Peanuts to This

Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes． Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher． Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself． “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”

Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task． This was the first real talk I received in my new school． It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington． Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before． As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America． I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant． I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice; flip （掷） a coin． Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy． Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver．

Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost． Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong． As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution．” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?

Obviously, my grade was awful． Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around． I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade． I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance． Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year． Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster’s office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation． I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade． Justice is sweet!

1.What did the author’s classmates think about his report?

A．Controversial．

B．Ridiculous．

C．Boring．

D．Puzzling．

2.Why was the author confused about the task?

A．He was unfamiliar with American history．

B．He followed the advice and flipped a coin．

C．He forgot his teacher’s instruction．

D．He was new at the school．

3.The underlined word “burning” in Para． 3 probably means _______．

A．annoyed

B．ashamed

C．ready

D．eager

4.In the end, the author turned things around _______．

A．by redoing his task

B．through his own efforts

C．with the help of his grandfather

D．under the guidance of his headmaster

 

After my 26 second-graders finished reciting the text, they settled back in their seats. But Duane was still  41  there. Duane was a bright and lovable student,  42  his mother, a single parent, had many problems such as drinking.  43  that he might have had a bad night, I walked over to him to see what was wrong. As he looked up, I could see the  44  in his dark eyes.

“Mrs. Brown, aren’t you going to open my present for you?” he asked  45 . “I put it on your desk.”

Getting back his gift from my desk, he handed it to me. I noticed my gift  46  to be a matchbox. Duane told me that this was really a jewelry box  47  a matchbox. As I opened it, the  48  of two beer caps surprised me. Duane  49  me that they were two earrings. He had noticed that I  50  wore earrings and wanted me to have some pretty ones.

I was  51  by Duane’s creativity and thoughtfulness. 52  birth, one of my ears was slightly deformed (畸形的). Fearing that wearing earrings might  53  to the ear, I avoided wearing them. But how could I  54  to wear these precious earrings given by this  55  child?

As I placed the earrings on my ears, my  56  clapped(鼓掌), and Duane stood proudly beside me.

    Since then, the matchbox remained on my desk. It  57  me of Duane’s act of kindness and of the lessons he taught me. Although his  58  at home was bad, Duane continued to see the good in life. Although poor, he still wanted to  59 . Whenever I see Duane’s gift on my desk, I feel encouraged. If I am having  60  reaching a student, I’ll try to be like Duane and give that student a piece of my heart.

A. sitting             B. crying         C. standing          D. speaking

A. unless              B. though          C. so               D. since

A. Wondering         B. Thinking         C. Finding          D. Pointing

A. courage             B. joy             C. hurt           D. determination

A. disappointedly       B. angrily          C. happily          D. shyly

A. happened           B. appeared         C. used             D. intended

A. as well as           B. more than       C. except for        D. rather than

A. shape              B. color            C. design           D. sight

A. persuaded           B. fooled           C. told             D. encouraged

A. only              B. often            C. once           D. never

A. frightened         B. touched          C. knocked          D. influenced

A. Since             B. Until            C. Before           D. Unless

A. do harm           B. draw attention   C. add weight        D. have an effect

A. refuse            B. offer            C. agree            D. wait

A. generous           B. brave            C. special           D. sad

A. hands             B. students          C. audiences        D. friends

A. convinced          B. reminded        C. proved          D. showed

A. performance        B. experience       C. situation         D. health

A. please             B. take           C. give           D. accept

A. chance            B. possibility      C. intention         D. difficulty

完型填空（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，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

Some years ago when I was in my first year in college, I heard Salome Bey sing for the first time. The moment was exciting. Salome’s   36  filled the room and brought the theater to life. I was so   37   that I decided to write an article about her.

I   38   Salome Bey, telling her I was from Essence magazine, and that I wanted to meet her to talk her career. She   39   and told me to come to her studio next Tuesday. When I hung up, I was scared out of my mind. I   40   I was lying. I was not a writer at all and hadn’t even written a grocery list.

I interviewed Salome Bey the next Tuesday. I sat there   41  , taking notes and asking questions that all began with, “Can you tell me…” I soon realized that   42   Salome Bey was one thing, but writing a story for a national magazine was just impossible. The   43   was almost unbearable. I struggled for days   44   draft after draft. Finally I put my manuscript (手稿) into a large envelope and dropped it into a mailbox.

It didn’t take long. My manuscript   45  . How stupid of me! I thought. How could I   46   in a world of professional writers? Knowing I couldn’t   47   the rejection letter, I threw the unopened envelope into a drawer.

Five years later, I was moving to California. While   48   my apartment, I came across the unopened envelope. This time I opened it and read the editor’s letter in   49  :

Dear Ms Profit,

Your story on Salome Bey is fantastic. Yet we need some   50   materials. Please add those and return the article immediately. We would like to   51   your story soon.

Shocked, it took me a long time to   52  . Fear of rejection cost me dearly. I lost at least five hundred dollars and having my article appear in a major magazine. More importantly, I lost years of   53   writing. Today, I have become a full – time writer. Looking back on this   54  , I learned a very important lesson: You can’t   55   to doubt yourself.

