阅读下面的短文，从短文后所给的四个选项中，选出能填入相应空白处的最佳选项

The art of giving gifts is to give something that others cannot buy for themselves.             

                                         ------A.A. Milne

I have spent most of my career as a traveling salesman. There’s 36    lonelier than having meals myself in a coffee shop. One year, my five-year-old daughter Jeanine gave me a  37  . It was a soft toy penguin with a hand –painted  38  saying “I love My Dad!”  Tears came into my eyes and immediately, I gave it a  39  place on my desk.

    Soon I had to leave on another business  40  . This time when I was  41  , I put the penguin in my suitcase. After that day, Jeanine always helped me pack with the penguin. Many years  42  by and that little penguin has traveled with me hundreds of thousands of miles all across America and over to Europe. We have also made many friends  43   the way.

      44  one afternoon after leaving my hotel, I discovered that the penguin was  45  . Frantically, I phoned the hotel. The clerk  46   , saying it hadn’t been reported. But half an hour later, he called back to say that my penguin had been found. It was late,  47   I drove several hours to get my little  48  , arriving near midnight.

   When I rushed to the hotel, I found that it was waiting at the front desk. In the lobby(大厅), some   49  business travelers looked at us, I think, with some  50  and envy(羡慕). Someone came out to shake my hand. One man told me that he had even volunteered to  51  it to me the very next day.

   Jeannie is in college now and I don’t travel  52  much anymore. The penguin spends most of its time  53   on my dresser­­­­­--- a reminder that  54   is the best traveling companion. All those years on the road, it was the one thing I never left home  55  .

It was late Wednesday night when the dreadful phone call reached our home . I rememeber laying in my bed trying to fall asleep when I heard the phone ring . Interested in who would be calling so late I sat up, so I could hear the phone call better . To my surprise , I heard my mom burst into tears , “ Get the car , dear ! Andrea has been in a car accident .”

We ran every red light on the way to the hospital and our tires screeched(发出刺耳声) around every corner . We got to the hospital , but were not allowed to see Andrea . The next morning , after wearing masks , we were allowed to go to the ICU to see Andrea . Well , the least I could say was that everything was injured in her body and she lost all of her memories . It was a fatal car accident .

Over the next two months , I lived more at the hospital than I did at my house . I watched as Andrea worked so hard to gain back everyday motor skills . She never once complained or pitied herself , and her determined spirit was shining through . After two weeks in the ICU and two months of regular hospital treatment , Andrea came home . She missed several months of school , so it was hard for her to catch up . Andrea had many tasks to accomplish , and no matter how hard it was , she stuck to it until the job was done . Though she was busy dealing with the pain and the therapy , she always found time to love and play with me .

I’ll never forget the impact that this incident made on my life . I admire my sister for her strong-willed personality and her determined spirit . Today she is perfectly normal , despite the scars and the pins holding her leg in place . I couldn’t ask for a better sister or a hero in my life .

1. The writer wanted to hear the call better , because_______.

A. he sensed that something terrible had happened

B. he might be curious about who would phone so late

C. he wanted to scold the person who phoned so late

D. he wasn’t sure whether the telephone concerned him

2. From the underlined sentence in the second paragraph , we can learn that________.

A. the family didn’t obey the traffic rules

B. the writer’s father wasn’t good at driving

C. the whole family were anxious to see Andrea

D. their house was very far from the hosptial

3. It was mainly________that made the author’s sister recover from the car accident .

A. the family’s encouragement        B. Andrea’s strong will

C. the treatment                    D. the eagerness to study

4. What would be the best title for the passage ?

A. A Miracle Happening to My Sister   B. My Sister—the Hero in My Life

C. An Accident Changed My Sister     D. An Incident Which Influenced Me Much

The soldiers had just moved to the desert, and as they had never been in such a place before, they had a lot to learn.

As there were no trees or buildings in the desert, it was, of course, very hard to hide their trucks from enemy planes. The soldiers were, therefore, given training in camouflage. They were shown how to paint their trucks in irregular patterns with pale green, yellow, and brown paints, and then to cover them with nets to which they had tied small pieces of cloth.

The driver of the biggest truck had a lot of trouble camouflaging it. He spent several hours painting it, preparing a net and searching for some heavy rocks with which to hold the net down. When it was all finished, he went for lunch.

When he came back from his meal, he was surprised and worried to see that his camouflage was completely spoilt by the truck’s shadow, which was growing longer and longer as the afternoon advanced. He stood looking at it, not knowing what to do.

Soon an officer arrived, and he, too, saw the shadow, of course.

“Well,” he shouted to the poor driver, “What are you going to do about it? If an enemy plane comes over, the pilot will at once know that there is a truck there.”

“I know, sir,” answered the soldier.

“Well, don’t just stand there doing nothing!” said the officer.

“What shall I do, sir?” asked the poor driver.

“Get your spade and throw some sand over the shadow, of course!” answered the officer.

From this passage you can know ________.

       A. there were a lot of trees where the soldiers were stationed

       B. the soldiers were staying in an area far from the enemy planes

       C. the soldiers knew nothing about desert

       D. the soldiers had lived in desert before

Which of the following is right?

