A strong wind was blowing hard, thunder was rumbling (雷声隆隆地响), and lightning flashed across the dark sky. Rain was   1   down; it looked as if heaven had been broken open.

Gleams of light appeared from windows of faraway houses, ___2___ like jewels in all the dark.

A   3   woman dressed in rags and trembling with cold was   4   on a lonely road, while the merciless rain was   5   her without pause.

She knocked at a door, and a  6  answered it. She begged him to let her stay a while   7  . The boy then let her into the sitting room and   8   her sitting by the fire.

The woman  9  old and tired under the bright electric light,   10  she was only in her early thirties. She sat   11  for a moment, and then her eyes began to look about the   12  . When her wandering eyes rested on the picture of a young man, she   13   up, looking thunderstruck.

Just then, the boy came with his  14. The man at once recognized the woman as his   15  . They had   16   touch with each other during the war, and he thought he had lost her forever.

17   words needed to be spoken. They ran into each other’s arms  18   the boy stared at them, puzzled.

The storm was over and the sky cleared. Feeling very   19  , the couple stood face to face with their child between them, watching the rain as it gradually   20  .

1．A. pouring      B. falling        C. dropping         D. flooding

2．A.blowing     B.breaking         C.shining           D. flying

3．A. rich         B. beautiful           C. poor         D. ugly

4．A. crying  B. wandering        C. struggling               D. wondering

5．A. striking  B. hitting         C. flowing                    D. beating

6．A. girl       B. woman                    C. man              D. boy   

7．A. out             B. near               C. inside            D. outside

8．A. left           B. made            C. asked                   D. told

9．A. became         B. appeared           C. showed            D. sounded

10．A. so           B. though              C. however               D. and

11．A. still         B. thirsty            C. hungry           D. straight

12．A. house            B. picture           C. room               D. fire

13．A. picked        B. came              C. stood               D. looked

14．A. brother       B. mother           C. friend               D. father

15．A. sister                B. wife          C. mother       D. girlfriend

16．A. kept         B. got                 C. made                 D. lost

17．A. Much         B. Many               C. No                     D. Not

18．A. as           B. while               C. when                D. since

19．A. disappointed          B. sorry          C. happy        D. sad

20．A. began             B. stopped             C. ended           D. went

A boy, about 10 years old, got to my clinic with his sick cat for cure. Thc cat was a tiny beautiful thing, about the boy's own  36  . I could see she was  37   very strong and lovely with the fur of a 38   and Tigress was her name. She  39  me with a friendly nub against my hand.
I  40   her and found a tumor(肿瘤). She had no 41  of recovery. I looked at the fresh-faced boy and back at Tigress. I began to 42  pity on the boy. At such a young age, he had to face to part with his beloved one.
I told him as 43 as I could what I had found, and what it meant. The boy's face twisted (扭曲) and turned away. I sat down and 44  Tigress to give the boy some time to recover. I felt Tigress's old beautiful fur 45  we discussed the possible choice with him: I could give her an operation, which would be very  46   and would not make her live longer than a month, or an  injection and put her to sleep.
After some time, the boy accepted the reality.  "I've seen her 47 recently, so I'd like her to die peacefully." I could see  how  48   it was costing him in making such a 49  .
I asked if he wanted to take her home overnight to say goodbye. He said he just wanted to be 50  with her for a few minutes. I went to get the 51 which I would use to put her to sleep. I could not control the  52  streaming down my face.
She fell asleep, her head  53   in his hand, lovely and quiet, but her owner now had all the 54 . "This is the finest  55   you could give. You bear the pain so that the loved one might rest." The boy nodded and he understood.

