For most of the day construction worker Sidney Smith and his brother – in – law Joseph Chambers had been   21   along the banks of Lake Waco with little   22  . Chambers suggested they go home, but Smith 　33　　that there were still several hours of daylight 　24　　and there was one other place they might try a bit longer before 　25　.

Smith drove his pickup（小货车）a couple of miles along the　26　road to get to the other side of the lake. This road, in the truest sense, was a path wagging in the heavy 　27　area. Even with the sun still high in the cloudless sky, the 　28　of trees formed a leafy　29　over the road and it suddenly seemed 　30　in the evening.

“A guy could get lost and nobody would ever find him,” said Chambers.

Smith smiled, “We’re 　31　there.” He said. A few seconds later, the smile was 　32　　from his face.

“What the hell is that?”

　　He braked to a stop. Less than twenty feet away was what appeared to be a  33  .

　　For several minutes the two men sat in the pickup 　34　to decide whether they had happened to 　35　someone’s bad practical joke or something far more serious. Smith with his brother-in-law got out of the pickup and 　36　walked towards that thing some distance before them.

It was a young man who was already dead. They had got to tell 　37　. Back into the pickup, Smith backed the pickup down the road 　38　he could turn around, then 　39　back. With the dead young man still on his mind, Smith felt as if he was going to be sick. God, how he　40　　they had given up fishing and gone home early.

A．playing　   B．boating　　     C．fishing　　　　      D．walking

A．failure　       B．success　  C．disappointment D．interest

A．quarreled　 B．argued　      C．reasoned　      D．shouted

A．remaining　 B．staying　　     C．keeping　　    D．leaving

A．starting off　B．running out　   C．sending away　       D．giving up

A．winding 　 B．widening　       C．leading　　　  D．blocking

A．grassed 　　B．wooded　　　 C．iced　　　　   D．snowed

A．trunks　　　B．shadow　　     C．shade　　　　 D．shape

A．hat　　　　B．umbrella　 C．sheet　　　     D．overcoat

A．foggy　　 B．late　 　  C．early　　 D．rainy

A．almost 　　B．already　　     C．only　　　      D．fairly

A．escaped　　B．lost　 　　　C．gone　　　       D．missed

A．body　　　B．trap　 　　　 C．pile　　　　   D．stream

A．talking 　　B．hoping 　　 C．wanting　　    D．trying

A．come across B．turn out　　  C．bring about　   D．make up

A．loudly　　　B．quietly　　  C．quickly　　　  D．slowly

A．everybody　 B．somebody　　C．anybody　　　 D．nobody

A．until　　　 B．before　　　  C．after　　　    D．when

A．turned 　　 B．ran　　　　　C．headed　　　 D．walked

A．expected　　B．hoped 　　 　C．wished　　　  D．prayed

Angels

My friend Heather mentioned that she had never seen an Angel. Then I remembered the  36   I had with my sister Sandra earlier this week.

This will be Sandra’s first Christmas without her husband. This summer he died in her arms. On Thursday, she was in the store 　37　 for an ideal card for her two sons and daughter. Time passed by quickly as she 　38   the many choices. She wanted a card that sent something special to each of them, 　39  she knew they would have a(n) 　40  place in their heart this holiday season.

Finally! She found the one that expressed the 　41  feeling. The words expressed the feelings that she wished to share. However, a sharp pain pierced(穿透) her heart when she realized that the card was 　42  “mom and dad.” She stood there, 　43  it close for a long time, unable to move from the 　44  . Tears began to run down her cheeks.

“Is there something I can do for you?” a 　45  voice asked. She 　46  to face a stranger, a woman, who was looking at her with 　47  and concern. “Uh…oh...OH!” Sandra responded, “I can’t give this card to my children because…because my husband died and this is the 　48  card.”

Hearing this, the stranger’s face softened with sympathy(同情) and love. She reached out and 　49  my sister into her arms, giving her unspoken permission to cry in the protection of her embrace(拥抱). She 　50  held my sister until her calmness 　51  . “Thank you for listening to me cry on,” was what my sister said when all was better. “You are welcome, and I am so sorry for your 　52  ,” the stranger answered and said goodbye to her.

During her telling of this event I was feeling 　53  that I hadn’t been there. My sister needed me and a stranger had to do my 　54  .  “You know,” she went on, “a friend suggested that it was like meeting with an Angel.” My 　55  disappeared in an instant. My sister required an Angel, and I think that is exactly what she got.

