A lady wanted a birthday gift from her husband. For many months she had liked a beautiful   1 , and knowing her husband could   2  it, she told him that was all she wanted. On the morning of the   3 , her husband told her how   4  he was to have such a good wife, and how much he loved her. He   5  her a beautiful gift package (纸盒). She opened it and   6  a Bible.

  7 , she raised her voice and said to her husband, “With all your money, you give me a Bible?” She was so   8  that she left him.

Many years passed and the lady was very   9  in business. She owned two large companies. She   10  her husband was very old, and thought perhaps she should go to   11  him. But before she could, she   12  a letter telling her that he had died, and gave all of his possessions (财产) to her. She needed to come back and   13  things.

When she arrived at his house, sadness   14  her heart. She saw the still new

  15 , just as she had left it years before. With   16 , she opened it and began to turn the pages. A ring   17  from the Bible to the floor and a  18  could be seen. She picked it up and found it was the ring she wanted in those days. And on the card was the date of her birth, and the words “LUV U ALWAYS”.

  19  your gift is not packaged the way you want it, it’s because it is better packaged the way it is! Always appreciate little things; they usually lead you to bigger things! The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched for they must be felt with the   20 .

1.                A．watch          B．ring            C．coat D．box

2.                A．afford          B．like            C．design    D．guess

3.                A．holiday         B．performance     C．birthday  D．meeting

4.                A．proud          B．kind           C．sorry D．brave

5.                A．lent           B．asked          C．gave D．moved

6.                A．carried         B．found          C．missed   D．held

7.                A．Politely         B．Lightly          C．Patiently  D．Angrily

8.                A．calm           B．upset          C．grateful   D．careless

9.                A．failing          B．lonely          C．successful D．poor

10.               A．wondered      B．hoped         C．realized   D．explained

11.               A．visit           B．understand      C．catch D．help

12.               A．passed         B．wrote          C．sent  D．received

13.               A．take care of     B．pay for         C．look for   D．give away

14.               A．covered        B．broke          C．left   D．filled

15.               A．car            B．Bible           C．letter D．table

16.               A．smiles          B．laughter        C．tears D．interests

17.               A．hid            B．dropped        C．disappeared    D．made

18.               A．book          B．pen           C．flower D．card

19.               A．If             B．But            C．Although  D．So

20.               A．hand          B．eye            C．face  D．heart

Zigfried, a little mouse, blew his breath on the frosty window of the farmhouse and rubbed it to see the outside. Still nobody came. Maybe today, he thought  31 . It was only a few days before Christmas and he was watching for a miracle (奇迹).
This farmhouse had been  32  too long. It needed a family. Zigfried’s  33  made a noise. He realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. He jumped from the windowsill (窗沿), grabbed a  34  from his home, and went next door to Farmer Mike’s.
Farmer Mike’s house had been a great place for the little mouse  35  the farmer married a wife who had a cat. Zigfried  36  when he thought of it. He looked around cautiously as he 37  into the room where grain was stored and was quite  38  as he filled his bag with wheat. He was turning to leave when suddenly he  39  a hot breath about his ear. His heart beat  40  , and without thinking he started to run and luckily  41  the cat’s paws (爪子).
The next afternoon Zigfried heard some good news: a  42  family would be moving into the farmhouse soon. Zigfried’s granny would arrive on Christmas Eve to  43 with him. He hoped that the family would come before his granny came. Before long, a car came  44  the road leading to the house, with butter sandwiches, cheese and chocolate.
Zigfried’s Christmas miracle did arrive!
The house came  45  the next few days. Zigfried  46  every single hour of them.  47 , the day before Christmas when he was drinking hot chocolate with a  48  smile at the door of his home, he heard the  49 of the children of the family about what they might get for Christmas. What? A cat? The  50  froze on his face； his mouth fell wide open. After a long while, he at last found his voice: “Hey! Whose Christmas miracle is this?”

