Doing community service work, I spent three or four hours handing out warm dinner to the homeless out in the streets. After that I went to a   16  shelter not far from the Bay Bridge.
I was in high school and at the time my sister was too young to   17  . She wanted to help,    18  she made four or five dozen chocolate chip cookies for me to    19   and hand out to people. When getting to the homeless shelter I passed out the remaining meals. I had the containers with my   20  cookies in them and began to   21  , offering them to anyone near me.
I    22   an old gentleman and said, “Sir, would you like a cookie?” He stopped and turned around, looked at me    23  in the eye and said, “What did you say? Did you call me sir?” I told him I had, and his eyes    24   a little bit and he said, “No one has    25   called me sir.” He was completely taken aback.
It struck me. 
I explained I had been raised that    26   color and social status, everyone deserved     27   . It made me    28   to think that just because he was homeless, no one    29  him the honor. It broke my   30  , and I couldn’t help   31  cry. I just didn’t understand    32  no one ever called him sir? I had never thought that anyone was below me because I wasn’t raised that way. Every    33  person deserves to be treated with dignity. Years later, I still carry that memory and the    34  it taught me. Sometimes, what we take for granted can    35  make a difference in someone’s life.
How have you made a difference to others? How have others made a difference to you?

The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read beneath the long branches of an old willow tree.   31  at life, I have a good reason to frown, for the world was intent on   32  me down.
And if that weren't enough to ruin my day, a young boy out of breath   33 me, all tired from play. He stood   34  in front of me with his head tilted down and said with great excitement, "Look what I found!" In his hand was a   35 . What a pitiful sight, its petals were all worn - not enough rain, or too little light. Wanting him to take his dead flower away and go off to play, I   36  a small smile and then looked away.
But instead of   37  , he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his nose and   38  loudly with certainty, "It sure smells pretty and it must be beautiful, too. That's why I picked it; here, it's for you." The weed before me was dying or dead, not vibrant of   39 , orange, yellow or red. But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave. So I  40  for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need." Again,  41  placing the flower in my hand, he held it mid-air without reason or plan. It was then 42 I noticed for the very first time that the boy could not see: he was 43 .
I heard my voice trembling. Tears shone like the sun as I thanked him for picking the very best one. "You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play, not realizing the  44  he'd had on my day. I sat there and wondered how he managed to see a  45   woman beneath an old willow tree. How did he 46 my self-indulged plight(困境)? Perhaps he'd been  47  with true sight from his heart by God.
Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see, the problem was not with the world; the problem was me. For all of those times I myself had been blind. I decided to see beauty, and 48  every second that belongs to mine.  49 I held that dead flower up to my nose and breathed in the  50  of a beautiful rose , I smiled as that young boy. Another flower in his hand was about to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.

【小题1】	A．Disappointed B．Delighted C．Excited D．embarassed
【小题2】	A．slowing B．making C．letting D．pressing
【小题3】	A．stopped B．supposed C．informed D．approached
【小题4】	A．absolutely B．definitely C．right D．rightly
【小题5】	A．leaf B．branch C．weed D．flower
【小题6】	A．exposed B．showed C．managed D．tried
【小题7】	A．leaving B．answering C．reacting D．responding
【小题8】	A．whispered B．shouted C．spoke D．declared
【小题9】	A．styles B．sizes C．colors D．shapes
【小题10】	A．left B．handed C．reached D．held
【小题11】	A．in pace of B．in addition to C．instead of D．in return
【小题12】	A．where B．before C．when D．that
【小题13】	A．deaf B．blind C．cripple D．dumb
【小题14】	A．impression B．appearance C．power D．influence
【小题15】	A．self-satisfied s B．elf-respecting C．self-educated D．self-pitying
【小题16】	A．approve of[来源:Z#xx#k.Com B．convince of C．inform of D．know of
【小题17】	A．presented B．crowded C．blessed D．equipped
【小题18】	A．appreciate B．treasure C．spend D．admire
【小题19】	A．As B．Though C．Unless D．Since
【小题20】	A．sight B．shade C．fragrance D．flavor

About once a month I have to go to Bedford for my work. One day I went into a   21  there to have something to   22  . The waiter took my coat and put it in a small room.
About an hour later I was   23  to go. The waiter   24  me my coat. Something fell out of the pocket onto the floor. It was a small white box. I took a   25  look at the   26  . “Oh, you’ve brought   27  coat,” I said to the waiter. “It looks very much like mine,  28  it is quite new, and this isn’t my box, either.”
“Oh, then I   29  someone has taken your coat and left his,” said the waiter. “This kind of thing   30  sometimes.”
I opened the box. There was a beautiful gold   31  in it. The waiter and I   32  to go to the police station.
“Has anyone lost a ring?” I asked at the station.
“Yes,” said a policeman. “A young man who came in this morning lost a ring, he lost it in London.”
He   33  the young man. A few minutes later, the man arrived.
“Yes, this is my ring,” he said. “How can I   34  you, sir? You see, I paid a lot of money for this ring and   35  I lost it on the train!”
After I told him the   36  of the coat, he said, “You haven’t been on the train. I haven’t been in the hotel, so how did my ring   37  in the coat?”
“Did anyone sit or stand next to you on the train?” asked the policeman.
“Yes,” said the young man. “But I don’t remember his face.”
“You may remember this   38  ,” said the policeman. “Was it like this one?”
“Yes, it was,” said the young man. “But my friend here isn’t the thief.”
The policeman laughed. “No,” he said. “The thief on the train stole your ring, and   39  our friend here, he went into the hotel to get some food. Only he didn’t take the   40  coat away with him.”

Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 45–48．

root1 /ru:t/ n [C]

1 ►PLANT◄ the part of a plant or tree that grows under the ground and gets water form the soil: Be careful not to damage the roots when repotting．| tree roots —see picture at germinate

2 ►CAUSE OF A PROBLEM◄ the main cause of a problem: Money is the root of all evil．| be/lie at the root of （=be the cause of a problem） Often allergies are at the root of a lot of the problems．| get to the root of （=find out the cause of a problem） | root cause （=the main reason for a problem）

3 ►OF A CUSTOM/TRADITION◄ roots the origins of a custom or tradition that has continued for a long time: has its roots in Jazz has its roots in the folk songs of the southern states of the US．

4 ►OF AN IDEA/BELIEF◄ the main part of an idea or belief which all the other parts come from: be/lie at the root of Foucault is challenging the very root of 20th century liberalism．

5 ►FAMILY CONNECTION◄ sb’s roots your con- nection with a place because you were born there, or your family used to live there: Naita has come to Ghana in search of her roots．

6 put down roots if you put down roots somewhere, you start to feel that this place is your home and to have relationships with the people there

7 ►TOOTH/HAIR ETC◄ the part of a tooth, hair etc that fixes it to the rest of your body

8 take root a） if an idea takes root, people begin to accept or believe it: The concepts of democracy and free trade are finally beginning to take root．b） if a plant takes root, it starts to grow where you have planted it

9 have a （good） root round informal especially BrE to search for something by moving other things around

10 root and branch if you destroy something root and branch, you get rid of it completely and permanently because it is bad

11 ►LANGUAGE◄ technical the basic part of a word which shows its main meaning, to which other parts can be added: The suffix ‘ness’ can be added to the root ‘cold’ to form the word ‘coldness’．—compare stem1 （4）

12 ►MATHEMATICS◄ technical a number that when multiplied by itself a certain number of times, equals the number that you have: 2 is the fourth root of 16．

         —see also cube root, square root, grass roots

root2 v

1 ►SEARCH◄ [I always + adv/prep] to search for something by moving things around: [+ through/in/ around] “Hang on a second,” said Leila, rooting through her handbag for a pen．| [+ for] pigs rooting for food

2 ►PLANT◄ a） [I] to grow roots: New shrubs will root easily in summer．b） [T usually passive] to fix a plant firmly by its roots: The bush was too firmly rooted in the hard earth to dig up easily．| root itself Clumps of thyme had rooted themselves between the rocks．—see also deeply rooted （deeply （5））

3 be rooted in to have developed from something and be strongly influenced by it: policies that are rooted in Marxist economic theory

4 be rooted to the spot to be so shocked, surprised, or frightened that you cannot move

         root for sb phr v [T] informal 1 to give support and encouragement to someone in a competition, test or difficult situation, because you want them to succeed: Good luck – we’ll all be rooting for you! 2 especially AmE to support a sports team or player by shouting and cheering: We’ll all be rooting for the Dallas Cowboys in the Superbowl．

         root sth ↔ out phr v [T] 1 to find out where a particular kind of problem exists and get rid of it: Racism cannot be rooted out without strong government action．2 informal to find something by searching for it: I’ll try and root out something suitable for you to wear．

         root sth ↔ up phr v [T] to dig or pull a plant up with its roots

1．What’s meaning of the word “roots” in the sentence “Many Americans have roots in Europe．”?

         A．The underground part of a plant．       B．One’s connection with a place．

         C．The origins of a custom or tradition．      D．The main cause of a problem．

2．What’s the fourth root of 81?

         A．27．  B．9．    C．6．    D．3．

3．Which phrase can complete the sentence “Do you think it is possible to ____ crime?”

         A．root for                B．root out               C．root up                D．root through

4．In which of the following situations can we use the phrase “be rooted to the spot”?

         A．A bush is so firmly rooted in the ground that it is difficult to pull it up．

         B．A football fan got excited when his favorite football team scored a goal．

         C．A girl became too scared to walk when she caught sight of a long snake．

         D．A man is unable to walk because he was caught in a car accident years ago．

When I was young, I belonged to a club that did community service work. There was one specific__16_ that was unusual for me. I spent three or four hours handing out warm dinner to the homeless out in the streets. After that I went to a homeless shelter not far from the Bay Bridge.
I was in high school and at the time my sister was too young to  17  . She wanted to help, 18  she made four or five dozen chocolate chip cookies for me to  19  and hand out to people. When _20_ to the homeless shelter, I passed out the _21_ meals. I began making sandwiches and   22   them with the crowd. I had the containers with my  23  cookies in them and began to  24  , offering them to anyone near me.
I  25  an old gentleman and said, “ Sir, would you like a cookie?” He stopped and turned around, looked at me rightly and said, “ What did you say? Did you call me sir?” I told him I __26_, and his eyes   27   a little bit and said,  “ No one has  28   called me sir.’ So he was completely moved.
It __29_  me.
I explained I had been raised that  30  color and social status, everyone deserved(应得) respect. It   31   me to think that just because he was homeless, no one  32   him the honor. It broke my heart. I just didn’t understand   33 no one ever called him sir? I had never thought that anyone was below me because I wasn’t raised that way. Every   34   person deserves to be treated with respect. Years later, I still carry that memory and the __35__ it taught me. Sometimes, what we take for granted can really make a difference in someone’s life.
How have you made a difference to others? How have others made a difference to you?