       A. The nets with which they covered their trucks were made of small pieces of cloth.

       B. The soldiers tied small pieces of cloth to the nets with which they covered their trucks.

       C. The nets covering the trucks were painted pale green, yellow and brown.

       D. The trucks were tied to the nets with small pieces of cloth.

The soldier was surprised and worried because ________.

       A. his truck had cast a shadow in the sun and the enemy plane would find it.

       B. the shadow of his truck was growing longer at noon

       C. it was late in the afternoon, and he could not get rid of the shadow

       D. his newly-painted truck was in the shadow

What do you think of the ending of the story?

       A. It is quite reasonable that the officer ordered the soldier to cover the shadow with sand.

       B. We’ll laugh at the officer’s order because it is where the humor lies.

       C. Though the officer’s order sounded wise, the soldier couldn’t cover the shadow.

       D. The soldier managed to cover the shadow with sand

What do you think of the ending of the story?

       A. It is quite reasonable that the officer ordered the soldier to cover the shadow with sand.

       B. We’ll laugh at the officer’s order because it is where the humor lies.

       C. Though the officer’s order sounded wise, the soldier couldn’t cover the shadow.

       D. The soldier managed to cover the shadow with sand

I had planted different hot peppers in my garden. A Mexican fellow called Sam worked for me. He_36_ hot peppers, too. It was late summer and a beautiful sunny day. My son, Marcus, eight, and my daughter, Ellen, ten, picked several 37 hot peppers and entered our workroom, with their              38 ．They wanted to see if Sam could   39   more hot peppers than I.  After a little joking with them we agreed to the contest but they had to   40  ，too. That was not  41  terms for them so they left the room.

They  42   about an hour later with a new proposal and new hot peppers they had just picked．  43  they had reasoned that when a pepper was  44  in color it was the hottest kind. Marcus and Ellen would eat the green colored peppers   45  Sam and I would eat the red colored peppers. Giving Sam a wink（使眼色），we  46  . Showing good sportsmanship（体育精神），I had the kids  47  the peppers that Sam and I would eat.  They picked the largest two red peppers.  Then they picked a  48   green one for themselves. Knowing what was going to  49  ，I told them I would make it  50   for them.  I cut one pepper in half and removed the  51   to reduce the heat a little. The contest was one of speed rather than  52  ．Each child had pepper in hand and was  53  to start .

Looking at my  54   I said, OK, on three. One, Two, THREE. So much happened all at once. Tears, screams and spitting running around, the children  55   their mouth with fast waving hands.  A short time later, Sam and I agreed that the red tasted better than the green.

A. ate              B. liked          C. sold             D. studied

A. heavy                    B. colorful             C. large                  D. green

A. proposal             B. tricks                C. imagination        D. plans

A. plant                         B. pick                  C. harvest               D. eat

A. taste                   B. participate         C. contribute           D. share

A. acceptable              B. comfortable              C. profitable           D. tolerable

A. entered                  B. returned            C. responded           D. reached

A. Somehow                  B. Unfortunately    C. Unexpectedly      D. Anyhow

A. purple                   B. green                C. red                    D. orange

A. while              B. but            C. so              D. if

A. smiled              B. understood         C. agreed             D. jumped．

A. prepare           B. select          C. cut                 D. cook

A. fresh              B. small          C. delicious             D. hot

A. take in               B. take on              C. take place           D. take effect

A. more convenient     B. more interesting

C. happier           D. easier

A. seeds            B. leaves         C. skin                    D. flesh

A. time                   B. skill                  C. quality               D. quantity

A. nervous                 B. eager                C. willing          D. glad

A. watch                    B. children            C. partner          D. pepper

A. opened                  B. covered             C. fanned               D. washed

I had planted different hot peppers in my garden. A Mexican fellow called Sam worked for me. He_36_ hot peppers, too. It was late summer and a beautiful sunny day. My son, Marcus, eight, and my daughter, Ellen, ten, picked several 37 hot peppers and entered our workroom, with their             38 ．They wanted to see if Sam could   39  more hot peppers than I.  After a little joking with them we agreed to the contest but they had to   40 ，too. That was not  41 terms for them so they left the room.
They  42  about an hour later with a new proposal and new hot peppers they had just picked．  43 they had reasoned that when a pepper was  44 in color it was the hottest kind. Marcus and Ellen would eat the green colored peppers   45 Sam and I would eat the red colored peppers. Giving Sam a wink（使眼色），we  46 . Showing good sportsmanship（体育精神），I had the kids  47 the peppers that Sam and I would eat.  They picked the largest two red peppers.  Then they picked a  48  green one for themselves. Knowing what was going to  49 ，I told them I would make it  50  for them.  I cut one pepper in half and removed the  51  to reduce the heat a little. The contest was one of speed rather than  52 ．Each child had pepper in hand and was  53 to start .
Looking at my  54  I said, OK, on three. One, Two, THREE. So much happened all at once. Tears, screams and spitting running around, the children  55  their mouth with fast waving hands.  A short time later, Sam and I agreed that the red tasted better than the green.