阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从16-30各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Every year on my birthday, from the time I turned twelve, a white gardenia(栀子花) was delivered to my house. No card or note came with it. __16__ to the flower shop were always useless---it was a cash __17__. After a while I stopped trying to __18__ who the sender was and just delighted in the beauty and perfume of the white flower. But I never __19__ imagining who the sender might be.

My mother asked me whether there was someone for whom I had done a(n) __20__ kindness who might be showing __21__. Perhaps the neighbor I helped when she was __22__ a car full of groceries. Or maybe it was the old man __23__ the street whose mail I helped to get during the __24__ so he wouldn’t have to venture down his icy steps. As a teenager, __25__, I had more fun guessing that it might be a __26__ who had noticed me __27__ I didn’t know him.

One month before my high school graduation, my father died of a heart attack. I was completely __28__ in my upcoming graduation and the dance. I forgot the dance and the dress for it. The next day before the dance, I found a dress on the sofa. I didn’t __29__ if I had a new dress or not, but my mother did.

She wanted her children to feel loved and be lovable, imaginative, believing that there was a magic in the world and beauty in the face of hard times. Actually my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia---lovable, __30__ and perfect. The gardenia stopped coming when my mother died.

A. Calls           B. Quarrels         C. Messages    D. Letters

A. service         B. deal            C. bargain      D. offer

A. recognize       B. imagine          C. wonder      D. discover

A. failed          B. stopped          C. succeeded   D. enjoyed

A. special         B. common         C. valuable     D. important

A. concern         B. attitude          C. interest       D. appreciation

A. repairing        B. washing         C. unloading   D. starting

A. across          B. through          C. from       D. onto

A. spring         B. summer          C. autumn      D. winter

A. though        B. anyway          C. therefore    D. indeed

A. friend        B. superman       C. teacher       D. boy

A. as if          B. even though       C. in case           D. so that

A. disappointed  B. uninterested       C. discouraged       D. concentrated

A. wonder      B. believe           C. care        D. know

A. strong        B. beautiful         C. smelly     D. lucky

Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站) about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.

I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.

I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I  received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.

Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership—a shop selling cars—was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.

“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?”I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.

The underlined words“took off”in Paragraph  2 mean         .

  A. turned off          B. moved off      C. put up          D. set up

What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?

  A. He had it pulled back to the gas station.

  B. The couple sent him a business card.

  C. The couple offered to help him.

  D. He called his friend for help.

The battery of the author’s car was dead because         .

  A. something went wrong with the lights

  B. his meeting lasted a whole day

  C. he forgot to turn off the lights

  D. he drove too long a distance

By telling his own experiences, the author tries to show         .

  A. how to write a thank-you letter

  B. how to deal with car problems

  C. the kind-heartedness of older people

  D. the importance of expressing thanks

Mr．Smith sold that magnificent cottage of his on the sea        2,000,000 dollars．

       A．at             B．for           C．to             D．by

Like most July days, it was hot．I stepped into a tiny ice-cream shop to cool off with a chocolate ice-cream．It was a very   21   store with little round tables and chairs．

       As I entered, I found a very old woman bent over a  22   near the door．Her back was so  23  twisted （扭曲） by some misfortune that her face nearly  24  the tabletop．1 sat down  25  her a couple of tables away．

       "Poor woman," I thought．"What does she  26  life? Why does God let people live so long past their prime （盛年）?"

       As I thought, another  27  lady entered the shop and sat down with her．Soon the two of them were  28   childhood days．They talked of how little the shop had changed in 70 years．In minutes, the two of them were shaking with  29  .

       I looked again at the first woman, then in the  30  on a nearby wall, catching a picture of myself．I was wearing a dirty shirt．She was  31   dressed in white, her face carefully made up and her hands  32   with gold rings．I was  33 ．She was laughing．I was putting the   34   of my life together．She had millions of   35  memories to recall．  36  I was worried about getting old．She was old, but it wasn't   37   her．As I left the shop, I thought of my  38   question about God letting people live past their prime．Why, that woman was more  39   to life than I was．Age has not  40  her spirit． 

A．expensive         B．large                C．splendid        D．old-time

A．window        B．pillow             C．table           D．bench

A．badly              B．nearly           C．actually         D．fully

A．broke            B．touched            C．hit             D．fixed

A．facing           B．greeting            C．following       D．serving

A．look out of         B．get out of           C．learn about    D．devote to

A．aged             B．dirty               C．pretty          D．poor

A．speaking out       B．talking about         C．thinking over  D．planning for

A．food             B．fear                C．cold           D．laughter

A．newspaper       B．window            C．mirror       D．picture

A．just             B．well                C．poorly         D．quickly

A．shining         B．shaking             C．waving        D．wiping

A．happy          B．wrong              C．right         D．sad

A．periods          B．pieces              C．points          D．goals

A．terrible          B．difficult            C．wonderful       D．fresh

A．As a result        B．Above all           C．In a word     D．In secret

A．pleasing          B．hurting             C．envying      D．punishing

A．good             B．simple             C．foolish              D．interesting

A．alive            B．changeable           C．hopeful         D．interesting

A．bent             B．left                C．cut            D．took

I truly hope that at the end of this short essay(短文) you will know how to learn English.

     I was born in Somalia, and Italian is my mother tongue. 31 enough, soon after I arrived in London when I was 17, I was admitted to a sixth-form college. I found caring (体贴的) teachers there, who 32   taught me English. This, I think, was a(n) 33 factor(因素) that encouraged me to learn the language. The most important thing, 34, is to work hard. So those of you who don’t have such good teachers should not 35. When I was in London, I 36 myself to English learning as I 37 to go to university very much. Mastering the language was the only 38 to achieve my goal.

    Now I have 39 my master’s degree from Oxford University. Looking back, I 40 I was quite innocent (天真的),for I never imagined learning English was going to be so much 41. The more fluent I become, the 42 the language became. One can master it only 43 years of tireless efforts(努力).

    Some basic 44 which I would give to people who are interested in learning the language are:

1. Buy a good dictionary. 45 English learners use their dictionaries all the time.

2.46 English newspapers. Don’t forget to 47 the new words in your dictionary.

3. Listen to the radio 48 watching TV as listening to the radio helps you more.

4. Talk, talk and talk to 49 at anytime and anywhere.

    And even though at times it may be embarrassing(尴尬的) to make 50 ，you will finally correct them and remember them. Soon you will start to become fluent.