In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue   1 . One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet （小鹦鹉）on my finger, I wanted to show Perky what the sky looked like. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my horror , Perky flew off. The enormous, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue  2   and suddenly he had gone, clipped wings and all. 

I told Kathy about Perky's disappearance and I was anxious that she would blame me. But , unexpectedly, Kathy managed to   3  me. With fake optimism, she even tried to convince me that Perky would find a new    4   . But I was far too clever to   5   that such a thing was possible.

Decades later, I watched my own    6  growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the   7 of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the best of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed（宣称） to  8  the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog. Then Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and ___9___that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.

"The best thing about Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the  10   we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just  11   down and landed on my finger."

When I was finally able to  12 , we examined the amazing evidence. The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all  13 . It seems our two families had been  14  long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were  15 ! Perky lived!"

Just Help the Next Person

The only highway to go to work that we had to drive was closed down due to an accident on the bridge. A truck had hit the bridge and made it 36 for any traffic to go over it. So in order to get to 37 I had to go a number of miles out of my way.

Not being that 38 with this road and not knowing 39 all the pot holes in the road were, I topped a hill and right in my path was a big pot hole. I felt and heard the familiar sound of a flat tire. I 40 as far to the right as possible and stopped. I tried several times to change the tire, but 41 .

There I sat out in the country and no way to 42 with anybody. Just then, I looked in my rear view mirror and a 43 was pulling out of a pasture behind me. I was 44 and scared at the same time.

I was struggling to get the 45 out when this man in the pickup pulled in behind me. He got out to introduce himself and 46 to help me. When he got the spare out we discovered that the spare is also 47 . He told me he would take the tire and have it 48 and call my husband.

We got the tire fixed 49 he took me back to my car. My husband was there 50 us when we got back. The kind stranger stayed there and helped my husband 51 the tire. After they finished we 52 thanked him and offered to pay him for his 53 .

I will never forget his words, " your thanks is 54 enough pay and I just hope if this ever happens to my wife or daughter someone will be so 55 as to help them."

