阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从26－45各题所给的四个选项（A，B，C，D）中选出最佳选项。

On my first day of the sixth grade, I noticed one little girl called Amy on the school bus. “Don’t __26__ her,” Lauren said, who sat beside me. “Or they will make fun of you.”

Amy had many __27__ differences — lots of reasons for other kids to make fun of her. Her eyes weren’t straight. Her glasses were an inch thick. And she had really ugly teeth.

Every day __28__ we drove to and from school, kids would shout insults (侮辱) at Amy. “God, what a (n) __29__ face! Stop looking at me!” “Mr. Rolland (the driver)! Amy took off her __30__, and now her eyes are __31__ me! Make her put them back on!” For a while I shouted my share of insults, just so I’d fit in (合群). __32__, I didn’t want them to treat me the same way they treated Amy.

But while I was insulting her, my heart __33__ for the girl. I could see that the insults were making her look __34__, because she was so ashamed (羞愧) and alone. Then I wanted to __35__ her. I just didn’t know how to stop my schoolmates __36__ the night of our class roller-skating party.

Our whole class was there, including Amy. Amy didn’t know how to __37__, but I could see how much she wanted to __38__ like the rest of us. So I skated over to her and took her by the hand; we began the journey together around the skating rink (溜冰场). She just smiled, and sometimes she would laugh in __39__.

On the school bus the next morning there was much news about Amy and me __40__ together, __41__ nobody insulted her or me. And they didn’t do that for the rest of the year.

After graduation, I never __42__ Amy again. However, I never forget her and I’ve always __43__ if I changed her life for the better. But I know for sure she changed my __44__. After becoming her friend, I no longer tried to impress (给……留下印象) people by trying to __45__ like them. I became myself.

26. A. laugh at     B. ask about    C. talk to      D. be afraid of

27. A. common       B. small        C. social       D. physical

28. A. as           B. though       C. after        D. before

29. A. pretty       B. strange      C. ordinary     D. lovely

30. A. glasses     B. coat        C. shoes       D. hat

31. A. frightening  B. interesting  C. encouraging  D. injuring

32. A. Instead      B. After all    C. If so        D. Therefore

33. A. beat         B. lost         C. ached        D. opened

34. A. happier      B. taller       C. prettier     D. uglier

35. A. give in to   B. deal with    C. stand up for D. believe in

36. A. until        B. except       C. before       D. after

37. A. stand        B. skate        C. play         D. walk

38. A. catch up     B. have fun     C. sit down     D. fall over

39. A. fear         B. surprise     C. comfort      D. joy

40. A. talking     B. chatting     C. skating      D. travelling

41. A. so          B. because     C. but         D. still

42. A. wrote to     B. laughed at   C. heard from   D. made fun of

43. A. hoped        B. wondered     C. thought     D. considered

44. A. life         B. mind         C. interest     D. friend

45. A. study       B. fight        C. act         D. play

Two elderly women in my community died "full of years,"which means both died from the normal wearing out of the body after a long and full life. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid visits to the two families.
The son of one of the deceased(已故的) women said to me,"If only I had sent my mother to Florida and got her out of this cold ,she would be alive today. "The son of the other deceased woman said, "If only I hadn't insisted on my mother's going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate, was more than she could take. "
When things don't turn out as we would like them to, it is very likely for us to think that if we had done things differently, the story would have had a happier ending. Any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty.
There seem to be two elements in our readiness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense and that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us to try to find the patterns and connections.
The second element is the notion(观念)that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. Psychologists trace this feeling back to our childhood. A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. The world works for him. When he cries, someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him, and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely outgrow the notion that our wishes cause things to happen.
69.What is said about the two deceased elderly women?
A. They lived long and died after a natural life.
B. They died due to lack of care by family members.
C. They died of the tiredness after the long plane ride.
D. They weren't quite used to the change in weather.
70.People feel guilty for the deaths of their beloved ones because_______.
A. they believe that they were responsible
B. they do not know the natural course of events
C. they couldn't find a better way to express their grief
D. they didn't know things often turn out in the opposite direction
71.The underlined sentence "the world makes sense" probably means that_______.
A. we have to be sensible so as to understand the world
B. everything in the world is pre-determined
C. there's an explanation for everything in the world
D. the world can be interpreted in different ways
72.People have been made to believe since babyhood that_______.
A. every story should have a happy ending
B. their wishes are the cause of everything that happens
C. life and death is an unsolved mystery
D. everybody should obey their wills without question

