sometimes   27  storms or against strong winds. And there they’d come, tiny white birds against the great   28 . Then I'd watch them  29  round and come down onto the landing shelf. I'd look at my watch and think, “My goodness, that’s a good  30 . ”And I'd take off the little leg ring and push it through the machine to  31  what time he’d arrived. Then my wife would  32 up and say, “Has he arrived yet?” Then we would work out if we’d won   33 .

Then last year we had a   34 ! All of them got some sort of flu and  35 . It was terrible. I had to burn them all. We lost a fortune, of course.

20..

         I was a single parent of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always tight, but we had a   36   over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and if not a lot, always   37  . Not knowing we were poor, my kids(孩子们) just thought I was   38  . I’ve always been glad about that.

         It was Christmas time, and although there wasn’t   39   for a lot of gifts, we planned to celebrate with a family party. But the big   40   for the kids was the fun of Christmas   41  .

They planned weeks ahead of time, asking   42   what they wanted for Christmas. Fortunately, I had saved $120 for   43   to share by all five of us.

The big   44   arrived. I gave each kid a twenty-dollar bill and   45   them to look for gifts of about four dollars each. Then everyone scattered(散开). We had two hours to shop; then we would   46   back at the “Santa’s Workshop”.

Driving home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits,   47   my younger daughter, Ginger, who was unusually   48  . She had only one small, flat bag with a few candies　— fifty-cent candies! I was so angry, but I didn’t say anything   49   we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door,  50   to be angry again. This is what she told me.

         “I was looking   51   thinking of what to buy, and I   52   to read the little cards on the ‘Giving Trees.’ One was for a little girl, four years old, and all she   53   for Christmas was a doll(玩具娃娃). So I took the card off the tree and   54   the doll for her. We have so much and she doesn’t have anything.”

         I never felt so   55   as I did that day.

36. A. roof                                    B. hat                                   C. sky                          D. star

37. A. little                                   B. less                                  C. enough                  D. more

38. A. busy                                   B. serious                            C. strict                      D. kind

39. A. effort                                 B. room                                C. time                        D. money

40. A. improvement                     B. problem                     C. surprise               D. excitement

41. A. shopping                           B. travelling                        C. parties                            D. greetings

42. A. the other                          B. each other            C. one by one            D. every other one

43. A. toys                       B. clothes                            C. presents       D. bills

44. A. day                                     B. chance                            C. cheque                            D. tree

45. A. forced                          B. reminded                   C. invited                   D. begged

46. A. draw                                  B. stay                                  C. move                      D. meet

47. A. including                           B. besides                           C. except          D. regarding

48. A. quiet                                  B. excited                            C. happy                     D. ashamed

49. A. since                                  B. after                                C. while                      D. until

50. A. waiting                     B. ready                               C. hoping          D. afraid

51. A. out                                      B. over                                 C. forward                 D. around

52. A. forgot                                B. stopped                          C. failed                      D. hated

53. A. wanted                    B. did                                    C. got                                   D. played

54. A. made                                 B. searched                        C. bought                            D. fetched

55. A. angry                                 B. rich                                   C. patient                            D. bitter

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从第36至第55小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

I’ve always loved pigeons （鸽子）. Some years ago I managed to persuade my wife to let me buy a few and started __36___ them myself. They cost a lot of money and so it spoiled our ____37___a bit, but my wife never actually stopped me so I ___38___ carried on. I learned so much about them that I could ___39____ a good racer anywhere and I bought beauties. My pigeons won some top races, and I even began to make a bit of ___40_____.

You see, people are prepared to pay big prices if they get to know that your pigeons are ___41____ big prizes.

My wife had been changing her ___42____ to the pigeons over the last year or two anyway. She was quite ___43____ of all prizes we’d won. Then there was a lot of travelling, which she liked. You see, someone has to take the pigeons a __44____ way off and release(释放) them. Some of the ___45___ were really nice. I never travelled. I used to like to wait at home and see them come in. They got the wonderful sense of __46____, which could bring them back home so quickly. They’d flown hundreds of miles sometimes ___47___ storms or against strong winds. And there they’d come, tiny white birds against the great ___48____. Then I’d watch them __49___ round and come down onto the landing shelf, I’d look at my watch and think, “ My goodness, that’s a good ____50__ .” And I’d take off the little leg ring and push it through the machine to ___51___ what time he’d arrive. Then my wife would ___52___up and say, “Has he arrived yet?” Then we would work out if we’d win___53___.

However, last year we had a ___54____! One of them got some sort of flu and died; then they all ___55____. It was terrible; I had to burn them all. We lost a fortune, of course.

