（共5小题；每小题2.5分，满分12.5分）
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard.  1  Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.
My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon.  2  She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.
 3  Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us. 4  She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.
Often she says to us, “Work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy and gay. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society”. What a piece of good advice this is!   5  This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art. My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant. What she meant was that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum. Before each visit to the museum, she made us read about artists and painting styles. It was almost as bad as being in school. Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?
First we had to read about ancient Egyptians and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum. My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested. Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing. We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly (鬈曲的) hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings. I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art.
On our last visit to the museum, something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary. In it, a woman was reading to a child. The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother' s expression how happy she was just to be with the child. I couldn't stop looking at this painting ! I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worth looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much.
53. The aim of the mother' s plan was to _________.
A. take them to visit the museum             B. introduce them to the world of art
C. ask them to read about artists              D. show them different painting styles
54. What was the writer' s experience in the museum before the last visit?
A. She came to feel her mother' s love.   B. She liked many paintings.
C. She hardly enjoyed herself.            D. She could understand the pictures of fat babies.
55. What made the writer go through a change that summer?
A. One of Mary's paintings.           B. A strange way of painting.
C. Artists in the Middle Ages.          D. Her mother' s instruction.
56. From the text, we can see _________.
A. the importance of curiosity          B. the effect of art
C. the value of learning               D. the power of family education

I was the youngest of five boys and also had four sisters who had to pull together and take care of each other. Dad wasn't around, so I never knew him well. He killed himself when I was three years old, leaving mom with the job of raising nine kids. She was a very hard worker, and in order to make ends meet, she hardly ever rested. With my mom as my example, I learned that hard work is the best way to get what you want.
Even as a little boy, I knew I was going to be successful. Regardless of what I chose, I wanted to make my brothers, sisters and mom proud of me—not only by being successful in what I chose to do, but also as a person who could be looked up to for the right reasons.
Surprising as it might seem, basketball wasn't in my plans. One day, my mom cut a rim(边缘) off an old water barrel(水桶) and then held it up for me to throw an old rubber ball through. By junior high, I started playing basketball on a team. I loved to compete. For me, it paid off. I always put the effort in, every day.
I am grateful for the life I've enjoyed as a basketball star. Basketball is not life. It can be exciting. But the most important thing about basketball is that it gives me a way to do good things for others as I move through this journey called life.
【小题1】It can be inferred that the author's________.

My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard.     1  Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.
My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon.  2  She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.
   3   Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us.   4   She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.
Often she says to us, “work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy and gay. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society”. What a piece of good advice this is!   5  This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.

Mary enjoys home made food, so she seldom     , eats out.