第二节:完形填空(共20小题;每小题1.5分, 满分30分)
阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从36-55各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
One spring afternoon five years ago, Jimmy Liao was crying in the hall of Taipei’s Sherwood Hotel, Life seemed  36  . The people who laughed as they walked past were taking their   37  for granted, just as he  38  himself. Now, however, he felt  39  —and he couldn’t even show his disappointment in his  40  .
Seeking more personally satisfying  41  , he had just left a successful job as a commercial artist when it seemed that fate（命运）played a cruel  42  on him. It was at this time that he developed cancer and was  43  to work. But that moment in the hotel was a turning point for Jimmy. He began to  44  the fact that there is no such a thing as fate, only  45  . Since then, he has put out several imaginative, illustrated（带插图的）books.
According to Jimmy, you are  46  you choose to be. You can give up or you can work to be a happier person. Jimmy realized that, while the world  47  seems unfair, your choice can change your life.
This idea can be   48  in Jimmy’s books, where his characters show the powerlessness they feel   49  making their choices. The message that goes with Jimmy’s drawings, however, is 50 .
Though the world may make us feel small, we must be  51  . Everything will be all right for us—as it is for the “small people” in Jimmy’s books—if we make choices that are   52  for us.
In spite of his new  53  and wealth, Jimmy prefers working  54  at home with his wife and daughter. He spends his mornings drawing. To Jimmy, living a life as he chooses means much more than money and fame could  55  .
36．A．unreasonable    B．unusual     C．unfair       D．unhappy
37．A．health              B．wealth      C．happiness       D．illnesses
38．A．ought to          B．had to       C．needed to       D．used to
39．A．ashamed          B．disappointed            C．upset        D．shameful
40．A．crying             B．painting           C．imagination      D．consideration
41．A．dignity            B．work         C．condition             D．situation
42．A．game               B．trick          C．role                    D．part
43．A．unable             B．impossible       C．unfit                D．difficult
44．A．resist           B．insist               C．refuse              D．understand
45．A．failures            B．efforts             C．choices            D．interests
46．A．that                 B．what                C．which              D．whoever
47．A．eventually        B．seldom            C．sometimes        D．usually
48．A．found              B．drawn              C．written            D．conducted
49．A．after                B．for                  C．with                D．before     
50．A．powerful         B．hopeful            C．useful              D．successful
51．A．grand                     B．big           C．brave                  D．equal
52．A．potential          B．basic               C．right                D．simple
53．A．product           B．fame               C．name               D．job
54．A．rapidly            B．separately        C．slowly             D．quietly
55．A．offer               B．gain                C．gather              D．earn

A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions(养老金). Furthermore, some in-situations should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options(选择) have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
【小题1】According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?

One night I decided to spend some time building a happier and closer relationship with my daughter. For several weeks she had been   1 me to play chess(棋) with her, so I suggested a game and she eagerly accepted. It was a school night, however, and at nine o’clock my daughter asked if I could hurry my moves, because she  2  to go to bed; she had to get up at six in the morning. I   3  she had strict sleeping habits, 4   I thought she ought to be able to 5  some of this strictness. I said to her, “ 6 , you can stay up late for once. We’re having   7 .” We played on for another fifteen minutes, during which time she looked 8 . Finally she said, “Please, Daddy, do it quickly.” “No,” I replied. “If you’re going to play it 9  , you’re going to play it slowly.” And so we 10  for another ten minutes, until suddenly my daughter burst into tears, and admitted that she was beaten.

Clearly I had made 11 . I had started the evening wanting to have a 12   time with my daughter but had allowed my desire to win to become more 13  than my relationship with my daughter. When I was a child, my desire to win 14  me well. As a parent, I   15  that it got in my way. So I had to change.

1.                A．guiding         B．asking          C．training   D．advising

2.                A．agreed         B．needed         C．begged   D．hated

3.                A．knew          B．learned         C．guessed  D．heard

4.                A．so             B．for            C．but  D．or

5.                A．put up         B．take up         C．pick up   D．give up

6.                A．As usual        B．Go ahead       C．By the way D．Come on

7.                A．patience        B．luck            C．fun  D．success

8.                A．excited         B．proud          C．anxious   D．angry

9.                A．well           B．again           C．fairly D．regularly

10.               A．discussed       B．continued       C．counted   D．argued

11.               A．a mistake       B．a decision       C．an attempt D．an effort

12.               A．free           B．different        C．full   D．happy

13.               A．important       B．attractive       C．practical   D．interesting

14.               A．offered        B．served         C．controlled D．taught

15.               A．realized        B．apologized      C．imagined  D．explained