36．A．joy    B．voice C．speech      D．smile

37．A．proud       B．active       C．satisfied    D．moved

38．A．visited      B．emailed    C．phoned     D．interviewed

39．A．agreed      B．refused     C．hesitated   D．paused

40．A．replied     B．discovered       C．explained  D．knew

41．A．seriously   B．patiently   C．nervously  D．quietly

42．A．blaming    B．fooling     C．inviting    D．urging

43．A．hardship   B．failure      C．comment  D．pressure

44．A．with  B．by     C．on     D．in

45．A．disappeared      B．returned    C．spread      D．improved

46．A．compare   B．struggle    C．survive     D．compete

47．A．ignore      B．deliver      C．face   D．receive

48．A．decorating       B．repairing   C．cleaning    D．leaving

49．A．disbelief   B．anxiety     C．horror      D．trouble

50．A．subjective B．relevant    C．private      D．reliable

51．A．broadcast  B．create       C．publish     D．assess

52．A．recover     B．prepare     C．escape      D．concentrate

53．A．energetic  B．endless     C．typical      D．enjoyable

54．A．experience       B．success     C．benefit      D．accident

55．A．attempt     B．afford       C．expect      D．pretend

Having returned from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes me ￡12,” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office . “You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me ￡12.”

       Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. “Come into the office, Madam,” he said politely. “I’ll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”

       The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn’t have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look sun burnt,” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”

       “Yes,” she answered, shyly. “The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!”

       “That’s fine,” said Harry. “My little girl can’t swim a bit yet .Of course, she’s only three…”

       “I’m four,” the child said proudly. “I’ll be four and a half.”

       Harry turned to the mother. “I remember your ticket, Madam,” he said. “But you didn’t get one for your daughter, did you?”

       “Er, well—” the woman looked at the child. “I mean… she hasn’t started school yet. She’s only four.”

       “A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam. A child’s return ticket to Jersey costs …let me see…￡13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡1.50. The law is the law, but since the fault was mine…”

       The woman stood up, took the child’s hand and left the office.  

Harry was worried because ___     .

       A．the woman was angry with him      B．he had not done his work properly

       C．the Jersey timetable was wrong      D．the little girl didn’t have a return ticket

Harry started talking to the little girl       .

       A．because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do

       B．because he had a little girl about the same age as this girl

       C．because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice

       D．when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl

When Harry said, “The law is the law, but since the fault was mine…” he meant that        .

A．they must follow it without other choice ,even though the fault was his

B．he had to be strict with the woman because of the law ,although he didn’t want to

C．the woman had to pay him ￡1.50 and the railway would pay her for the hotel

D．she should pay ￡1.50, but he had made a mistake, she could go without paying

How did the woman feel when she left the office?

    A. angry       B. peaceful     C. embarrassed    D. nervous

One day last month after I received my salary, I went shopping with my little son. __41_in the crowded store, I had my money __42_ and my whole salary was gone with it. I was so angry that I almost lost __43_ of myself. What could I do? We were not very __44_. The money was really not a small sum for my family. It would __45_ our life greatly. How could I tell my wife?

I felt very sad and even _46_for losing the money when I got home. To make up for my __47__ mistake, I gathered all my strength to give our house a thorough cleaning and then __48__ a wonderful meal and cooked a special dish my wife loved to ___49__ her.

When she came home, I __50__ a smile to greet her. She was __51__ to see the neat house and the __52__ meal. We sat at the table and began to eat. I told my story __53__. She did not respond. It was as if she had not heard my words.

“ I’ve __54__ my salary,” I murmured to her again.

“ I see,” she did not shout at me as I had __55__. She didn’t lose her __56__. So I was afraid she was trying hard to __57__ her anger.

A moment later, my wife was still __58__ and seemed to be enjoying her favorite dish. At last I could not help asking, “ I’ve lost my money. Why not shout at me?” she __59__ her eyes, looking at me and said, “ Oh, on the contrary, I am thinking about how to comfort you. It’s the __60__ who is to blame.”

A. Luckily      B. Unfortunately      C. Surprisingly     D. Secretly

A. robbed       B. stolen            C. caught         D. gone

A. control       B. heart             C. interest        D. habit

A. happy        B. poor             C. healthy        D. wealthy

A. enrich        B. improve          C. affect          D. please

A. guilty        B. ashamed          C. frightened      D. worried

A. careless      B. unforgivable       C. unforgettable    D. unbelievable

A. prepared     B. served             C. provided       D. chose

A. comfort      B. meet              C. surprise        D. please

A. gave            B. pretended           C. forced         D. made

A. satisfied     B. surprised           C. pleased         D. interested

A. delicious     B. excellent           C. cool           D. attractive

A. gladly       B. calmly             C. excitedly       D. nervously

A. spent         B. wasted           C. donated           D. lost

A. hoped        B. desired           C. expected          D. wished

A. way          B. temper           C. interest           D. control

A. hide          B. express          C. maintain          D. show

A. unhappy      B. silent            C. worried          D. surprised

A. moved       B. shut              C. raised            D. opened

A. store         B. policeman         C. society           D. thief