A trip to the bookstore with my granddaughter is always a big event. She __36__ in it for hours, touching the books, running her hands over the covers, looking at a few ___37___ here and looking at a few pages there.
I never ___38__ the full importance my five-year-old Grand Angel placed on these trips, until the day I suggested she pick the book she liked best, __39____ we could go home for dinner. Her response（答复） was __40___.
“But Grammy, I ___41___ them all the best. All the covers are be-yoo-tiful and all the pictures are bee-yoo-tiful and they’re all __42___. Just like people. Remember when you told me about people?”
I most certainly __43___ when I told her about people. I had explained that we are all __44___ in our own different way. Each of us has a story to ___45___ and no two stories are similar. We learn by ____46__ our stories and listening to the stories of others. Difference is the thing that makes each and every one of us __47___. I had no idea that she’d connected the lesson with ___48___. Actually, no one book was ___49___ than any other book. They were equally beautiful and equally special(特别的).
With dinner still ___50___ and our stomachs beginning to make noise, ___51___ time was finally at hand. But how to choose? I suddenly ___52___ the right question when I asked, “Which book wants to go home the most with you today?” After a short moment of ___53___, her eyes lit up. She ran to a specific book and ___54___ it from its place on the shelf. The main __55____ was the picture on the cover, a turtle with sad eyes. “We need to find out why the turtle is sad,” she said.

The morning had been a disaster. My tooth was aching. And I’d been in an argument with a friend. Her words still hurt: “The trouble with you is that you won’t put yourself in my place. Can’t you see things from my point of view?” I shook my head stubbornly—and felt the ache in my tooth. I’d thought I could hold out till my dentist came back from holiday, but the pain was really unbearable. I started calling the dentists in the phone book, but no one could see me immediately. Finally, at about lunchtime, I got lucky.

“If you come by right now,” the receptionist said, “the dentist will fit you in.”

I took my purse and keys and rushed to my car. But suddenly I began to doubt about the dentist. What kind of dentist would be so eager to treat someone at such short notice? Why wasn’t he as busy as the others?

In the dentist’s office, I sat down and looked around. I saw nothing but the bare walls and I became even more worried. The assistant noticed my nervousness and placed her warm hand over my ice-cold one.

When I told her my fears, she laughed and said, “Don’t worry. The dentist is very good.”

“How long do I have to wait for him?” I asked impatiently.

“Come on, he is coming. Just lie down and relax. And enjoy the artwork,” the assistant said.

“The artwork?” I was puzzled.

The chair went back. Suddenly I smiled. There was a beautiful picture, right where I could enjoy it: on the ceiling. How considerate the dentist was! At that moment, I began to understand what my friend meant by her words.

What a relief!

1.Which of the following best describes the author’s feeling that morning?

A．Cheerful.          B．Nervous.          C．Satisfied.          D．Upset.

2.What made the author begin to doubt about the dentist?

A．The dentist’s agreeing to treat her at very short notice.

B．The dentist’s being as busy as the other dentists.

C．The surroundings of the dentist’s office.

D．The laughing assistant of the dentist.

3.Why did the author suddenly smile?

A．Because the dentist came at last.

B．Because she saw a picture on the ceiling.

C．Because she could relax in the chair.

D．Because the assistant kept comforting her.

4.What did the author learn from her experience most probably?

A．Strike while the iron is hot.

B．Have a good word for one’s friend.

C．Put oneself in other’s shoes.

D．A friend in need is a friend indeed.

As darkness fell, hundreds of people in the Swiss village left their houses. They were staring      36   at the mountain top in the distance. It was covered with  37  , beautiful and dangerous.

The huge mountain is called Matterhorn. Mountain climbers had   38   the top, using the southern route. But no one had ever dared to try a winter climbing up the   39   side. But now one man was daring to try the   40   route. He was Walter Bonatti, a great mountain climber from Italy.

For two days he had climbed. The village people had watched him   41  . Now they were waiting to see his   42  . If he planned to   43   the next day, he would light a green signal. A red light would mean that he was   44  .

