完形填空

　　I was a single mother and I have two daughters to bring up．I just moved to Chicago this year．

　　Though I tried my best, what I 　　1　　 just made ends meet．I was always 　　2　　 of the last days of a month, during which many bills were waiting for me to pay．Now the 　　3　　 month was going to end．When I 　　4　　 the monthly bills, I saw I couldn't 　　5　　 what my girls wanted．

　　I still remembered what I had 　　6　　 my daughters．For our first Christmas in a 　　7　　 state, far from the rest of our family, I wanted to get my daughters, Tiffany and Jasmine, something 　　8　　．“What do you want from Santa this year?” I asked them．

　　“Bicycles!” they replied at once．　　9　　 they had their hopes set．But after I got the monthly bills, I 　　10　　 the money left was not enough for one bike．What could I do to get two?I turned the matter over in my 　　11　　 several times：Lord, would it be fair to my landlord to be 　　12　　 with the rent this month?Just this once?

　　Over the next few 　　13　　 I always asked myself the same question when my daughters were deep in sleep．　　14　　 the only voice I heard was my grandpa's：“Diane, whatever you do, always pay your rent on time,” he 　　15　　 to say．

　　I guess I had my 　　16　　．I slipped the rent check under the landlord's door and called the girls in．The phone rang when I was about to break the bad 　　17　　．

　　“I want you to 　　18　　 something,” my landlord said．I heard the sound of paper breaking．“That was your December rent check,” he said．“It is being 　　19　　 into a million pieces because you always pay your rent on time．Merry Christmas to you and the girls．”

　　Grandpa's kind 　　20　　,a generous landlord and some unknown reasons had added up to a Christmas gift that my daughters and I will never forget．

完形填空

　　While attending a conference, I returned to my hotel room late one rainy evening．The overhead light outside my door was 　　1　　 and I had difficulty finding the keyhole．When I finally 　　2　　 to open the door, I 　　3　　 around the wall for a light switch．I found a 　　4　　 where a switch was once installed…but no switch．

　　No discouraged easily, I remembered seeing a 　　5　　 by the bed when I put away my luggage 　　6　　 in the day．I found the bed in the dark and felt around until I found the lamp, but when I switched it on, 　　7　　 happened!Now what?

　　Though I knew that it was dark outside my window 　　8　　 the outdoor light was burned out, I thought that 　　9　　 if I opened the curtains I might be able to use the light from the 　　10　　 to find another lamp．So I 　　11　　 my way slowly across the room to the curtains and…no draw-string!

　　I finally stumbled(跌跌撞撞)around until I found a desk lamp that actually 　　12　　!That evening I discovered in a whole new way just how dark the world can be and how necessary 　　13　　 is．

　　But even more necessary than 　　14　　 light is the light that shines from people－the light of love, sympathy and 　　15　　．Because, for many people, the world is a dark and 　　16　　 place．

　　It is the shining that is important, for someone today just may be stumbling in discouragement or fear and in 　　17　　 of some light．

　　So let your light shine．Whatever ligh you 　　18　　 may be a beacon(灯塔)of hope and encouragement in someone's darkness．And if you feel that your light is 　　19　　 a candle in a forest, remember this－there isn't enough darkness in the world to 　　20　　 the light of one small candle．

阅读理解

　　In life, people come across many experiences, which they remember throughout their lives．I had a similar experience, too．

　　I was very excited．It was the day of my last paper of the final examination．My mind was full of thoughts of how I would spend my vacation．I was especially excited of the invitation that my uncle had given me to stay with him for a few days in Cambridge．

　　I was prepared for the subject, physics．My friends and I were on the ground doing the last minute revisions and also discussing the questions that were supposed to come in the paper．Suddenly the bell rang and we got into our classrooms．The teacher came and quickly handed out the answer paper and the question paper．The paper was of two hours and some of the expected questions came．I finished it almost forty-five minutes earlier．But since it was a rule not to collect the answer paper before the allotted(规定的)time．the teacher was not collecting and I had to sit till the time was over．I checked my paper twice and corrected some of the mistakes in it．I started thinking about the place my friends and I had planned to go after the paper．

　　Though I was thinking for a long time, the time seemed to be endless．So I thought of drawing something on the question paper and turned it overleaf．I was shocked to see that the page which I had supposed to be blank had four more questions on it which carried 20 marks and would take at least half an hour to complete．I had a quick glance at my watch．There were only 10 minutes left．I was so nervous that I was hardly in a state to write anything．They were the sub-questions(小题)of the last question．Suddenly our physics teacher came in and told all of us that in the last question, out of 6 sub-questions only 2 had to be solved．I felt very much relieved．

　　Thereafter I never made such mistakes again．But I realized that my anxiousness and excitement could have cost me to lose 20 marks and decided never to make such a mistake again．