阅读下面短文, 掌握其大意, 然后从16 ~ 30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Mrs. Jones was very fond of singing. She had a good   16  , except that some of her high notes tended to sound like a gate, which someone had forgotten to   17  . Mrs. Jones was very conscious of this   18  , and took every   19   she could find to practice these high   20  . As she lived in a small house where she could not practice without   21    the rest of the family, she usually went for long walks along the country roads whenever she had time, and practiced her high notes there. Every time she heard a   22   or a person coming along the   23  , she stopped and   24    until she could no longer be heard before she started practicing again, because she was a   25   person, and because she was sensitive about those high notes.

One afternoon, however, a fast, open car came up behind her so   26   and so fast that she did not hear it until it was only a few yards from her. She was singing some of her highest and most   27   notes at the time, and as the car passed her, she saw an anxious   28    suddenly come over its driver’s face. He put his brakes on violently, and as soon as the car stopped, jumped out and began to   29   all his tires carefully.

Mrs. Jones did not dare to tell him what the noise he had heard had really been, so he got back into his car and drove off as   30   as he had been when he stopped.

1.A. voice       B. noise       C. sound     D. note

2.A. close       B. open        C. repair     D. oil

3.A. strength     B. sickness     C. weakness  D. advantage

4.A. time        B. chance      C. person     D. place

5.A. notes       B. songs       C. signs       D. sounds

6.A. preventing   B. harming     C. disturbing  D. damaging

7.A. train        B. car         C. noise      D. driver

8.A. path        B. avenue      C. street      D. road

9.A. waited      B. expected     C. confused   D. puzzled

10.A. brave      B. shy         C. ordinary    D. unique

11.A. slightly     B. gently      C. quickly     D. silently

12.A. beautiful    B. exhausting  C. difficult     D. energetic

13.A. expression   B. explanation  C. impression  D. reaction

14.A. approach    B. observe     C. repair      D. examine

15.A. convinced   B. upset       C. puzzled     D. pleased

He met her at a party. She was outstanding while he was normal. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee. She was    36    but due to being polite, she    37   . Sitting in a nice coffee shop, he was too    38    to say anything.

Suddenly he asked the    39   , "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him, so    40   ! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him    41   , "Why you have this hobby?" He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked the    42    of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee.    43    I have the salty coffee, I always    44    my childhood and my hometown. I miss my hometown and my parents."    45    saying that tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. A man who can tell out his  homesickness  must  be  a  man  who  has    46    of home.

That was a really beautiful    47    of their story. Then the story was just like every beautiful  love  story — the  princess    48    the  prince. And  every  time  she  made    49    for him, she put some salt in it, as she knew that's the    50    he liked it.

After 40 years, he passed away,    51    her a letter which said, "My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life's lie — the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time,    52    I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me  to      53    so I just went ahead. If I can live for the second time, I still want to have you for my whole life,    54    I have to drink the salty coffee again."

Her tears made the letter totally wet. Someday, someone asked her, "What's  the  taste  of    55    coffee? " She replied, " It's sweet."

1. A. surprised         B. pleased          C. satisfied            D. excited   

2.A. answered           B. promised         C. provided         D. refused   

3. A. curious               B. jealous              C. nervous          D. cautious  

4.A. waiter             B. girl             C. partner              D. customer  

5.A. outstanding            B. bitter               C. delicious            D. strange   

6.A. constantly         B. curiously            C. suddenly         D. seriously   

7.A. color              B. character            C. quality              D. taste   

8.A. Every time         B. Next time            C. The first time       D. By the time  

9.A. think out          B. think over           C. think of         D. think up   

10. A. Since                B. Though           C. While                D. Because   

11.A. responsibility        B. concept          C. consideration        D. control   

12.A. scene             B. beginning            C. comedy           D. result   

13.A. dated             B. admired          C. devoted          D. married  

14.A. tea                   B. water                C. coffee               D. milk   

15.A. way               B. method           C. means                D. route   

16.A. left                  B. leaving          C. writing          D. wrote  

17.A. fortunately           B. actually         C. happily          D. possibly  

18.A. change                B. remind               C. overcome         D. remove  

19.A. as though         B. now that         C. even though      D. so that   

20.A. sugared               B. old              C. instant              D. salty

Every morning my friend would stop on the way to work to have a quick breakfast with her 8-year-old son. Then she   36   him off at school. They ate the same thing every morning: an egg sandwich, juice, coffee for her, and milk for him.

