完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，共30分）

      阅读下面短文，从短文后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出可以填入空白出的最佳选项。

?After 42-year-old guy Tom had quitted his job, he began to make up his mind to become a freelance (self-employed) writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not．He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a(n)  21  typewriter and settled down to work．

    After a year or so, however, Tom began to  22  himself．He found it was difficult to earn his living by  23  what he wrote．But Tom determined to put his dream to the test —  24  it meant living with uncertainty and fear of  25 ．This is the shadowland of hope, and  26  with a dream must learn to live there．

    One day Tom got a call, “We need a(n)  27 , and we’re paying $6,000 a year．” $6,000 was  28  money in 1960．It would enable Tom to get a nice apartment, a used car and more． 29 , he could write on the side． 30  the dollars were dancing in Tom’s head, something  31  his senses．He had dreamed of being a  32  — full time．“Thanks, but no,” Tom said  33 ．“I’m going to stick it out and write．”

    After Tom got off the phone, he  34  everything he had: two cans of vegetables and 18 cents．Tom put the cans and cents into a  35  bag, saying to himself, “There’s everything you’ve made of yourself so far．”

　　Finally his work was  36  in 1970．Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that  37  writers ever experience．The shadows had turned into limelight．

　　Then one day, Tom  38  a box filled with things he had owned years before． 39  was a paper bag with two cans and 18 cents．Suddenly he  40 himself working in that cold storage room．It reminds Tom, and anyone with a dream, of the courage and persistence it takes to stay the course in the shadowland．

1.A．excellent        B．used           C．expensive      D．priceless

2.A．regret           B．hate           C．doubt          D．trust

3.A．selling          B．buying         C．reading        D．appreciating

4.A．Now that         B．What if        C．As if          D．Even though

5.A．success          B．failure        C．perspiration   D．loss

6.A．someone          B．none           C．nobody         D．anyone

7.A．boss             B．assistant      C．manager        D．writer

8.A．false            B．little         C．real           D．high

9.A．However          B．Still          C．Besides        D．Therefore

10.A．As              B．But            C．If             D．Because

11.A．hurt            B．destroyed      C．cleared        D．struck

12.A．driver          B．assistant      C．writer         D．dancer

13.A．hesitantly      B．firmly         C．slowly         D．hurriedly

14.A．pulled out      B．pulled apart   C．pulled back    D．pulled down

15.A．cloth           B．metal          C．plastic        D．paper

16.A．written         B．published      C．completed      D．punished

17.A．few             B．great          C．famous         D．poor

18.A．sought          B．searched       C．found          D．picked

19.A．Above           B．Below          C．Outside        D．Inside

20.A．called    B．pictured C．described    D．reminded

At one time or another most farmers have problems with mice. This is especially true for grain farmers. Mice eat a lot of grain. They also carry diseases(疾病), which people can get from eating or touching grain the mice have made dirty. Farmers can use special grain storage building or they can kill the mice. However, both methods can be costly. Farmers must buy materials to build the special grain storage buildings or chemical poisons to kill the mice.
Here is a way to kill mice without spending a lot of money. It is a simple but effective king of mouse trap. The method is first used by some farmers in the west African country of Mali. An agricultural expert in Mali reported about the Mali mouse trap in a magazine. The expert reported that his gardener caught 150 mice in just one night. The gardener used four traps. The trap is easy to make. First, remove the top from a 20 liter metal or plastic container(容器). Put it n a hole in the ground. The top edge of the container should be the level with the surface of the ground. Fill the container with water to within eight centimeters of the top. Add tiny pieces of grain wastes. They should float on the water. Also put some wastes on the ground near the trap. During the night, mice will come out to eat the grain wastes. They will fall into the container and drown. Replace the food in the trap every night.
56. According to the passage,       used the mouse trap first.
A. an agricultural expert in the west Africa      B. farmers in the United States
C. an American gardener                    D. farmers in Mali
57. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. A simple and effective method used by farmers to kill mice.
B. Methods used by farmers to kill mice.
C. Farmers have problems with mice.
D. How to kill mice.
58.      is not needed in making the mouse trap.
A. Water                            B. A container
C. chemical poison                    D. Food
59. Which of the following can’t protect grain from being eaten by mice?
A. A special grain storage building.          B. Chemical poisons.
C. A mouse trap.                        D. A hole in the ground.

NASA is moving ahead with plans to put a long-armed lander on Mars’ icy north pole to search for clues^① for water and possible signs of life.

The $386 million Phoenix Mars is planned to touch down in the Martian arctic in 2008. The stationary probe will use its robotic arm to dig into the icy land and pick up soil samples^② to analyze. In 2002, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spotted evidence of ice-rich soil near the arctic surface.

Scientists hope the Phoenix mission will find clues to the geologic history of water on the Red Planet and determine whether microbes^③ existed in the ice.

Phoenix will be the first mission of the Mars Scout program, a renewed, low-cost effort to study the Red Planet. “The Phoenix mission explores new territory in the northern plains of Mars analogous to the permafrost regions on Earth,” Peter Smith said.

True to its name, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previous^④ missions. The lander for Phoenix was built to fly as part of the 2001 Mars Surveyor program. But the program broke down after the well-known disappearance of the Mars Polar Lander in 1999. The Polar Lander lost contact during a landing attempt near the planet’s south pole after its rocket engine shut off prematurely, causing the spacecraft to fall about 130 feet to almost certain destruction.