A tiny green light   45  high on the mountain side. Bonatti was not giving up! The people      46  .

The next day he   47   his way upward. He was so lonely and so tired! But he would not give up. Again that night he lit the   48  light.

In the morning, Bonatti looked up. He could not see the top, but he knew he was   49   there.   50   the climb was painful, he moved up.

Bonatti had spent months   51   for the climb. Was the training enough? Did he have the strength and   52   to climb to the top?

He was finally at the top! News about his   53  was radioed to the world.

The trip down the southern  54  was easy. He was warmly welcomed in the village. He had done the "  55  ", and would be well remembered as a climber of all time.

1... A. up              B. down                 C. back             D. forward

2... A. green trees     B. flowers             C. rocks                D. ice and snow

3..  A. passed          B. reached          C. climbed             D. watched  

4..  A. eastern         B. western              C. northern             D. southern 

5..  A. different      B. difficult           C. easy             D. same  

6..  A. anxiously       B. carefully            C. patiently            D. eagerly

7..  A. signal          B. flag                C. face             D. figure

8..  A. go down     B. come back            C. go on            D. give up

9..  A. turning around B. turning back     C. moving up       D. in danger  

10..  A. raised         B. rose             C. disappeared        D. appeared

11..  A. cheered        B. shouted          C. laughed              D. jumped

12..  A. stopped        B. abandoned            C. continued            D. ended 

13..  A. green         B. yellow               C. blue             D. red 

14..  A. already        B. surely               C. almost           D. no longer

15..  A. Because           B. Though               C. Since            D. When

16..  A. asking        B. planning             C. preparing       D. training

17... A. money          B. wish             C. effort               D. skill

18.. A. victory           B. climb            C. courage             D. thing  

19... A. pace          B. route               C. path            D. passage

20... A. necessary       B. great              C. important           D. impossible 

Marriages improve after children grow up and move out，according to an academic study, which suggests an “empty nest” is not always a bad thing.
Popular wisdom has it that parents’ relationships may suffer once their young fly the coop, because they feel they have lost their purpose in life.However, a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has found that many couples actually feel happier when their children leave home because they are able to enjoy spending time together.
In total,123 American mothers born in the 1930s were tracked for 18 years and asked to rate their satisfaction levels shortly after marrying, when they were bringing up babies, once their children reached their teenage years and finally at age 61, when almost all had “empty nests”．
Although not all said they were happier in general, most claimed their marriages had improved since their children had left home. Researchers believe this is not just because the spouses were spending more time together, but because they were able to enjoy each other’s company more.
One of the participants in the study，which is published in the journal Psychological Science，said：“Once the kids grow up...there’s some of that stress removed...that responsibility removed，so things are a little more relaxed.”
Psychologist Sara Gorchoff，who carried out the investigation，said: “The take­home message for couples with young children is ‘hang in there’．” Her co­author Oliver John added：“Don’t wait until your kids leave home to schedule quality time with your partner.”
However, Dr Dorothy Rowe，from the British Psychological Society，said the effects of living in an “empty nest” will depend on the parents’ relationship with their children.“If you’re just waiting for them to leave home so you can get on with your life，then of course you’ll be pleased to see them go,” she said, “But if you’ve built your life around your children you’ll be terribly lonely.For some parents，their world falls apart when their children leave.”
【小题1】It is commonly believed that___________.

单句填空（每题1分，共10分）
1. After the exam, my teacher told me that failure ______ (be) the mother of success.
2. There is no such thing ____ a free lunch.
3. There is a __________ (determine) look on his face.
4. ______she made up her mind, nothing can change it.
5. We_____________ (leave) for Japan tomorrow morning.
6. He asked me whether the big flood ___________ (destroy) the area.
7. Years passed before the war was finally at _____end.
8. He tried to work, but it was ________ (use).
9. It was the curtain _______ was full of dust.
10. Geography also plays a part _____ making dialects.