One morning I stood beside the window. Across the river, the __1___ decorated the edge of the shore in white. I stood __2____ and looked at what the night’s storm had ___3___.
I leaned forward and stood close to the window. There was a goose out there, quite ___4___, its wings folded to its sides, its feet ___5___ to the ice. Then from the dark skies, I saw a line of swans. They moved in their own ___6___ style, graceful and free.
As I watched, the leader __7___ from the sky and landed on the ice. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose, I __8___ it might be killed by those great swan beaks(鸟喙).
__9__instead, those beaks began to work on the ___10___. The long necks were lifted and curved down, again and again. At last, the goose’s head ___11___; its body pulled. Then the goose was ___12____ and standing on the ice. And the swans stood in the air ___13___. It seemed as if the goose was crying, “I cannot fly.” Four of the swans came down around it. Their powerful beaks cleaned the goose’s ___14___ from top to bottom, chipping off the ice held in the feathers. ___15___at last the goose’s wings were free, the four swans ___16___ and joined the group.They restarted their eastward journey cheerfully.
I watched them until they ___17____ over the tops of the farthest trees. Only then did I realized that __18____ were running down my cheeks. Believe me! This story is __19____. And I will ask “If so for birds why not for ___20____?”
1.A. flower B. tree C. snow D. picture
2.A. quietly B. silently C. happily D. nervously
3.A. washed B.painted C. destroyed D. cleaned
4.A. hungry B. thirsty C. terrible D. still
5.A. frozen B. put C. turned D. tied
6.A. common B. ordinary C. noticeable D. boring
7.A. dived B. moved C. flew D. circled
8.A. frightened B. feared C. hoped D. knew
9.A. Wonderfully B. Puzzlingly C. Surprisingly D. Disappointingly
10.A. ice B. earth C. goose D. swan
11.A. carried B. pushed C. moved D. lifted
12.A. glad B. sad C. free D. lucky
13.A. listening B. hearing C. fighting D. watching
14.A. head B. legs C. feathers D. body
15.A. While B. When C. Before D. Until
16.A. took off B. took up C. got away D. got up
17.A. climbed B. stopped C. disappeared D. landed
18.A. leaves B. hairs C. rivers D. tears
19.A. actual B. real C. true D. right
20.A. animals B. man C. people D. insects
A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a 11 , I had decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it 12 from my hand and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles(弹珠), 13 everywhere. I tried to use a broom(扫帚),14 with each sweep, they just rolled across the kitchen.
For the next week, every time I was in the 15 , I found a pea——in a corner, or behind a table leg. They kept 16 . Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean behind it, and 17__ 12 frozen peas hidden underneath.
At the time I found those few remaining18 , I was in a new relationship with a wonderful __19 I’d met in a support group. After we married, I was reminded 20 those peas under the refrigerator, and realized that my 21 had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had scattered(分散). My wife had died; I was in a new city with a busy job, and with a son having trouble 22 his new surroundings and the 23 of his mother. I was a bag of spilled frozen peas; my life had come apart and scattered.
When life gets you 24 , when everything you know comes apart, and when you think you’ll never 25 , remember that it’s just a bag of scattered frozen peas. The peas can be 26 , and life will move on. You’ll find all the peas 27 , including the ones that are hardest to find. And when you’ve got them 28 you’ll start to feel whole again.
The life you know can break apart at any time. But you’ll have to 29 , and how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom, 30 will you pick them up one by one and put your life back together?
A.drink B.fruit C.vegetable D.meat
A.moved B.walked C.ran D.slipped
A.rubbed B.rolled C.grew D.existed
A.but B.and C.although D.so
A.bedroom B.living room C.kitchen D.storeroom
A.getting up B.turning up C.taking up D.using up
A.found B.ate C.left D.planted
A.presents B.cans C.vegetables D.peas
A.man B.child C.woman D.boy
A.of B.for C.with D.in
A.wife B.life C.son D.friend
A.turning to B.leading to C.adjusting to D.adding to
A.thank B.love C.help D.loss
A.down B.near C.close D.wide
A.get it B.make it C.take it D.leave it
A.grew B.bought C.collected D.frozen
A.eventually B.fortunately C.properly D.specially
A.both B.all C.either D.each
A.call on B.put on C.bring on D.move on
A.while B.because C.since D.or
I sat next to my close friend,Tina,in my history class.Our teacher,Miss Turner announced a new 11 .We were to create a 12 about cultures.As required,we wrote the names of two friends we wanted in our group.Miss Turner informed us that she would 13 our choices and let us know the result.I had no 14 that I would work with Tina because I knew we had chosen each other.