36.	A. conversation	B. difficulty	C. accident	D. quarrel
37.	A. paying	B. caring	C. calling	D. looking
38.	A. left	B. offered	C. read	D. discovered
39.	A. although	B. as	C. when	D. if
40.	A. other	B. empty	C. safe	D. different
41.	A. sad	B. strange	C. amazing	D. perfect
42.	A. for	B. to	C. from	D. by
43.	A. seizing	B. holding	C. keeping	D. grasping
44.	A. spot	B. stair	C. area	D. home
45.	A. firm	B. proud	C. cold	D. soft
46.	A. walked	B. turned	C. decided	D. woke
47.	A. question	B. shock	C. regret	D. upset
48.	A. harmful	B. special	C. wrong	D. right
49.	A. pulled	B. caught	C. sent	D. protected
50.	A. quietly	B. tightly	C. strongly	D. seriously
51.	A. disappeared	B. went	C. arrived	D. returned
52.	A. failure	B. idea	C. loss	D. death
53.	A. shocked	B. angry	C. happy	D. hopeless
54.	A. task	B. time	C. favor	D. job
55	A. responsibility	B. sympathy	C. guilt	D. hurt

As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, rooms to be cleaned. Parents are  with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real . On Christmas Eve, young children find the  almost unbearable（难以忍受的）. They are  between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to  up late so that they will not  the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early, they often lie  for a long time, hoping to get a short look at Father Christmas.

　　Last Christmas, my wife and I  managed to hide a few large presents in the storeroom. I feared the moment when my son, Jimmy, would  me where that new bike had come from, but  he did not see it.

　　On Christmas Eve, it took the children hours to go to sleep. It must have been nearly  when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began  stockings. Then I pushed in the  I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree. We knew we would not get  sleep that night, for the children were  to get up early. At about five o'clock the next morning, we were woken by loud sounds coming from the children's room － they were shouting excitedly!  I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came  into the room on his new bike, and his sister, Mary,  close behind pushing her new baby carriage. Even the baby arrived, he moved  the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon behind him. Suddenly it burst. That woke  up completely. The day had really begun with a bang（巨响）.

1.A. faced　　　　 B. met　　　　　 C. filled　　　D. pleased

2.A. question　　　B. matter　　　　C. problem　　　D. business

3.A. joy   　　　B. excitement      C. presents     D. parents

4.A. pulled　　　B. divided　　　C. separated　　  D. torn

5.A. get　　　　 　B. stay　　　　　C. stand　　　 D. wake

    6.A. lose　　　　　B. break　　　　 C. miss　　　　 D. leave

7.A. awake　　　　B. wake　　　　　C. asleep　　　　D. sleep

8.A. hopefully　　B. busily      C. gladly　　D. successfully

9.A. answer　　　 B. tell　　　　　  C. ask　　　　　 D. search

10.A. sadly　　　　B. unluckily   C. possibly　　D. fortunately

11.A. morning　　　B. midnight    C. evening　　　D. daybreak

12.A. filling　　　　B. sewing　　C. mending　　D. preparing

13.A. present　　　 B. stocking　　　 C. bike　　　　　 D. tree

14.A. 1ittle　　　　 B. some　　　　　C. enough　　　 D. much

15.A. sorry　　　　 B. sure　　　　　C. glad　　　　　 D. eager

16.A. Before　　　　B. After　　　　 C. Until　　　　　D. Since

17.A. running　　　 B. laughing　　　 C. shouting　　　 D. riding

18.A. walked　　　　B. moved　　　　C. followed　　　D. jumped

19.A. with　　　　　B. on　　　　　　C. over　　　　 D. by

20.A. him　　　　　B. her　　　　C. me　　　　　　　D. us

 

America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 10 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 10. The aging of the population will affect（影响）American society in many ways—education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为） is suitable（合适）at various , ages.

A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 15 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.

Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother— or my father— was at my age. ”No one says“Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.

12．It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America ________ .

A. has made people feel younger                B. has changed people’s social position

C. has changed people’s understanding of age   D. has slowed down the country’s social development

13．The underlined word “one”refers to ________ .

A. a society　　　B. America      C. a place　　　　D. population

14．” Act your age” means people should ________ .

A. be active when they are old

B. do the right thing at the right age

C. show respect for their parents young or old

D. take more physical exercise suitable to their age

15．If a 25 - year - old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ________ .

A. normal　　　B. wonderful       C. unbelievable　　　　　D. unreasonable