December 24 arrived along with a heavy snow. It was my first Christmas Eve without my mother, and the day’s usual  36  had disappeared.
The telephone rang. I  37  it and went to my bedroom to bury the continuous 38 , knowing it must be my friend Rebecca calling. How could I be  39 ? I wanted to be left  40 .
My heart felt as  41  as the falling snow.  42  can I stop missing my mother?
I  43  the window. Seeing Rebecca’s car parked out front, I went back to my bed and drew the covers over my head.
“Lucy!” she shouted. “I know you’re in there. Answer the door!”
“Leave me alone!” I  44  back. I heard paper rustling(沙沙作响) as she slid  45  under the door.
“Merry Christmas, ” she called out.
Not answering the  46  made me even 47. It wasn’t fair to my best friend. Her father and sister  48  in a car accident when she was eight years old.  49 , her mother had to return to  50 , and Rebecca was left to look after herself.
When she left, I carried the small package, sat down and  51  it. Inside was a golden pen and a journal. When I opened the journal’s front cover, out fell a bookmark with a(n)   52  written on it:
Dear Lucy,  
My words won’t heal（治愈）the 53  . But your own words can.
Love,
Rebecca
As I stared at the journal’s blank pages, a single tear fell on the page which quickly absorbed it.
That night, I  54  the phone and dialed her number.
“Looks like the snow is melting(融化), ” I said. “Spring was just ___55____the corner.”

第三部分完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从每题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Dear Lee,
Thank you for your note．I like your _26_ between death and failure．I had not thought of these two in the same way __27__ you describe．I thank you for bringing this to my _28__．
Your insights are very deep．As you say, “death is only a（n） _29_ but failure can change someone’s whole life．” Yes, death is final．Failure is _30__．Death leaves us with _31__ ．But failure can leave us with lessons which will _32_ our lives．
I hope that your failure to pass that _33__ English test will help you _34__ it will hurt you．Please remember that it is not being _35_ down that is important．It is the inability to get up that is __36__ ．You will have to learn to get up, and to get going．Failure is the “staying down．” It is not the “falling down．”
From reading your letter, I __37__ your English to be very good．You write better than __38___ of my American friends．I do not know the reason for __39__ your English test．Maybe you were distracted that day．It is __40__ that persons are judged on the basis of a single test．
You write well, you __41__ your feelings with excellence, and you think __42__ ．These characteristics should __43__ you move toward a bright career．Just don’t let yourself “stay down．” Get up and  __44__ them all know that you are talented and you are __45__ to succeed．I think you will．
With best wishes for a fine career．
Yours,
Frank
26．A．idea  B．comparison      C．thought     D．reason
27．A．which       B．where       C．what  D．that
28．A．attention   B．heart C．head  D．home
29．A．end   B．result C．fact   D．thing
30．A．forever     B．continuous       C．contemporary   D．temporary
31．A．something B．nothing     C．anything   D．thinking
32．A．increase    B．better       C．honor       D．treasure
33．A．easy  B．terrific      C．terrible     D．ordinary
34．A．as good as B．more than C．as well as  D．much than
35．A．fallen       B．stayed       C．knocked    D．felt
36．A．impossible       B．possible    C．necessary  D．important
37．A．judge       B．accept       C．prefer       D．expect
38．A．all     B．any   C．one   D．some
39．A．succeeding       B．passing     C．finishing   D．failing
40．A．likely       B．reasonable C．a shame    D．fair
41．A．find  B．express     C．speak D．tell
42．A．deeply      B．thoroughly       C．carefully   D．widely
43．A．leave B．drive C．help  D．start
44．A．get    B．ask    C．show D．make
45．A．devoted    B．determined       C．engaged    D．supposed

Once in Japan there lived two frogs, one of whom made his home near the town of Osaka, while the other lived in Kyoto.  36 , they didn’t know each other. Bothof them liked to see a little of the world: the Kyoto frog wanted to visit Osaka, and the Osaka frog wished to go to Kyoto.
So one morning they  37. However, the journey was more  38  than they had expected, for they didn’t know much about traveling. Half-way between the two towns, at the top of a mountain, the two frogs  39  each other! Soon they fell into  40 .
“What a(n)  41  we are too small, ” said the Osaka frog. “Otherwise, we could see both towns from here, and  42  if it is worth our going on.”
“Oh, that is easily  43 ,” replied the Kyoto frog. “We have only got to stand up on our hind (后面的) legs, and hold on to each other  44  we won’t fall down, and then we can both look at the towns we are  45  to.”
This idea  46  the Osaka frog; he stood up and put his front paws on the  47 of the other frog, who had risen also. There they both stood, stretching themselves as  48  as they could. The Kyoto frog turned his nose towards Osaka, and the Osaka frog, towards Kyoto, but the  49  frogs forgot that when they stood up, their eyes were in the backs of their heads, and that  50  their noses pointed to their destinations, yet their eyes looked at the places  51  which they had come.
“Dear me!” cried the Osaka frog. “Kyoto is  52  like Osaka. It is certainly not worth such a long journey.”
“If I had known that Osaka was only a  53  of Kyoto I should never have traveled all this way,”  54  the frog from Kyoto. Then they started off for their  55  again.