The next day,I waited anxiously when Miss Turner started to call out 1 5.When she reached group three,Tina was called. 16 ,my name was not included.“There must have been some 17 !"I thought to myself.
Than I heard 18 .The last group with Mauro and Karina! How 19 ! How could I face being in that group—the boy who hardly spoke English and the girl who wore 20 clothes a11 the time?
I went to Miss Turner to 21 I should be in a “good” group.She gently placed a hand on my shoulder.“I know what you want,Rachael,”she said,but your group 22 you more.Only you can help them get an ideal 23 .Will you help them?"
I 24 walked to where the others in my group sat. Halfway through the week, I 25 myself enjoying working with my partners.There was no need to 26 —I grew sincerely interested in learning something about then. Mauro, I found out, was 27 with English after he came to this country. Karina wanted to be a fashion designer and she had a lot of 28 ideas.They were the ones no one cared enough about to try to understand—except Miss Turner.
Miss Turner gave us an A on that newspaper. But I think she is the one who truly 29 it. I really 30 that Miss Turner gave me a chance to see other people in a new light.
A.plan B.subject C.project D.lesson
A.story B.group C.test D.newspaper
A.make use of B.pay attention to C.put into practice D.take into consideration
A.idea B.doubt C.intention D.promise
A.names B.numbers C.students D.topics
A.Besides B.However C.Thus D.Finally
A.mistake B.coincidence C.problem D.reason
A.her B.it C.them D.him
A.interesting B.amusing C.annoying D.disappointing
A.dirty B.plain C.strange D.formal
A.warn B.remind C.request D.inform
A.needs B.refuses C.misses D.ignores
A.design B.job C.chance D.grade
A.slowly B.swiftly C.suddenly D.bravely
A.found B.kept C.had D.set
A.speak B.pretend C.refuse D.panic
A.dealing B.helping C.beginning D.struggling
A.funny B.general C.bright D.new
A.offered B.deserved C.neglected D.proved
A.believed B.appreciated C.admitted D.agreed
A boy was walking home from school when he saw a large, tempting(诱人的)apple on one of the branches of an apple tree hanging out over a tall fence. The boy wasn’t much of a fruit-eater, 26a bar of chocolate if given the choice, 27 , as they say, the forbidden fruit can be tempting. Seeing the apple, the boy wanted it. The more he looked at it, the 28 he felt and the more he wanted that apple.
He stood on tiptoe(脚尖),29 as high as he could, but even as his tallest 30 he was unable to touch it. He began to 31 up and down, as high as he could, at the 32 of each jump stretching his arms to get the apple. Still it remained out of 33 .
Not giving up, he thought, if only he had something to 34 on. His school bag wouldn’t give enough height and he didn’t want to 35 the things inside, like his lunch box, pencil case, and Gameboy. Looking 36 , he hoped he might find an old box, a rock , or,37 luck, even a ladder, but it was a tidy neighborhood and there was nothing he could use.
He had tried everything he could think to do, 38 seeing any other choices, he gave up and started to walk 39 . At first he felt angry and disappointed thinking about how hungry he had become from his 40 , and how he really wanted that apple. The more he 41 like this, the more unhappy he became.
42 , the boy of our story was a pretty smart guy, even if he couldn’t always get what he wanted. He started to say to himself, “ This isn’t 43 , I don’t have the apple and I’m feeling miserable as well. There’s 44 more I can do to get the apple—hat is unchangeable—but we are supposed to be able to 45 our feelings. If that’s the case, what can I do to feel better?
A.preferring B.offering C.receiving D.allowing
A.so B.then C.but D.or
A.sadder B.angrier C.hungrier D.tastier
A.expanding B.stretching C.swinging D.pulling
A.strength B.length C.range D.height
A.jump B.look C.walk D.glance
A.tip B.stage C.top D.level
A.hope B.hand C.sight D.reach
A.put B.stand C.get D.hold
A.break B.shake C.take D.strike
A.up B.forward C.down D.around
A.for B.with C.on D.of
A.After B.Through C.Without D.Upon
A.back B.away C.up D.down
A.wishes B.beliefs C.efforts D.goals
A.thought B.imagined C.tried D.claimed
A.Therefore B.However C.Moreover D.Otherwise
A.skillful B.cheerful C.harmful D.helpful
A.something B.anything C.everything D.nothing
A.change B.express C.forget D.describe
When I was a child, my parents taught me the difference between good and bad behavior by showing me specific examples. My mother told me that you don’t 36 other kids because you would not like 37 if they hit you. That makes 38 . But, if my mother told me to be “nice” to someone, it was too vague for me to 39 . But if she said that being nice 40 delivering daffodils to a next door neighbor, that I could understand.