We thought we had it all---a beautiful house, three healthy children and one more on the way, two cars, a couple of four-wheelers for entertainment---and we loved it. Then, the market turned and my husband’s job at a construction company was gone. The company was closing down for good.We both started looking for jobs right away, but there weren’t any to be found. With each passing day we were getting increasingly worried and we continued to work together in order to pull our family through. The more we pulled together, the closer we got. I felt feelings of admiration for my husband that I hadn’t felt in years.
That’s why it was so hard for me to watch him blame himself for our present situation. I continually asked him to stop, but he seemed to want to punish himself for not having a job.
Finally, one afternoon I pulled him aside and said, “We have four healthy children and each other. That’s what’s important. That makes you a rich man.”
“ But what if we lose the house? They’ll hate me—you’ll hate me,” he replied.
I smiled at him and put my hands on both sides of his face to make him look me in the eye. “No matter where we live I will be happy –as long as I have you.” I smiled again. In all the struggling together I had found that deep love for him that I had on the day we said “I do”.
I could see his shoulders and neck relaxed. He held me close and we were able to talk and plan and dream together in a way that we hadn’t for quite some time. It was a turning point for us as a couple and a family.
We are still struggling for out better life, but I consider us well-off because we have something that money can’t buy and no one can take away from us.
【小题1】The underlined sentence in the second paragraph means that________.

Zigfried, a little mouse, blew his breath on the frosty window of the farmhouse and rubbed it to see the outside. Still nobody came. Maybe today, he thought  31 . It was only a few days before Christmas and he was watching for a miracle (奇迹).

This farmhouse had been  32  too long. It needed a family. Zigfried’s  33  made a noise. He realized that he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. He jumped from the windowsill (窗沿), grabbed a  34  from his home, and went next door to Farmer Mike’s.

Farmer Mike’s house had been a great place for the little mouse  35  the farmer married a wife who had a cat. Zigfried  36  when he thought of it. He looked around cautiously as he 37  into the room where grain was stored and was quite  38  as he filled his bag with wheat. He was turning to leave when suddenly he  39  a hot breath about his ear. His heart beat  40  , and without thinking he started to run and luckily  41  the cat’s paws (爪子).

The next afternoon Zigfried heard some good news: a  42  family would be moving into the farmhouse soon. Zigfried’s granny would arrive on Christmas Eve to  43 with him. He hoped that the family would come before his granny came. Before long, a car came  44  the road leading to the house, with butter sandwiches, cheese and chocolate.

Zigfried’s Christmas miracle did arrive!

The house came  45  the next few days. Zigfried  46  every single hour of them.  47 , the day before Christmas when he was drinking hot chocolate with a  48  smile at the door of his home, he heard the  49 of the children of the family about what they might get for Christmas. What? A cat? The  50  froze on his face； his mouth fell wide open. After a long while, he at last found his voice: “Hey! Whose Christmas miracle is this?”

1.                A．carefully        B．excitedly        C．hopefully D．proudly

2.                A．shabby         B．noisy           C．messy    D．empty

3.                A．mouth          B．nose           C．stomach D．throat

4.                A．bag            B．stick           C．bowl     D．coat

5.                A．although        B．until           C．whereas D．unless

6.                A．leapt           B．sniffed         C．trembled D．withdrew

7.                A．broke          B．marched        C．paced    D．stole

8.                A．curious         B．nervous         C．pitiful    D．sensible

9.                A．took           B．released        C．felt D．drew

10.               A．strongly        B．irregularly       C．slowly     D．wildly

11.               A．escaped        B．seized          C．rubbed    D．scratched

12.               A．close          B．happy          C．new D．young

13.               A．celebrate       B．communicate    C．compete  D．compromise

14.               A．across          B．from           C．off   D．up

15.               A．alive           B．loose          C．open D．still

16.               A．counted        B．enjoyed        C．missed    D．wasted

17.               A．However       B．Instead         C．Moreover D．Therefore

18.               A．bitter          B．forced         C．polite     D．satisfied

19.               A．introduction     B．discussion       C．comment D．debate

20.               A．blood          B．smile           C．tear D．sweat