1. A. busy        B. narrow       C. fearful       D. unsafe

2. A. school      B. city          C. work        D. shop

3. A. satisfied    B. involved       C. identified     D. familiar

4. A. where      B. what          C. when         D. which 

5. A. placed      B. rode          C. pulled        D. managed

6. A. failed      B. abandoned      C. passed       D. dropped

7. A. catch up    B. get in touch     C. have to do    D. put up

8. A. truck       B. pickup        C. car          D. bike

9. A. excited     B. relieved       C. determined    D. nervous

10.A. car        B. wheel         C. spare         D. trunk

11.A. refused     B. offered        C. pretended     D. promised

12.A. flat        B. damaged       C. invisible      D. lost

13.A. sold       B. painted        C. packed        D. fixed

14.A. but        B. so            C. and           D. though

15.A. listening to  B. worrying about  C. waiting on    D. searching for

16.A. break      B. change         C. clean         D. repair

17.A. both       B. all            C. neither        D. everyone

18.A. imagination  B. trouble       C. diligence      D. patience

19.A. more than   B. less than      C. rather than     D. better than

20.A. polite      B. active         C. kind          D. wise

Oh, boy! Time for a game now． oldest brother is the seeker so k have to hide extra good because he’s smart and will find me quickly．But where? Behind the garage won’t work. The barn is too easy. Wait, I know. The door leading under the porch is perfect. No one would look for me under there.
It smells unpleasant under this porch． Wish I had picked another place to hide． Smelly cats! Too late now, I can hear brother seeking everyone out. I’ll just sit here quiet as a mouse. Hah hah hah! I can hear you out by the barn! You’ll never find me over there!
It’s been a while and he hasn’t found me yet. What’s that I hear? Now all my brothers are looking for me. They’ve all been caught, but not me. They’ll never trick me into coming out to catch me. Wait, is that Dad I hear calling my name? Oh no, now I hear someone going to call Grandpa to help look for me. I’m not coming out now because I’m in really big trouble.
What to do? If I come out and say I heard them calling me, I’ll be in big trouble. Think, think! How do I get out of trouble? I know what to do! I’ll tell them I fell asleep while waiting. Is that Grandpa’s voice? Heh heh heh! Now’s my chance. I’ll crawl out slowly and rub my eyes. Now that I see Grandpa go towards me quickly, I say. “I feel asleep.”
“Oh! You had us all worried!” says Grandpa. “You little devil, I’m just glad you’re all right, but next time try not to fall asleep and scare us like that, okay?” says Dad. Whew! I pulled it off (成功). Now to keep my mouth shut. And I did, for over 42 years. Once in a while, a kid pulls the wool over people’s eyes. So that’s one of my little secrets I’ve never revealed before. Don’t tell anyone now!
【小题1】The place where the boy was hiding smelt terrible because it         .

A．Children can win others’ trust more easily than adults.

B．Children can tell a lie that others believe to be true.

C．Children can be easily fooled by adults.

D．Children are good at telling lies.

I had spent over five exhausting（令人疲乏不堪的） years on my essay for my Ph. D（哲学学士）. and was anxiously preparing for my oral boards which were to be held in California, and I had  36  a flight through Minneapolis, where I was to change  37 . My flight was very late, and I was soon in an all—out run to  38  my flight. I had to stop to catch my  39 on a moving sidewalk when I  40 a woman in her fifties   41 with a carry-on bag.
I don’t know   42  , but I looked at her face and blurted out, “Are you going on flight 567 to California?”
She responded, “Yes.”
“So am I ,” I responded．“Give me your bag. I’ll run   43 and tell them to wait for you.” I took her bag and started running again. I   44 onto the plane and told a flight attendant that one more passenger was behind me and to please   45 the plane for her. I   46 myself with her bag, and a few moments later she arrived and was the last person on the plane   47 they closed the doors and   48  . After the plane leveled off, I   49 the bag to her, and she smiled at me and thanked me.
I didn’t sleep a wink in the hotel and arrived at the   50 at seven o’clock in the morning. The  51 kept me waiting for an hour in a room. I walked into the boardroom and was initially frightened by all the   52 in their robes. As I slowly   53 at the faces of all the board members, I noticed the bright face of a woman. She gave me a smile   54 a young schoolgirl. It was the same woman whose bag I had carried ahead the night before.   55 , whenever I made a mistake on any questions, she did a great job of relaxing me.

 I had spent over five exhausting（令人疲乏不堪的） years on my essay for my Ph. D（哲学学士）. and was anxiously preparing for my oral boards which were to be held in California, and I had  36  a flight through Minneapolis, where I was to change  37 . My flight was very late, and I was soon in an all—out run to  38  my flight. I had to stop to catch my  39 on a moving sidewalk when I  40 a woman in her fifties   41 with a carry-on bag.

I don’t know   42  , but I looked at her face and blurted out, “Are you going on flight 567 to California?”

She responded, “Yes.”

“So am I ,” I responded．“Give me your bag. I’ll run   43 and tell them to wait for you.” I took her bag and started running again. I   44 onto the plane and told a flight attendant that one more passenger was behind me and to please   45 the plane for her. I   46 myself with her bag, and a few moments later she arrived and was the last person on the plane   47 they closed the doors and   48  . After the plane leveled off, I   49 the bag to her, and she smiled at me and thanked me.

I didn’t sleep a wink in the hotel and arrived at the   50 at seven o’clock in the morning. The  51 kept me waiting for an hour in a room. I walked into the boardroom and was initially frightened by all the   52 in their robes. As I slowly   53 at the faces of all the board members, I noticed the bright face of a woman. She gave me a smile   54 a young schoolgirl. It was the same woman whose bag I had carried ahead the night before.   55 , whenever I made a mistake on any questions, she did a great job of relaxing me.