完形填空（共10小题；每小题２分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21－30各题所给的ABC和D项中，选出最佳选项．
The finest and most sought-after violins were handcrafted by an Italian violin maker over 250 years ago. The man’s name was Antonius Stradivarius. He was born in 1644 and began his career  21  a violin maker’s apprentice (学徒). Working on his own by 1680, he became determined to make   22  that could reproduce tones as rich as those produced by the human voice. He  23    several shapes and styles for his violins until he arrived at a design that pleased him. During his career he crafted 1,100 violins. Those in   24  have become treasured possessions.
Unfortunately, the secret of the Stradivarius violin died with its maker. During his lifetime Stradivarius kept his notes safely   25  , even his two sons, who helped him in his workshop, did not know all the steps involved in each violin’s construction.
Through the years, many experts have offered    26  explanations for the unique tone of a “Strad”. Some say it is due to the violin’s shape. Others suggests that the secret    27  the special properties(特性) of the wood, which Stradivarius obtained from native Italian trees that no longer exist. The most widely accepted explanation is that it is created by the varnish（清漆） that the   28   used to coat his violins. Chemists have analyzed as closely as possible the varnish and have found its   29   has improved the sound of many violins.   30  , no other violin maker has been able to fully reproduce the tone of the Stradivarius’s violins.
21.  A. with                B. as             C. for             D. from
22.  A. Instruments    B. facilities            C. equipment     D. tools
23.  A. investigated     B. surveyed      C. tested          D. experimented
24.  A. fashion             B. existence        C. possession     D. use
25.  A. protected         B. buried        C. hidden        D. covered
26.  A. possible      B. accurate             C. detailed       D. persuasive
27.  A. brings in     B. takes in       C. results in      D. lies in
28.  A. master       B. violinist       C. expert          D. user
29.  A. attention            B. application    C. invention            D. foundation
30.  A. Additionally         B. Luckily        C. Therefore     D. Still

Can trees talk? Yes, but not in words. Scientists have reason to believe that trees do communicate (交际) with each other. Not long ago, researchers learned some surprising things. First a willow tree attacked in the woods by caterpillars (毛虫) changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that they got tired of the leaves and stopped eating them. Then even more astonishing, the tree sent out a special smell---a signal (信号) causing its neighbors to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty.
Communication, of course, doesn’t need to be in words. We can talk to each other by smiling, raising our shoulders and moving our hands. We know that birds and animals use a whole vocabulary of songs, sounds, and movements. Bees dance their signals, flying in certain patterns that tell other bees where to find nectar (花蜜) for honey. So why shouldn’t trees have ways of sending message?
【小题1】 It can be concluded from the passage that caterpillars do not feed on leaves that ______.

Debbie got up early last Saturday morning. She wanted  1  in Green Park with some ot her friends. She was very happy about it.  2  she was ready, she got on her bike and left for the park – it was on the other side of the town. Suddenly, as she was riding fast, she  3 sirens (警笛). The sound of the sirens was getting  4 , so Debbie looked  5 her to see what was happening. As a result (结果), she fell off her bike and lay in the middle of the road. Luckily, Debbie wasn’t hurt,  6  a car hit her bike. After the car   7  , two men got out and started running.  8  , a police car stopped next to the same car and three policemen got out and started running after the two men. One of the policemen shouted, “Stop the thieves (贼)!”
  9  a policeman came to see Debbie. He thanked her because, in a way, she had helped them   10  .

Tales of the supernatural are common in all parts of Britain. In particular, there was (and perhaps still is) a belief in fairies(仙女). Not all of these   21  are the friendly, people-loving characters that appear in Disney films, and in some folktales they are   22  and cause much human suffering. This is true in the tales about the Changeling. These tell the story of a mother whose baby grows   23  and pale and has changed so much that it is almost   24  to the parents. It was then   25  that the fairies had come and stolen the baby away and   26  the human baby with a fairy Changeling. There were many ways to prevent this from happening: hanging a knife over the baby’s head while he slept or covering him with some of his father’s clothes were just two of the recommended   27 . However, hope was not lost even if the baby had been   28 . In those cases there was often a way to get the   29  baby back. You could   30 the Changeling on the fire--then it would rise up the chimney, and you would hear the sound of fairies’ laughter and soon after you would find your own child safe and sound nearby.

Dad came in the midnight. We heard every sound, but we pretended to be asleep.
Next morning he looked weak and thin, sitting in a chair by the kitchen fire. The light of the fire shone through his long empty sleeve. Everything went as usual. Grandma found something to do in the bedroom. Grandpa went out for some water. Mother, with her back to us, was getting the cakes ready for breakfast.
But nothing was right. When grandma came out of the bedroom, she walked on tiptoe. When grandpa came back, he said nothing about the weather. At breakfast Mother passed us the fruit and said something, but her voice was too high.
At last my sister, Lou, pushed back her chair. “It’s your turn to wash the dishes.” But I had washed the dishes the night before. I said nothing because it was not right to quarrel in front of Dad just home with the empty sleeve.
“It is your turn,” Lou said again. I looked at her in surprise.
“It is not,” I said because I suddenly remembered Mother had told us to go on as usual.
“Children, children,” Mother said in a quiet, glad kind of voice.
And Dad was smiling because he felt at home at last.
【小题1】What do you know happened to Dad in the story?