It was the second day of a winter holiday in Queenstown, New Zealand, three years ago. When we decided to explore the beautiful scenery, our landlady   36  us,“Make sure you are well wrapped up today. The weather is   37 . Head back when you see snowfall.”

The day was bright and sunny, and I started to wonder if she was being too cautious. When snow began to fall at 6:00 pm, I was not worried, thinking we’d have no   38  in catching a taxi back. However, we waited for a while, and all the drivers shook their heads when told of our   39 .

The first driver passed by and gave me a card with a number for me to   40  help. I was filled with   41  , but I had no choice but to lead my three sisters to a nearby place to make the   42 . Then a taxi drew up and we climbed in. The driver did not appear very friendly. Then the light streaming from his headlights showed very   43  why no taxi wanted to take us to our hotel. And I began to understand the driver’s apparently unfriendly silence — he was worried. The steep incline (斜坡) ahead was   44  with snow. The taxi slowly made its way up the hill. Suddenly, we came to a dead stop, and the driver turned to us. “Look! It is very    45  to go forward. You have to get out and walk. If I drive any further, the taxi will slide back,” he said. “Er ... can you keep your headlight on and help my elder sister? The rest of us will follow you up,” I said. The driver   46 .

We made it safely back to our hotel. Even though it   47   for the rest of the days, we could see the silver lining in the cloud(一线希望): the generous soul who helped us.

1.                A．protected       B．guarded        C．helped   D．warned

2.                A．hateful         B．colorful         C．changeable    D．unforgettable

3.                A．reason         B．time           C．trouble   D．opportunity

4.                A．situation        B．destination      C．background   D．information

5.                A．call for         B．wait for         C．give up   D．look up

6.                A．confidence      B．pride           C．doubt    D．joy

7.                A．appointment     B．call            C．way D．invitation

8.                A．clearly         B．weakly         C．Unwillingly D．quietly

9.                A．charged        B．covered        C．crowded  D．provided

10.               A．dangerous      B．possible        C．limited    D．unacceptable

11.               A．agreed         B．admitted        C．admired   D．applied

12.               A．shone          B．blew           C．rained    D．snowed

When you are little，the whole world feels like a big playground.I was living in Conyers，Georgia the summer it all happened.I was a second grader，but my best friend Stephanie was only in the first grade.Both of our parents were at work and most of the time they let us go our own way.

It was a hot afternoon and we decided to have an adventure in Stephanie's basement.As I opened the basement door，before us lay the biggest room，full of amazing things like guns，dolls，and old clothes.I ran downstairs，and spotted a red steel can.It was paint.I looked beyond it and there lay even more paint in bright colors like purple，orange，blue and green.

“Stephanie，I just found us a project for the day.Get some paintbrushes.We are fixing to paint.”She screamed with excitement as I told her of my secret plans and immediately we got to work.We gathered all the brushes we could find and moved all of our materials to my yard.There on the road in front of my house，we painted big stripes(条纹)of colors across the pavement(人行道)．Stripe by stripe，our colors turned into a beautiful rainbow.It was fantastic!

The sun was starting to sink.I saw a car in the distance and jumped up as I recognized the car.It was my mother.I couldn't wait to show her my masterpiece.The car pulled slowly into the driveway and from the look on my mother's face，I could tell that I was in deep trouble.

My mother shut the car door and walked towards me.Her eyes glaring，she shouted，“What in the world were you thinking？I understood when you made castles out of leaves，and climbed the neighbors' trees，but this！Come inside right now！”I stood there glaring back at her for a minute，angry because she had insulted(侮辱)my art.

“Now go clean it up！”Mother and I began cleaning the road.Tears ran down my cheeks as I saw my beautiful rainbow turn into black cement.

Though years have now passed，I still wonder where my rainbow has gone.I wonder if，maybe when I get older，I can find my rainbow and never have to brush it away.I guess we all need some sort of rainbow to brighten our lives from time to time and to keep our hopes and dreams colorful.

56．What did the writer want to do when his mother came home?

A．To introduce Stephanie to her.

B．To prevent her from seeing his painting.

C．To put the materials back in the yard.

D．To show his artwork to her.

57．In his mother's eyes，the writer________.

A．was a born artist        B．always caused trouble

C．was a problem solver   D．worked very hard

58．The underlined word“rainbow”in the last paragraph refers to______.