When I was growing up, I was embarrassed to be seen with my father. He was badly crippled (跛脚), and when we would walk together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare, I would be ashamed of the unwanted attention. If ever noticed or bothered, he never let on.
It was difficult to walk together—and because of that, we didn’t say much as we went along. But as we started out, he always said, “You set the pace. I will try to follow you.”
Our usual walk was to or from the subway, which was how he got to work. He went to work sick, and even in bad weather. He almost never missed a day, and would make it to the office even if others could not. It was a matter of pride for him.
When snow or ice was on the ground, it was impossible for him to walk, even with help... Such times my sister or I would pull him through the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., on a child’s sleigh to the subway entrance. Once there, he would try to grasp handrail until he reached the lower steps that the warmer tunnel air kept ice free. In Manhattan the subway station was the basement of his office building, and he would not have to go outside again until we met him in Brooklyn on his way home. w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m
When I think of it now, I am surprised at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to suffer from shame and disability. And I am also surprised at how he did it—without bitterness or complaint.
He never talked about himself as an object of pity, not did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able. What he looked for in others was a “good heart”, and if he found one, the owner was good enough for him.
Now that I am older, I believe that is a proper standard by which to judge people, even though I still don’t know exactly what a “good heart” is. But I know the times I don’t have one myself.
He has been away for many years now, but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my reluctance to be seen with him during our walks. If he did, I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was, how unworthy I was, how I regretted it. I think of him when I complain about my troubles, when I am envious of another’s good fortune, when I don’t have a “good heart”.
【小题1】How did the man treat his father when he was young?

In Greek mythology(神话), fire is a gift form God, stolen from Zeus(宙斯) by Prometheus and handed over to humans suffering from cold. What could be more natural than sitting around a beautiful fire on a winter night, at a campsite in the Berkshires?

Hard as it may be to believe, the fireplace—long considered a trophy(奖杯), particularly in a city like New York—is acquiring a social shame. Among those who desire to be environmentally responsible, it is joining the ranks of bottled water and big houses.

Sally Treadwell, a 51-year-old public relations executive in Boone, N.C., said nothing makes her happier than building a fire on a cold winter night. But most of the time she doesn’t, because she feels too guilty about the damage it may do to the environment. Every time she builds a fire, it causes “inner conflict,” she said. “It’s a guilty pleasure”.

“The smoke from a fire smells very nice,” said Diane Bailey, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco. “But it can cause a lot of harm. The tiny particles(颗粒) can cause illness, and can cross into the bloodstream, causing heart attacks as well as worsening other conditions.”

Growing concerns about the air pollution and health problems caused by smoke from wood fires are urging a number of areas across the country to pass laws regulating them. Idaho offers a tax cut to people who replace uncertified(不合格的)wood stoves with “greener” ones; San Joaquin County in California forbids selling a home unless its wood stove is replaced with an E.P.A. certified one；and Palo Alto and other governments in California forbid wood-burning fireplaces in new construction.

Certainly, many think otherwise. In any case, most fireplaces are used far too infrequently to cause any real damage to the environment, said Stephen Sears, the vice president of the Brick Industry Association, voicing an opinion shared by some.

Perhaps not coincidentally, sales of wood-burning equipment dropped to 235,000 in 2009 from 800,000 in 1999, according to the Brick Industry Association. It also reports that approximately 35,000 fireplaces were installed in the United States in 2009, compared to 80,000 in 2005. Certainly those numbers reflect the economic slowdown, but the may also be affected by growing mixed feelings to wood fries.

1.We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that ________.

A. big houses are not considered environmentally friendly

B. bottle water is a good companion for a fire place

C. a fireplace is viewed as a sign of success

D. people in New York are laughed at for their tradition

2.Sally’s “inner conflict” in the 3rd paragraph resulted from ________.

A. her love for the fireplace

B. the damage to the environment

C. the concern about her health

D. her mixed emotion fro the fireplace

3. In terms of the regulations about wood fires we can learn from the passage that_______.

A. uncertified fireplaces are forbidden in Idaho

B. some people are against the woodfire controlling regulations 

C. only energy-efficient wood stoves can be used in the US

D. all the people support measures taken to control the use of fireplaces

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. To urge people to burn less wood

B. To discuss wood-burning’s impact

C. To throw light on the causes of the fireplace’s decline

D. To indicate the cooling love for the fireplace