It was a cold winter’s night when I stopped for gas on my way home from work. I was tired and had a slight   36.

I worked in a   37   doctor’s office and this was one of those days when the unexpected happened, making the schedule run   38   than usual. It seemed I was going to be late   39   home and my husband, being the   40   person, would be ready to pronounce me late once again. Maybe   41   I hurried, I could still make it home.

I was heading inside to   42   for my gas when I noticed an older couple at the counter. I heard them asking for   43   to the local hospital. It was the same hospital that I had just   44   a few minutes ago.

The young man at the counter was trying to be   45   in explaining how to get there, with two other people making   46. One of them was   47   trying to give them a whole different route back. It was then that I walked over to the couple and said, “Would you like to follow me to the   48  ?”

A look of   49   crossed the woman’s face.

“I’ m going right by there,” I said, which wasn’t a(an)   50   since I had just made up my mind to do   51   that.

I got in my car and began the journey back. I was trying to watch to be sure they were right   52   me. It took only fifteen minutes to get there as rush hour traffic was beginning to   53  . I felt better than I had all day and my headache was nearly gone.

Later, as I arrived home, my husband   54  , “So you aren’ t ever late any more.”

I said, “Sometimes it’s   55   to be late.”

1.. A. break        B. fever       C. cold         D. headache

2..A. foreign           B. common       C. busy         D. noisy

3.. A. earlier      B. later        C. easier       D. simpler

4.. A. getting      B. cooking      C. calling      D. working

5.. A. tough        B. punctual     C. generous     D. careful

6... A. as          B. since        C. while        D. if 

7..A. pay               B. change       C. wait         D. search

8..A. opinions          B. trouble      C. directions   D. money

9..A. reached           B. visited      C. called       D. left

10..A. skilled          B. helpful      C. experienced   D. active     

11.. A. comments    B. promises     C. jokes        D. offers

12..A. only         B. still        C. even         D. ever

13..A. station          B. office       C. hospital     D. hotel

14..A. panic        B. relief       C. sadness      D. peace

15..A. duty         B. fact         C. reason       D. lie

16.. A. partly          B. properly     C. exactly      D. perfectly

17..A. across           B. before       C. beside       D. behind

18.. A. go up           B. die down     C. speed up     D. turn down

19.. A. teased          B. shouted      C. burst        D. laughed

20.. A. possible   B. special      C. good         D. safe

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从下列各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was a cold winter’s night when I stopped for gas on my way home from work. I was tired and had a slight   36 .
I worked in a   37  doctor’s office and this was one of those days when the unexpected happened, making the schedule run   38  than usual. It seemed I was going to be late   39  home and my husband, being the   40  person, would be ready to pronounce me late once again. Maybe   41  I hurried, I could still make it home.
I was heading inside to   42  for my gas when I noticed an older couple at the counter. I heard them asking for   43  to the local hospital. It was the same hospital that I had just   44  a few minutes ago.
The young man at the counter was trying to be   45  in explaining how to get there, with two other people making   46 . One of them was   47  trying to give them a whole different route back. It was then that I walked over to the couple and said, “Would you like to follow me to the   48 ?”
A look of   49  crossed the woman’s face.
“I’m going right by there,” I said, which wasn’t a(an)   50  since I had just made up my mind to do   51  that.
I got in my car and began the journey back. I was trying to watch to be sure they were right   52  me. It took only fifteen minutes to get there as rush hour traffic was beginning to   53 . I felt better than I had all day and my headache was nearly gone.
Later, as I arrived home, my husband   54 , “So you aren’t ever late any more.”
I said, “Sometimes it’s   55  to be late.”

I took the bus to work for many years. No one knew each other; the passengers all sat there sleepily in the morning. The bus was cheerless and silent.

One of the passengers was a small grey man who took the bus to the center for senior citizens every morning. No one ever paid very much attention to him. One July morning he said good morning to the driver and smiled. The driver nodded guardedly. The rest of us were silent.

The next day, the old man boarded with a big smile and said in a loud voice, “A very good morning to you all!” Some of us looked up, amazed, and murmured “ good morning” in reply.

The following weeks, our friend was dressed in a nice old suit and tie. The thin hair had been carefully combed. He said good morning to us every day and we gradually began to nod and talk to each other.

One morning he even had a bunch of wild flowers in his hand. The driver turned around smilingly and asked, “Have you got yourself a girlfriend, Charlie?” We never got to know if his name really was “Charlie”, but he nodded shyly and said yes. The other passengers whistled and clapped at him. Charlie waved the flowers before he sat down on his seat.

Every morning after that Charlie always brought flowers. Some passengers also brought flowers for him. The bus became a happy place.

Then, one morning, as autumn was closing in, Charlie wasn’t waiting at his usual stop. When he wasn’t there the next day and the day after that, we started wondering if he was sick or hopefully---on holiday somewhere. When we came nearer to the center for senior citizens, one of the passengers even asked the driver to wait.

We all held our breaths when he went to the door. The old gentleman was fine, but one of his close friends had died over the weekend. How silent we were the rest of the way to work.

The next Monday Charlie was waiting at the stop, and without a tie. Inside the bus was silent.

The story is mainly developed by ______.

A. time   B. logic    C. comparison    D. cause and result 

Greeted with “good morning” from the old man, people aboard the bus at first _____.

A. felt tired and sleepy and didn’t want to talk   B. greeted him back loudly and politely

C. guarded against the conversation from strangers D. felt surprised and became angry with him.

When the passengers found the old man was not waiting at the bus stop as usual, they did NOT _____.

A. buy flowers and wait for him to come   B. feel anxious and worried about him 

C. miss him and expect to see him    D. hope he was going on holiday rather than falling ill

It can be inferred from the text that _____.

A. the driver didn’t like the old man at first  B. people usually wear a tie when they are happy

C. passengers brought flowers to express gratitude（感激） to the old man 

D. the old man had a great influence on the passengers’ emotion

The purpose of the passage is to _____.

A. introduce the old gentleman and praise his good deeds

B. persuade us to become friendly and considerate to people around

C. tell us to keep silent when somebody passes away

D. criticize those who remain silent when they are greeted

It was a cold winter’s night when I stopped for gas on my way home from work. I was tired and had a slight   36 .
I worked in a   37  doctor’s office and this was one of those days when the unexpected happened, making the schedule run   38  than usual. It seemed I was going to be late   39  home and my husband, being the   40  person, would be ready to pronounce me late once again. Maybe   41  I hurried, I could still make it home.
I was heading inside to   42  for my gas when I noticed an older couple at the counter. I heard them asking for   43  to the local hospital. It was the same hospital that I had just   44  a few minutes ago.
The young man at the counter was trying to be   45  in explaining how to get there, with two other people making   46 . One of them was   47  trying to give them a whole different route back. It was then that I walked over to the couple and said, “Would you like to follow me to the   48 ?”
A look of   49  crossed the woman’s face.
“I’m going right by there,” I said, which wasn’t a(an)   50  since I had just made up my mind to do   51  that.
I got in my car and began the journey back. I was trying to watch to be sure they were right   52  me. It took only fifteen minutes to get there as rush hour traffic was beginning to   53 . I felt better than I had all day and my headache was nearly gone.
Later, as I arrived home, my husband   54 , “So you aren’t ever late any more.”
I said, “Sometimes it’s   55  to be late.”