I believe that doing practical things can 41 the world a better place. When I was in my twenties I thought a lot about the meaning of life. At the time, I was getting started in my 42 of designing more humane facilities for animals at big farms and slaughterhouses(屠宰场). Many people would think that to even work at a slauterhouse would be inhumane, but they 43 that every human and animal 44 dies. In my mind, I had a(n) 45 of a way to make tht dying as 46 as possible.
Back in the 1970s, I went to fifty different feedlots and big farms in Arizona and Texas and 47 them work cattle. I cataloged the parts of each facility that 48 effectively. I took the best loading ramps, and other components and 49 them into an ideal new system. I get great 50 when a farmer tells me that my corral (畜栏) 51 helps cattle move through it quietly and 52 . When cattle stay calm, it means they are not scared. And that makes me feel I’ve 53 something important.
Some people might think if I could snap my 54 I’d choose to be “normal”. But, I wouldn’t want to give up my 55 to see in beautiful, precise pictures. I believe in them.
A.knock B.hit C.beat D.strike
A.this B.which C.it D.that
A.sense B.difference C.sail D.way
A.recognize B.realize C.know D.understand
A.meant B.minded C.missed D.admitted
A.give B.turn C.make D.take
A.job B.career C.trade D.industry
A.regret B.remember C.forgive D.forget
A.constantly B.eventually C.immediately D.directly
A.description B.scene C.picture D.image
A.peaceful B.calm C.quiet D.silent
A.required B.asked C.promised D.helped
A.solved B.worked C.acted D.conducted
A.collected B.gathered C.assembled D.met
A.satisfaction B.expectation C.explanation D.presentation
A.aim B.intention C.plan D.design
A.hardly B.difficultly C.easily D.happily
A.reached B.accomplished C.adapted D.polished
A.fingers B.hands C.arms D.feet
A.skill B.possibility C.talent D.ability
My mother always says that I’m born to dance ballet.But that September when I was in a ballet 36 and went to do a turn,something just happened. I heard it and I surely 37 it.I went right to a doctor and got an MRI,which 38 a lot of damage to my knee——a(n) 39 injury for a dancer.I had to have a(n) 40 .
Everything had been going so well and now I had this huge injury.Dance was my life,but 41,I wasn’t going to be able to do it for a year or possibly never again.
My dad was really a big inspiration for me. He was 42 a battle against cancer at that time.He showed me how to make it through a 43 situation.I thought that if he could do that,I could handle this,too.44 my operation,I had great difficulty walking,but I knew that if I really worked hard,my injury would 45 .
Several months later, I definitely wasn't at my strongest,but I could 46 a class. The dancing I did was basic 47 that my knee could handle.
Once we started practicing in the fall,I was beginning to feel like myself again.One day,I 48 the schedule and my name was next to Eliot Feld.I thought it must be a(n) 49 because he is very famous in the ballet world.But it wasn’t.He 50 me and taught me a lot of things.At l8,I had a solo performance! It was a big 51 .I was so excited and felt like a real ballerina.After the 52 ,Eliot said,“You know, you have a gift—and you are also made of 53 ."That,coming from him,was the54 compliment(赞美)I have ever received.I’d like to think that 55 my injury made me strong.
A.school B.class C.team D.play
A.felt B.accepted C.broke D.touched
A.pointed B.said C.showed D.read
A.necessary B.important C.practical D.deadly
A.operation B.cry C.holiday D.test
A.all of a sudden B.in time C.at present D.once in a while
A.leading B.losing C.fighting D.inventing
A.wonderful B.difficult C.positive D.heavy
A.At B.During C.After D.Over
A.move B.go C.die D.heal
A.take up B.get through C.break into D.set out
A.damages B.activities C.moves D.breathes
A.stole B.checked C.faced D.borrowed
A.problem B.opportunity C.mistake D.task
A.held B.obeyed C.received D.encouraged
A.success B.secret C.surprise D.position
A.performance B.speech C.competition D.match
A.mud B.wood C.steel D.gold
A.simplest B.greatest C.deepest D.smartest
A.turning to B.1etting out C.setting up D.dealing with