       One day she ordered a(n)   37   breakfast. Once they finished eating and were heading out of the door, she   38  , said good morning to a homeless man sitting outside of the   39  , and gave him the breakfast she had ordered for him. He   40   her, telling her it was his first meal during the last several   41  . She couldn’t help but feel   42   and was glad she finally took   43  .

       She told her son that she had seen the man every day that week there and that   44  , herself included, had offered him   45  , support, food, or drink. She   46   explained that homelessness could happen to anyone and that it was important to   47   needy people.

       So her “Tradition of Kindness”   48  . Each day she and her son went on to   49   the homeless man breakfast. The   50   was kept until they moved away several years later,   51   the experience was firmly put into her son’s mind.

       My friend   52   every time she tells me that this “Tradition of Kindness” goes on with her son, who remembers this   53   tradition. Now working in a company, her son stops every morning at Starbucks for a coffee and offers a homeless person a breakfast before going to the   54  .

       What a great tradition that he can   55   to his children as well!

A. sent                       B. dropped               C. called             D. drove

A. light                      B. expensive             C. ordinary          D. extra

A. stopped                 B. escaped                C. backed        D. hid

A. shop                      B. market                        C. hotel            D. restaurant

A. recognized             B. refused                 C. thanked        D. found

A. days                      B. minutes                C. months         D. weeks

A. cold                      B. good                    C. strange          D. nervous

A. action                    B. time                     C. care                    D. effect

A. everyone               B. someone               C. no one             D. anyone

A. education               B. information                 C. comfort               D. safety

A. again                     B. further                        C. once                   D. first

A. contact                  B. encourage             C. follow             D. help

A. began                    B. existed                        C. failed               D. changed

A. win                       B. buy                      C. show                  D. award

A. promise                 B. agreement            C. order               D. practice

A. although                B. so                        C. but                   D. because

A. cries                   B. jumps                  C. jokes                  D. smiles

A. school                   B. childhood             C. youth                  D. adulthood

A. office                    B. cinema                 C. store                   D. library

A. connect              B. relate                   C. pass                    D. move

Roberta appeared on the stage. She took a deep breath and began to   36 .  Now she was Portia, a strong–willed   37   in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. The theater was filled with people. She was speaking with a power she had never before experienced, the words flowing   38   form her.
  39 , Roberta had never acted in her life before the audition (选拔试演). She   40  being in front of other people. She was very   41   at school. She had never thought she was good enough at anything to   42   much attention. She stayed mostly to herself, making   43  friends. She had excellent grades,   44   she always thought that something was missing.
Two weeks before the audition, Roberta’s mother had heard about it and   45   her to join in.
“I can’t think of anyone else better suited to   46   the part. Remember all the plays you used to act out for us?”
Her mother wouldn’t let the   47   drop. “You’re just a little scared (害怕) .Everyone gets scared. You know you   48   do it. The trick is to look past the   49   to find the love of what you’re doing.’’
So Roberta had made an appointment (预约) with the head of the Drama Club. She had read the play and found herself excited by the   50   of speaking such rich words. In secret she practiced Portia’s part,   51   the lines by repeating them over and over. It wasn’t hard; she   52   every minute of it. Every time she spoke the words, she had a new    53   of the lines, as if Shakespeare had written Portia on many levels.
On the day of the audition, she   54   two of  Portia’s famous speeches for the auditors. When she had finished, the head of the Drama Club announced the   55   was hers.  

Every time she tried to argue with her husband she ended up ___ her eyes out.