Scott and his companions were terribly disappointed. When they got to the South Pole, they found the Norwegianshad  16  them in the race to be the first ever to reach it. After  17   the British flag at the Pole, they took a photograph of themselves  18  they started the 950-mile journey back.
The journey was unexpectedly  19   and the joy and excitement about the Pole had gone out of them. The sun hardly  20 . The snow storms always made it impossible to sight the stones they had  21    to mark their way home. To make things  22   , Evans, whom they had all thought of  23  the strongest of the five, fell badly into a deep hole in the ice. Having  24   along for several days, he suddenly fell down and died.
The four who were  25   pushed on at the best speed they could  26  . Captain Oates had been suffering for some time from his  27  feet; at night his feet swelled（肿胀） so large that he could  28    put his boots on the next morning, and he walked bravely although he was in great  29   . He knew his slowness was making it less likely that 30     could save themselves. He asked them to leave him behind in his sleeping-bag, but they refused, and helped him  31   a few more miles, until it was time to put up the  32   for another night.
The following morning, 33   the other three were still in their sleeping-bags, he said. “I am just going outside and may be 34  some time.” He was never seen again. He had walked out  35   into the snow storm, hoping that his death would help his companions.

Moving to a new city and state was difficult for me, especially in winter. Little did I know that a Colorado snowstorm would greet me after I had been in my new home for only a week.
I just missed home. But more than the old house and the beach, I missed Stacey, my best friend. And I missed our lovely tea. Going to a sweet little tearoom, we had discovered was a special treat for us. The place was a Victorian dream, with delicate teacups and tablecloths with flower prints. The hat shelf near the front door swept us back to childhood. Stacey and I became little girls, trying on different hats until we found the perfect one for our dress-up tea party. We would then choose a lovely table and order our tea. That was a precious time, filled with laughter between scones（煎饼） and sharing our lives between tiny cucumber sandwiches.
Springtime descended upon Denver, and the sun lightened my heart. But I still fought loneliness almost every day. I decided to explore the Denver area. While my husband went to the office, I took time to see what our new area had to offer.
One day, I was walking along the street when suddenly the words "Tea Leaves" caught my eye. A tea room? Here, in the land of loneliness and pain?
I walked through the doors, and tears came to my eyes. It was a beautiful room, not Victorian, but simple and lovely.
I sat down and ordered a pot of tea, a cucumber sandwich, and some scones. It felt silly and wonderful --- and it felt like home. For the first time since moving, I felt as if this new city and state could be, would eventually be, my home. I would come back here and bring new friends. When Stacey visited, we would come here.
I lifted my cup and made a silent toast. I toasted Stacey, whom I missedly, and I toasted the sweet little tearoom that lessened my pain.
【小题1】The author's hometown ______________.

第二节完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I watched as she led him by the hand to the bathroom in the waiting hall of the airport. Although he looked a little confused, he seemed   31   as long as his hand was in hers.
Returning to their seats at the gate, she   32  his hair and buttoned his jacket. He looked nervous and asked, “Where are we going, Mom? What time is it? When will we get to   33   our plane?”
I wondered about the woman’s patience and love. I   34   her take him by the hand when they were finally   35   to board.
Upon finding my seat, I discovered that the three of us would be   36  . I managed to pass the two of them to my window seat and then told him how handsome he looked in his new coat. He   37  . She helped take off his jacket and   38   his seatbelt. He said that he had to go to the   39  again, and she told him that he could last until the end of the   40  .
As the plane started, he became frightened and   41   for her hand. She calmed him down and began talking to him about whom to visit. He was confused about the different   42   they would be seeing, but she patiently repeated who was who   43   he seemed to understand.
We introduced ourselves and   44   the usual things all mothers like to exchange with one another. I   45   she had four children and was on her way to visit one of them.
The hour passed   46  , and soon we were preparing to land. He became frightened again, and she   47   his arm gently. She smiled and hugged him. “I love you, Honey.”
They   48   the plane before I did, the mother never realizing how deeply she had   49  me. I prayed for this remarkable woman and for myself that I would have enough love and   50  to meet whatever challenges came my way, as this extraordinary mother clearly had.
31．A．nervous    B．secure       C．strong        D．confident
32．A．washed     B．dried     C．combed     D．cut
33．A．ride      B．leave     C．see         D．land
34．A．found       B．noticed     C．made       D．watched
35．A．allowed    B．expected   C．announced        D．believed
36．A．apart     B．together    C．upset       D．different
37．A．cried     B．shook       C．responded   D．smiled
38．A．search      B．loosen      C．fasten        D．set
39．A．cafe     B．shop     C．bathroom   D．airport
40．A．day      B．flight     C．life         D．patience
41．A．struggled  B．prayed      C．looked       D．reached
42．A．relatives   B．books       C．places        D．children
43．A．until     B．when     C．after       D．since
44．A．explained  B．had      C．shared       D．enjoyed
45．A．heard          B．proved      C．knew       D．learned
46．A．slowly      B．quickly     C．silently      D．senselessly
47．A．seized       B．held     C．struck        D．beat
48．A．walked around B．wandered about        C．left for  D．got off
49．A．calmed     B．excited     C．touched     D．confused
50．A．strength    B．quality      C．energy       D．advantage

There is a story about a school teacher named Mrs. Thompson. Standing in front of her   36   grade class on the first day of school, she told the children a lie. She said she   37  them all. But that was   38 , because there was a little boy called Teddy, whom she didn’t like at all.
Mrs. Thompson was    39  that he didn’t play well with other children, that his clothes were   40  and that he always needed a bath.   41   ,  when she received his records, she got a real   42 .
Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a smart child with ready laugh.  He does his work neatly and has good manners.” 
His second grade   43    wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a deadly illness and life at home   44  be a struggle.”
His third teacher wrote, “ His mother’s death has been  45 to him.”
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was 46     herself. She felt even worse when students   47    her beautiful Christmas presents, except for Teddy’s ---- a   48  that was one quarter full perfume（香水）.
After the children left she   49 for at least an hour.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the   50    children in the class. Six years went by when she got a letter from Teddy,   51  that he had finished high school.
There followed another letter years later. Teddy   52     Mrs. Thompson to attend his wedding and asked   53  she could sit in the place usually kept for the   54  of the groom.
Teddy  55  in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back saying “Teddy, you are wrong. In fact, I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
【小题1】.

Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media website has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week，a guy whom I hadn't seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for “Easy E” to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out，after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However，I'm pretty sure we won't ever write wall-to-wall，let alone e­mail each other. But he'll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members，college buddies，co­workers from past and  present，and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e­mail addresses，I'm confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends，former  classmates，distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on­screen relationships，keeping up with the daily happenings of  their small army of companions. After all，there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to e­mail，the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a  friendship must come to a close. But even with e­mail，people will lose touch if one or both  parties stop writing back. That’s normal. People move from school to school，job to job，city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day，the masterminds of Web 2.0 find new ways of making human communication  easier. However，convenience can be a crutch(拐杖)．Some things shouldn't be simplified. When it comes to friendship，there can be no shortcuts.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1，the website is famous because ________.