A man was driving at 70 miles in a 40-mile zone（区域）, when a   36  came behind him. Right away the man started thinking of   37  to give.
As the policeman came to him, he said, “Hi, officer, I guess you   38  me a little bit over the speed limit（限制）. I was in a rush to get   39  , to be with my wife and kids. You know my younger son wasn’t feeling too   40  when I left home this morning. I’m afraid he’s ill.”
The policeman said, “Well, I guess so,” and started   41  something in his notebook. As minutes went by, he could see from the side view mirror, the policeman was   42  writing. When the man was wondering why he hadn’t asked for his driving   43  so far, the policeman came to his window,   44  him a piece of paper, and returned to his car without saying a single word. The man wondered: how much was this   45   going to be? However, the man was   46  it was not a ticket at all and he began to   47  :
“I had a daughter who was   48  by a speeding car at the age of six by a speeding driver. He got a fine, a few months in   49  , and then was free, free to hug（拥抱） his two daughters. I only had one, and now I have to   50  until I get to heaven before I can hug her again. I have tried to   51  that man a thousand times, and I thought I had. Maybe I really did forgive (原谅) him. So pray (祈祷) for me, and be  52  when you drive again. My son is all I have been left with.”
The man was completely   53  and could not move for the next few minutes. When finally he did, he drove   54 , even a few miles   55  the speed limit, praying for forgiveness.

【小题11】

A．excited B．upset C．angry D．surprised

A lesson in caring
It was a cold evening. My daughter and I were walking up Broadway. I didn’t notice a guy sitting inside a cardboard box. But Nora    36    . She wasn’t even four, but she   37    at my coat and said, “That man’s cold. Daddy, can we take him home?”
I don’t remember my   38    . But I do remember a sudden   39    feeling inside me. I had always been delighted at how much my daughter noticed in her   40     , whether it was     41    flying or children playing. But now she was noticing   42    and beggary.
A few days later, I saw an article in the newspaper about volunteers who picked up a food package from a nearby school on a Sunday morning and   43     it to an elderly person. It was quick and easy. I signed us up. Nora was   44    about it. She could understand the importance of food, so she could easily see how   45    our job was. When Sunday came, she was ready, but I had to    46    myself to leave the house to fetch the food package. On my way to the school, I fought an urge (强烈愿望) to turn    47    . The Sunday paper and coffee were waiting for me at home. Why do this?   48    , we phoned the elderly person we’d been appointed. She   49    us right over.
The building was in a bad state. Facing us was a silver-haired woman in an old dress. She took the package and asked us to come in. Nora ran inside. I unwillingly followed.   50     inside, I saw that the department belonged to someone poor. Our hostess showed us some photos. Nora played and when it came time to say goodbye, we three hugged. I walked home    51    .
Professionals call such a(n)   52    “a volunteer opportunity”. They are opportunities and I’ve come to see. Where else but as volunteers do you have the opportunity to do something    53     that’s good for others as well as for yourself? Nora and I regularly serve meals to needy people and   54     clothes for the homeless. Yet, as I’ve    55     her grow over these past four years, I still wonder—which of us has benefited more?

A boy was walking home from school when he saw a large, tempting （诱人的）apple on one of the branches of an apple tree hanging out over a tall fence. The boy wasn’t much of a fruit-eater,  36 a bar of chocolate if given the choice,     37   , as they say, the forbidden fruit can be tempting. Seeing the apple, the boy wanted it. The more he looked at it, the   38   he felt and the more he wanted that apple.
39  as high as he could, but even as his tallest  40  he was unable to touch It. He began to  41 up and down , as high as he could, at the  42  of each jump stretching his arms to get the apple . Still it remained out of 43 .   Not giving up , he though , if only he had something to  44  on . His school bag wouldn’t give enough height and he didn’t want to  45  the things inside , like his lunch box , pencil case , and Gameboy. Looking  46  , he hoped he might find an old box , a rock , or ,   47  luck , even a ladder , but it was a tidy neighborhood and there was nothing he could use. He had tired everything he could think to do.   48  seeing any other choices , he gave up and started to walk   49  . At first he felt angry and disappointed thinking about how hungry he had become from his  50  , and how he really wanted that apple . The more he  51 like this , the more unhappy he became.
52  ,the boy of our story was a pretty smart guy, even if he couldn’t always get what get he wanted .He started to say to himself . This isn’t    53    ,I   don’t have the apple and I’m feeling miserable as well.There’s 54   more I can do to get the apple-that is unchangeable-but we are supposed to be able to  55  our feelings. If that’s the case, what can I do to feel better?