完形填空

　　Every Chinese-language textbook starts out with the standard phrases for greeting people; but as an American, I always found myself 　　1　　 to speak freely when it came to seeing guests off at the door．Just a good-bye would not do, yet that was all I had ever learned from the 　　2　　 books．So I would smile and nod, bowing like a Japanese and searching madly for words that would 　　3　　 over the visitor’s leaving and make them feel they would be 　　4　　 to come again．In my unease, I often hid behind the skirts of my Chinese husband’s kindness．

　　Then finally, listening to others, I began to pick up the phrases that 　　5　　 relationships and sent people off not only successfully but also skillfully．

　　　　6　　 for the Chinese includes a lot of necessary habitual practice．Although as a 　　7　　, I’m not expected to observe or even know all the rules, I’ve had to learn the expressions of politeness and 　　8　　 at a leaving-taking．

　　The Chinese feel they 　　9　　 see a guest off to the farthest possible point－down the flight of stairs to the street below or perhaps all the way to the 　　10　　 bus stop．I’ve sometimes waited half an hour or more for my husband to return from seeing a guest off, 　　11　　 he’s gone to the bus stop and waited for the 　　12　　 bus to arrive．

　　That’s very well, but when I’m the guest being seen off, my protests are always 　　13　　．My hostess or host, or both, insists on 　　14　　 me down the stairs and well on my way, with my repeating the “Don’t 　　15　　 to see me off at the every landing”．If I try to go fast to 　　16　　 them from following, they are simply out to the discomfort of having to run after me．Better to accept the inevitable(不可避免的)．

　　Besides, that’s going against Chinese 　　17　　, because haste(doing things quickly)is to be avoided．What do you say when you 　　18　　 someone？Not “farewell or Godspeed(祝福)”, 　　19　　“Go slowly”．To the Chinese it means “Take care” or “Watch your 　　20　　”, or some such caution(谨慎),but translated literally(字面意思)it means “Go slowly”．

完形填空

　　Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already．And, 　　1　　 he might try, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's 　　2　　 gift．

　　His father passed away three years ago．His mother worked hard, but her small income could only make ends meet．

　　Bobby walked down the street from shop to shop．Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of touch．It was getting dark and Bobby unwillingly turned to walk home　　3　　 suddenly he saw a dime on the ground．

　　Never before has anyone felt as 　　4　　 as Bobby felt．However, his excitement quickly turned cold when salesperson after salesperson told him that he could buy 　　5　　 with only a dime．

　　Bobby saw a flower shop and went inside．He 　　6　　 the dime and asked if he could buy one gift for his mother at Christmas．The shop owner put his hand on his shoulder and said, “You just wait here and see what I can do for you．” Soon the owner came out．There, before Bobby's eyes were twelve red roses, with green leaves．“I just 　　7　　 to have some roses 　　8　　 for ten cents a dozen．Would you like them?” Bobby could hardly believe all this, and only when the man placed the long box into his hands did he know it was 　　9　　．

　　When Bobby left away, the shop keeper said to his 　　10　　 wife, “When I looked at him, I 　　11　　 myself many years ago．I was also a poor boy．It was a generous man whom I never knew 　　12　　 stopped me on the street and gave me ten dollars to buy my mother a Christmas gift．”

阅读理解

　　Athens Olympic 110m hurdle champion Liu Xiang felt so relieved to return to racetrack after getting out of the great number of social activities．

　　Liu arrived in hometown Shanghai Wednesday night and was about to resume training shortly after．

　　“I am so exhausted from so many social activities, which made me even more tired than training,” said the 21-year-old Liu, who wrote a new chapter in China’s Olympic history by winning the country’s first ever athletics short-distance running title in the men’s 110m hurdles in Athens in August．

　　“I am happy that I will resume my training soon back in Shanghai,” said the Shanghai native．He turned into an instant national hero with the Olympic glory and one of the most popular Olympic gold medalists, taking part in scores of celebration activities since he returned to China early September．

　　“My regular training has been interrupted for such a long time that I think I can only run at about 13.5 seconds now．” said Liu, who clocked a world record-tying time of 12.91 to clinch the title．

　　“I would rather forget what I have achieved in the past and try my best to realize a higher goal,” he said．

　　Liu already missed the Berlin Golden League Series on Sunday and won’t be able to catch the IAAF Grand Prix final slated for September 18-19 in Monaco．

　　He plans on attending an IAAF all-star tournament in Japan at the end of this month．