完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30分）

I had been out shopping and really took too much time doing it. I was tired and about to (61) home. That is when I saw her.

She was stopped in the left hand turn lane (车道), (62) to get onto the highway but never (63) it. I slowed down, rolled open my window and asked. “Do you need any (64) ?”

“Yes, I ran out of gas. I just moved here and I don’t even know (65) a gas station is,” she replied.

She didn’t have a gas can, so I told her I’d run down the (66) to see if I could get one from the local station. When I (67) with a full can of gas, she couldn’t (68) me enough and told me she would pay for the an and gas. (69), I refused.

As I was (70) the gas in, she said, “I thought no one would even stop. I was afraid to leave the car and even more afraid to (71) help.”

“Well, I couldn’t pass by (72) offering help,” I said. “I’ve used up gas myself a few times. You know I’m getting (73). Now I’m running out of gas and time. It just seems to fly by.”

She then said (74) that I though was a gem (佳作): “My Dad said that old age is (75) toilet paper. The closer you get to the end of the roll the (76) it spins.”

I laughed so hard that I (77) dropped the container. She tried to start the car and it (78). The I told her to keep the (79) can in her trunk.

Seeing her grateful (80), I said friendly, “I’m glad to be of help. Welcome to Pennsylvania.”

1.A．have                       B．leave                   C．stay                    D．head

2.A．ready                      B．ashamed              C．afraid                  D．brave

3.A．made                      B．did                     C．found                  D．completed

4.A．gas                         B．money                C．help                    D．car 

5.A．what                       B．how                    C．where                 D．why

6.A．road                        B．car                      C．station                 D．window

7.A．started                     B．left                     C．mixed                 D．returned

8.A．know                      B．congratulate         C．expect                 D．thank

9.A．Of course                B．In addition          C．After all              D．Never mind

10.A．forcing                  B．pouring               C．fitting                 D．throwing

11.A．offer                     B．get                      C．send                    D．refuse

12.A．before                   B．without               C．for                      D．beneath

13.A．well                      B．strong                 C．old                     D．weak

14.A．it                          B．one                     C．something           D．all

15.A．of                         B．on                      C．as                       D．like

16.A．faster                    B．slower                 C．tighter                 D．looser

17.A．simply                   B． hardly               C．nearly                 D．really

18.A．rode                      B．worked               C．drove                  D．pulled

19.A．special                   B．valuable              C．small                  D．empty

20.A．award                    B．reward                C．smile                  D．letter

English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the world’s books and three quarters of international mail are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary — perhaps as many as two million words.

However, let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes (探讨它的矛盾), we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,  public bathrooms have no baths in them.

And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth? One goose, two geese — so one moose, two meese?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects (反映) the creativity of human beings. That’s why, when stars are out, they are visible (能看见的); but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.

1. According to the passage ______.

A. sweet-meats and sweetbreads are different things

B. there should be egg in an eggplant

C. pineapples are the apples on the pine tree

D. boxing rings should be round

2. Which of the following is the correct plural?

A. Beeth.        B. Geese.         C. Meese.        D. Tooth.

3. Which of the following includes two items which have the similar meaning?

A. A wise man and a wise guy.    B. Overlook and oversee.  

C. Quite a lot and quite a few.     D. Hot as hell and cold as hell.

4. The underlined words “wind up” in the last paragraph probably mean “______”.

A. blow        B. roll up         C. get hurt        D. finish

5. Through the many paradoxes in the English language, the writer wants to show that human beings are ______.

A. clever      B. crazy        C. lazy         D. dull

Why are so many people so afraid of failure? Quite simple because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience that will lead to growth. We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail.

   Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards. A mother describes her child’s hastily made table as “Perfect!” even though it doesn’t stand still. Another way is to shift(转移)blame. If John fails science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.

   The trouble with failure prevention is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time and that it’s possible to enjoy a game even when you don’t win. A child who’s not invited to a birthday party, who doesn’t make the honour roll on the baseball team, feels terrible, of course. But parents should not offer a quick comfort, prize or say “It doesn’t matter.” because it does. The young should be allowed to experience disappointment and be helped to master it.

Failure is never pleasurable. It hurts grownups and children alike. But it can make a positive contribution to your life once you learn to use it. Step one is to ask “Why did it fail? Don’t blame someone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong, how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about inquiring. Success, which encourages repetition of old behaviour, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure. You can learn from a bad party how to give a good one, from an ill-chosen first house what to look for in a second. Even a failure that seems definitive can cause fresh thinking, a change of direction. After twelve years of studying ballet, a friend of mine applied for a professional company. She asked. That ballet master shook his head. “You will never be a dancer,” he said,” you haven’t the body for it.”

In such cases, the way to use failure is to take stock bravely asking “What have I left? What else can I do?” My friend put away her shoes and moved into dance treatment center, a field where she’s both able and useful. Failure frees one to take risks because there’s less to lose. Often there is recovery of energy — a way to find new possibilities.

1.The first paragraph tells us ______.

  A. failure is very natural for every person

  B. the reason why we don’t know how to fail

  C. the reason why so many people are afraid of failure

  D. one should be ready to face failure at any time

2.How many preventions may parents use when a child fails according to the passage?

  A. only two  B. no more than three  C. less than three  D. more than three

3. Which statement below does the writer support?

  A. Failure is as good an experience as success.

  B. Failure is the mother of success.

  C. Failure is far from a good teacher like success.

  D. Definitive failure gives us nothing but fresh thinking.

4. We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.

  A. failure is the recovery of energy

  B. failure makes one free to do something dangerous

  C. failure should be forgotten in our life

  D. failure is likely to do us good in life

Almost every machine with moving parts has wheels，yet no one knows exactly when the first wheel was invented or what it was used for.We do know，however，that they existed over 5,500 years ago in ancient Asia.

The oldest known transport wheel was discovered in 2002 in Slovenia.It is over 5,100 years old.Evidence suggests that wheels for transport didn’t become popular for a while，though.This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around.

But it could also be because of a difficult situation.While wheels need to roll on smooth surfaces，roads with smooth surfaces weren’t going to be constructed until there was plenty of demand for them.Eventually，road surfaces did become smoother，but this difficult situation appeared again a few centuries later.There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modern road design.

In the mid?1700s，a Frenchman came up with a new design of road—a base layer(层) of large stones covered with a thin layer of smaller stones.A Scotsman improved on this design in the 1820s and a strong，lasting road surface became a reality.At around the same time，metal hubs (the central part of a wheel)came into being，followed by the pneumatic tyre(充气轮胎) in 1846.Alloy wheels were invented in 1967，sixty years after the appearance of tarmacked roads(柏油路)．As wheel design took off，vehicles got faster and faster.????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? (2013·重庆，C)

1.What might explain why transport wheels didn’t become popular for some time?

A．Few knew how to use transport wheels.

B．Humans carried farming tools just as well.

C．Animals were a good means of transport.

D．The existence of transport wheels was not known.

2. What do we know about road design from the passage?

A．It was easier than wheel design.

B．It improved after big changes in vehicle design.

C．It was promoted by fast?moving vehicles.

D．It provided conditions for wheel design to develop.

3. How is the last paragraph mainly developed?

A．By giving examples.

B．By making comparisons.

C．By following time order.

D．By making classifications.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The beginning of road design.

B．The development of transport wheels.

C．The history of public transport.

D．The invention of fast?moving vehicles.

Rock’n’roll was Black music that broke through to white culture when whites played the Blacks’ songs _______ the same style.

A．with             B．on               C．in               D．by