The Phoenix probe had been in storage at a Lockheed Martin clean room in Denver before it was reused for its present mission. It will carry science instruments that were designed for the Mars Surveyor program including an improved panoramic camera and a trench-digging robotic arm. Phoenix will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in August 2007 and land on the planet nine months later.

Notes:

clue  n. 线索

sample  n. 标本，样品

microbe  n. 微生物

previous  adj. 先前的

The passage mainly tells readers that _________.

        A. clues of water will be found in Phoenix

        B. Phoenix will be sent to find clues of water on Mars

        C. August 2007 will see Phoenix lift off

        D. the Mars Scout program will be carried out

The underlined word “prematurely” (paragraph 5) means _________.

        A. on time     B. behind the time      C. out of work       D. ahead of time

According to the passage, we know Phoenix will land on Mars _________.

A. in May 2008            B. in August 2007   

C. in August 2008          D. in September 2008

According to the passage, the name “Phoenix” is after the meaning of _________.

        A. rebirth         B. death        C. energy        D. hope

After Phoenix lands on Mars, we can infer it will firstly _________.

        A. find soil samples and send them to the earth

        B. look for the icy land to dig for the soil samples

        C. take photos and send them to the earth

        D. find the remains of the Mars Polar Lander

NASA is moving ahead with plans to put a long-armed lander on Mars’ icy north pole to search for clues^①for water and possible signs of life.
The $386 million Phoenix Mars is planned to touch down in the Martian arctic in 2008. The stationary probe will use its robotic arm to dig into the icy land and pick up soil samples^②to analyze. In 2002, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spotted evidence of ice-rich soil near the arctic surface.
Scientists hope the Phoenix mission will find clues to the geologic history of water on the Red Planet and determine whether microbes^③existed in the ice.
Phoenix will be the first mission of the Mars Scout program, a renewed, low-cost effort to study the Red Planet. “The Phoenix mission explores new territory in the northern plains of Mars analogous to the permafrost regions on Earth,” Peter Smith said.
True to its name, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previous^④missions. The lander for Phoenix was built to fly as part of the 2001 Mars Surveyor program. But the program broke down after the well-known disappearance of the Mars Polar Lander in 1999. The Polar Lander lost contact during a landing attempt near the planet’s south pole after its rocket engine shut off prematurely, causing the spacecraft to fall about 130 feet to almost certain destruction.
The Phoenix probe had been in storage at a Lockheed Martin clean room in Denver before it was reused for its present mission. It will carry science instruments that were designed for the Mars Surveyor program including an improved panoramic camera and a trench-digging robotic arm. Phoenix will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in August 2007 and land on the planet nine months later.
Notes:
①    clue  n. 线索
②    sample  n. 标本，样品
③    microbe  n. 微生物
④    previous  adj. 先前的

1. 1.

   The passage mainly tells readers that _________.

   1. A.
      clues of water will be found in Phoenix
   2. B.
      Phoenix will be sent to find clues of water on Mars
   3. C.
      August 2007 will see Phoenix lift off
   4. D.
      the Mars Scout program will be carried out
2. 2.

   The underlined word “prematurely” (paragraph 5) means _________.

   1. A.
      on time
   2. B.
      behind the time
   3. C.
      out of work
   4. D.
      ahead of time
3. 3.

   According to the passage, we know Phoenix will land on Mars _________.

   1. A.
      in May 2008
   2. B.
      in August 2007
   3. C.
      in August 2008
   4. D.
      in September 2008
4. 4.

   According to the passage, the name “Phoenix” is after the meaning of _________.

   1. A.
      rebirth
   2. B.
      death
   3. C.
      energy
   4. D.
      hope
5. 5.

   After Phoenix lands on Mars, we can infer it will firstly _________.

   1. A.
      find soil samples and send them to the earth
   2. B.
      look for the icy land to dig for the soil samples
   3. C.
      take photos and send them to the earth
   4. D.
      find the remains of the Mars Polar Lander

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，共30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出可以填入空白出的最佳选项。
?After 42-year-old guy Tom had quitted his job, he began to make up his mind to become a freelance (self-employed) writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not．He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a(n)  21  typewriter and settled down to work．
After a year or so, however, Tom began to  22  himself．He found it was difficult to earn his living by  23  what he wrote．But Tom determined to put his dream to the test —  24  it meant living with uncertainty and fear of  25 ．This is the shadowland of hope, and  26  with a dream must learn to live there．
One day Tom got a call, “We need a(n)  27 , and we’re paying $6,000 a year．” $6,000 was  28  money in 1960．It would enable Tom to get a nice apartment, a used car and more． 29 , he could write on the side． 30  the dollars were dancing in Tom’s head, something  31  his senses．He had dreamed of being a  32  — full time．“Thanks, but no,” Tom said  33 ．“I’m going to stick it out and write．”
After Tom got off the phone, he  34  everything he had: two cans of vegetables and 18 cents．Tom put the cans and cents into a  35  bag, saying to himself, “There’s everything you’ve made of yourself so far．”
　　Finally his work was  36  in 1970．Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that  37  writers ever experience．The shadows had turned into limelight．
　　Then one day, Tom  38  a box filled with things he had owned years before． 39  was a paper bag with two cans and 18 cents．Suddenly he  40 himself working in that cold storage room．It reminds Tom, and anyone with a dream, of the courage and persistence it takes to stay the course in the shadowland．