 36.  A. racing      B. understanding     C. selling       D. flying

 37.  A. dream      B. work            C. life          D. hobby

 38.  A. just        B. even            C. almost        D. hardly

 39.  A. notice      B. learn            C. imagine      D. recognize

 40.  A. living       B. fun             C. money       D. change

 41.  A. losing       B. winning         C. giving       D. making

 42.  A. subject      B. decision         C. relation      D. attitude

 43.  A. proud       B. fond             C. careful      D. sure

 44.  A. different     B. long            C. short         D. far

 45.  A. distances    B. activities         C. trips         D. movements

 46.  A. direction     B. sight            C. hearing       D. touch

 47.  A. over        B. across            C. with         D. through

 48.  A. heaven      B. mountains        C. cloud         D. sky

 49.  A. turn         B. dance           C. circle         D. whistle

 50.  A. beginning    B. time             C. day          D. look

 51.  A. write        B. record           C. count         D. memory

 52.  A. come        B. show            C. phone        D. cheer

 53.  A. again        B. finally           C. only          D. accidentally

 54.  A. disadvantage  B. chance           C. problem       D. disaster

 55.  A. flew down    B. came down        C. let out        D. gave out

第二节 完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从短文后所给的四个选项（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 a single parent of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always tight, but we had a   36   over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and if not a lot, always   37  . Not knowing we were poor, my kids(孩子们) just thought I was   38  . I’ve always been glad about that.
It was Christmas time, and although there wasn’t   39   for a lot of gifts, we planned to celebrate with a family party. But the big   40   for the kids was the fun of Christmas   41  .
They planned weeks ahead of time, asking   42   what they wanted for Christmas. Fortunately, I had saved $120 for   43   to share by all five of us.
The big   44   arrived. I gave each kid a twenty-dollar bill and   45   them to look for gifts of about four dollars each. Then everyone scattered(散开). We had two hours to shop; then we would   46   back at the “Santa’s Workshop”.
Driving home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits,   47   my younger daughter, Ginger, who was unusually   48  . She had only one small, flat bag with a few candies — fifty-cent candies! I was so angry, but I didn’t say anything   49   we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door,  50   to be angry again. This is what she told me.
“I was looking   51   thinking of what to buy, and I   52   to read the little cards on the ‘Giving Trees.’ One was for a little girl, four years old, and all she   53   for Christmas was a doll(玩具娃娃). So I took the card off the tree and   54   the doll for her. We have so much and she doesn’t have anything.”
I never felt so   55   as I did that day.
36. A. roof                          B. hat                           C. sky                          D. star
37. A. little                          B. less                          C. enough                     D. more
38. A. busy                          B. serious                        C. strict                        D. kind
39. A. effort                        B. room                       C. time                         D. money
40. A. improvement                 B. problem                   C. surprise                    D. excitement
41. A. shopping                    B. travelling                 C. parties                      D. greetings
42. A. the other                    B. each other                C. one by one               D. every other one
43. A. toys                              B. clothes                            C. presents                    D. bills
44. A. day                           B. chance                            C. cheque                            D. tree
45. A. forced                       B. reminded                  C. invited                            D. begged
46. A. draw                         B. stay                         C. move                       D. meet
47. A. including                   B. besides                     C. except                      D. considering
48. A. quiet                         B. excited                     C. happy                      D. ashamed
49. A. since                         B. after                        C. while                       D. until
50. A. waiting                      B. ready                       C. hoping                            D. afraid
51. A. out                              B. over                          C. forward                   D. around
52. A. forgot                        B. stopped                    C. failed                       D. hated
53. A. wanted                      B. did                          C. got                          D. played
54. A. made                         B. searched                   C. bought                            D. fetched
55. A. angry                        B. rich                         C. patient                            D. sad

I was a single parent of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always not enough, but we had a   36  over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and if not a lot, always   37 . Not knowing we were poor, my kids (孩子们) just thought I was   38 . I’ve always been glad about that.

It was Christmas time, and although there wasn’t enough   39  for a lot of gifts, we planned to hold a family party. And the big   40  for the kids was the fun of Christmas   41 .

They planned weeks ahead of time, asking   42  what they wanted for Christmas. Luckily, I had saved $120 for them to buy   43 .

The big   44  arrived. I gave each kid a twenty-dollar bill and   45  them to look for gifts of about four dollars each. Then everyone scattered(散开). We had two hours to shop; then we would   46  again at the “Santa’s Workshop”.

Driving home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits,   47  my younger daughter, Ginger, who was unusually   48 . She had only one small, flat bag with a few candies　— fifty-cent candies! I was so angry, but I didn’t say anything   49  we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door, ready to be   50  again. This is what she told me.

“I was looking   51 , thinking of what to buy, and I   52  to read the little cards on the ‘Giving Trees.’ One was for a little girl, four years old, and all she   53  for Christmas was a doll(玩具娃娃). So I took the card off the tree and   54  the doll for her. We have so much and she doesn’t have anything.”

I never felt so   55  as I did that day.

1.                A．roof           B．hat            C．sky  D．star

2.                A．little           B．less            C．enough   D．more

3.                A．busy           B．serious         C．strict D．kind

4.                A．effort          B．room           C．time D．money

5.                A．improvement    B．problem        C．surprise  D．excitement

6.                A．shopping       B．travelling        C．parties   D．greetings

7.                A．the other       B．each other      C．one by one    D．every other one

8.                A．toys           B．clothes         C．presents  D．bills

9.                A．day            B．chance         C．cheque   D．tree

10.               A．forced         B．reminded       C．invited    D．begged

11.               A．draw          B．stay           C．move D．meet

12.               A．including       B．besides         C．except    D．regarding

13.               A．quiet          B．excited         C．happy D．ashamed

14.               A．since          B．after           C．while D．until

15.               A．happy          B．angry          C．joyful     D．glad

16.               A．out            B．over           C．forward   D．around

17.               A．forgot          B．stopped        C．failed D．hated

18.               A．wanted         B．did            C．got   D．played

19.               A．made          B．searched       C．bought    D．fetched

20.               A．painful         B．rich           C．disappointed   D．angry