阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Christmas is no fun when you're poor．Twenty years ago I was a young,?? 1.?? （struggle）,substitute（替补） teacher whose calls into work had been few．Money was tight, bills were due ??? 2.??? my wife and I couldn't even afford to get Christmas gifts for each other．The only gifts we could get for our children were a few soft toys that I had found ??? 3.??? （sell）at half price in the supermarket．I opened the door and brought in the gifts I ??? 4.??? （hide） in our old car's trunk．Then I handed ??? 5.??? to my son and daughter．I watched with a sad smile as they did their best to tear off the wrapping(包装） paper．As they pulled out their toys, though, I noticed their? ? 6.?? lit up and they jumped up and down．My daughter??? 7.??? （happy） hugged her toy and then hugged her Mom and me as well．I laughed as I watched my children play with their toys _? 8. _ hours, and Thanked God for the ．? 9._ （great） bifilar ever been given．Till today I still treasure ???? 10.???? gift of pure love that my son and daughter gave me that day．

I truly feel that my mother led me here, to Morzaine, and to my future as a happy wife and business woman. When Mum   21 in October 2007,I was a cook. In December that year, while I was working for a wedding, a pearl necklace Mum had left me      22     .I was distraught（忧心如焚的）. Some days later, I was     23     that a guy who was working with us that day. “could probably have made a fortune     24   the necklace he found.”  25    .he returned it. Hearing how I’d     26   Mum for six months before her death, he said, “Christmas is going to be  27 —why not go out to the Alps for a couple of weeks?”
I come to Morzaine ,a small ,friendly village in the Alps and___28_ fell in love with it .What was __29__to be a stopgap (权宜之计) trip turned into a new life .I kept travelling between London and here and felt _30__than I had in months .In December 2008 , I was __31_as a hotel manager and moved here full time .
A month later, I met Paul, who was traveling here. We fell in love. In the beginning , I didn’t want to discuss___32__, because the sadness of losing Mum__33__felt great. Paul understood that and never___34__me but, by summer, we got married. A year later, we used his saving, and the money from the sale of Mom’s house, to build our own ___35__.
We want to give our guests a ___36__ feel, so each room is themed(以……为题) around memories from our lives. There are also styles to remind me of Mom ---- a tiny chair which ___37___ be in her bedroom is set in one room.
We are having a wonderful life Mum ___38___ naturally part of it, _39___ there’s no way we would be here if it wasn’t for the __40__ she gave me. I know she’s here in spirit, keeping an eye on us .
【小题1】

A．hiding

B．stealing

C．selling

D．wearing

Going home for Christmas is a tradition of the holiday season. No matter where you may be the rest of the years, being at “home” with your family and friends for Christmas is a “must”. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are the busiest times of the year at airports, train stations and bus stations. It seems that all America is on the move and Americans are on their way to spend the holidays with their loved ones.

This means that the house will be full of cousins, aunts and uncles that might not see each other during the year. Everyone joins in to help in the preparation of the festival. Some family members get to choose a Christmas tree to buy and bring home. Others decorate the house or wrap presents. And of course, each household needs to make lots of food!

At Christmas Eve gatherings adults have eggnog, which is made of cream, milk, sugar, eggs and brandy. Plenty of  eggnog  or hot cocoa is on hand in colder climates for carolers, or people who go from house to house sing Christmas carols to their neighbors.

Long ago, each child hung a stocking, or sock, over the fireplace. Santa entered down the chimney and left candy and presents inside the socks for the children. Today the tradition is carried on, but the socks are now large red sock-shaped fabric bags still called stockings. Each child can’t wait to open his or her eyes to see what Santa has left in the stocking.

Giving gifts is a Christmas tradition. However, in recent years, more and more people have complained that Christmas is too commercialized(商业化) especially in large cities. Store owners begin advertising and decorating very early in hopes of selling more goods. Some people believe that the origin of Christmas has been lost.

It is a traditional custom for Americans ____________.

 A．to buy Christmas trees and bring them to churches for Christmas

 B．to drink beer on Christmas Eve

 C．to go home for Christmas with their family and relatives

 D．to hung stockings on the chimney

The underlined word “eggnog” in the third paragraph is a kind ____________.