A．the rainbow in the sky

B．the stripes on the pavement

C．something imaginative and fun

D．important lessons learned in childhood

59．It can be learned from the passage that parents should______.

A．encourage children to paint

B．value friendship among children

C．discover the hidden talent in children

D．protect rather than destroy children's dreams

We decided to buy a second-hand computer instead a new one.

完形填空（共20小题：每小题1. 5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项。

It was to be our second Christmas in Germany and we decided to avoid the naked tree problem the year before. We wrote to my father, and he  1 to purchase a tree for us in States. He would ship it to us in several smaller  2 .

Two days before Christmas we were in a   3 .All the boxes had arrived except for one. The tree trunk and stand were still  4 .We decided to wait one more day.

  5 , in Bremerhaven, a young mail clerk  6 a long thin box under a counter. He picked it up and saw the customs tag(标签)which  7 “artificial（人造的）Christmas tree trunk and stand”. He realized that someone in Mannheim would be  8 a tree for Christmas. He felt  9for them, but there wasn’t much he could do. There was no  10 on Christmas.

He put the package on the  11 shelf and headed for the coffee bar. The place was 12 and he ended up sharing a table. Two men were speaking and the clerk  13 that one of his companions at the table was stationed in Mannheim. He had just picked up the  14 he had shipped from the States and was driving back that afternoon. The clerk thought of the 15 and said to the man,“You could really  16 Santa for someone in Mannheim tonight if you’d like to.”He explained about the lost tree trunk and stand. The man agreed.

The following day, my husband was reaching for his coat  17 the doorbell rang. There stood a  18 holding a long thin carton, our tree trunk and stand. He explained about the clerk and the coffee bar meeting. We invited him in,  19 it was Christmas Eve and he left in a hurry.

The next day as we celebrated the Christmas with the beautiful tree, I whispered：“Bless those two strangers who  20 our Christmas with their kindness.”

1.                A．agreed         B．refused         C．stopped  D．failed

2.                A．bags           B．containers       C．boxes    D．parts

3.                A．hope          B．loss            C．mess D．panic

4.                A．broken         B．separated       C．unknown D．missing

5.                A．Meanwhile      B．However        C．Therefore D．Afterward

6.                A．hid            B．forgot          C．covered  D．found

7.                A．read           B．wrote          C．signed    D．meant

8.                A．except         B．by             C．along D．without

9.                A．sure           B．happy          C．painful   D．sorry

10.               A．passage        B．message        C．delivery   D．labor

11.               A．safe           B．high           C．proper    D．secret

12.               A．taken          B．ordered        C．closed D．crowded

13.               A．supposed       B．discovered      C．expected  D．wondered

14.               A．car            B．mail           C．passenger D．gift

15.               A．difficulty        B．family          C．package   D．accident

16.               A．become        B．play           C．pretend   D．assist

17.               A．before         B．while          C．until  D．when

18.               A．postman        B．santa          C．stranger   D．driver

19.               A．but            B．and            C．so    D．as

20.                                A．celebrated  B．decorated

C．confirmed                        D．brightened

阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

I live in a big city. It’s noisy and dirty and I got very  36 .At the weekends I like to leave the city and get some  37  air and a good rest. A few weeks ago I decided to go to see my  38 . I was really looking forward to it.

My parents live a long way  39 .I went to see them with James, a friend, and we drove on Friday night. In the middle of the  40  it began to rain. The road become very  41  and it was difficult to drive. We arrived home just after midnight, feeling very  42 .The next  43  it was still raining. James took his  44  to a garage which was very good.

In the afternoon the  45  improved, we wanted to go for a  46 . My parents lent us their car. That was no good. Their car didn’t  47 .We rang up the garage. “Oh,” They said, “Your car  48  be ready till tomorrow.” So it wasn’t  49  to go for a drive. We decided to play a word game. When we didn’t agree  50  a word we looked for a dictionary. It wasn’t there.  51  my mother remembered, “I lent it to your sister. She took it with her when she left.” The word game wasn’t any good  52  a dictionary.

On Sunday my mother dropped a heavy box on her  53  and we had to hire a  54  to take her to hospital. When James and I drove back we got stuck in a car accident. Next time I want a rest, I’ll stay  55 .

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