 A．drink                  B．food                    C．egg                     D．present

Each child hung a stocking over the fireplace in order to____________.

 A．get some eggnog                                   B．have a look at Santa

 C．get some candy and presents                  D．get some money from his/ her parents

The last paragraph wants to tell us that  ____________.

 A．giving gifts is a Christmas tradition     B．giving gifts is getting more and more commercialized

 C．store owners hope to get more presents  D．people think there will be no Christmas in the future

完形填空

21. Christmas is over. And I got my wanted radio-controlled truck. But you would not believe the ___1___ and work that went into getting this holy toy.

For over a month I stared at ___2___ magazines I received from my friend until I had made up my ___3___: I wanted a Pumpkin truck. I ___4___ to work immediately, dropping hints to my father about it.

My first job was to tell him about how the steering(操纵杆) on my old car didn’t ___5___, but he just blamed the problems on my bad ___6___.

My next plan would have to be more ___7___. “Look at this, Dad, the truck with controller and battery pack—all for only US$250!” You can’t ___8___ to miss out on this bargain!”

His ___9___ was that he certainly could afford to miss this ___10___ and for US$250 you could buy ___11___ educational like a telescope. “A telescope? To look at the moon? I’ll look at it when I’m 97 years old and living in a ___12___ home! This is my youth! I am supposed to run about.”

I went to my room, ___13___ at how mean(吝啬的) my father was. It was obvious that he didn’t ___14___ that I would die if I did not get the Pumpkin radio-controlled truck.

When I ___15___ on Christmas morning I wasn’t excited. I had been ___16___. I opened all my presents until there was just one big package ___17___. “The telescope,” I thought. I ___18___ the packaging and looked at the top of the box—it was a Pumpkin truck. I had ___19___! I loved my parents! I felt like I could do anything! I could ___20___ get an A+ in English class.

1. A. pain B. attempt       C. joy      D. shyness

2. A. housing  B. fishing C. car     D. fashion

3. A. mind      B. idea     C. opinion       D. head

4. A. get  B. set      C. searched    D. went

5. A. operate   B. run     C. start    D. work

6. A. riding     B. driving       C. thinking      D. keeping

7. A. strong    B. practical     C. ideal    D. obvious

8. A. afford     B. pay     C. allow  D. stand

9. A. talk B. expression  C. face    D. response

10. A. truck    B. telescope    C. chance       D. bargain

11. A. one       B. something   C. everything  D. nothing

12. A. heating  B. loving  C. nursing      D. finding

13. A. pleased B. good   C. expert D. angry

14. A. say       B. believe C. care    D. learn

15. A. went off      B. woke up     C. rang up      D. found out

16. A. worried B. instructed   C. warned      D. defeated

17. A. opened  B. wrapped     C. left     D. faded

18. A. recovered     B. refused       C. reopened    D. removed

19. A. won     B. done   C. beaten D. failed

20. A. ever      B. already       C. still     D. even

William Franklin came to my class half a year ago. But from his first day here, he   36   himself in his own world and he never spoke to others. As his teacher, I tried to start a talk with him but   37  . It seemed as if he just didn’t want to break his   38  .

After the Thanksgiving holiday, we received the news of the   39   Christmas collection of money for the   40   in our school. “Christmas is a season of   41   ,” I told my students. “Some poor students in our school might not have a   42   holiday. By giving a little money, you will help   43   some toys, food and clothing for these needy students. We will   44   the collection tomorrow.”

The next morning,   45   , I found out almost everyone had   46   this matter except Willard Franklin. He came up to my desk with his head down.   47   , he dropped two coins into the small box. “I don’t need milk for lunch,” he said in a   48   voice.

After school I couldn’t help sharing what had   49   in the morning with our headmaster. “I may be wrong, but I   50   Willard might be ready to become part of our class.” “ I am   51   to hear that,” he nodded. “And I just received a list of the poor families in our school who most need   52  . Here, take a look at it.”

As I sat down to   53   , I found Willard Franklin was at the top of the list. At that moment, I felt I really   54   Willard for the first time: a cold face with a warm heart. From this   55   , I also learnt that whether rich or poor, every child has a kind heart.