I've always loved pigeons(鸽子). Some years ago I managed to persuade my wife to let me buy a few and start 16 them myself. They cost a lot of money and so it spoilt(破坏) our 17 a bit, but my wife never actually stopped me so I 18 carried on. I learnt so much about them that I could 19 a good racer anywhere and I bought some beauties. My pigeons won some top races, and I even began to make a bit of 20 .
You see, people are prepared to pay big prices if they get to know that your pigeons are 21 big prizes.
My wife had been changing her 22 to the pigeons over the last year or two anyway. She was quite 23 of all the prizes we’d won. Then there was the travelling, which she liked. You see some one has to take the pigeons a 24 way off and set them free. Some of the 25 were really nice. I never travelled. I used to like to wait at home and see them come in. They’ve got this wonderful sense of 26 , which can bring them back home so quickly. They’d flown hundreds of miles sometimes 27 storms or against strong winds. And there they’d come, tiny white birds against the great 28 . Then I'd watch them 29 round and come down onto the landing shelf. I'd look at my watch and think, “My goodness, that’s a good 30 . ”And I'd take off the little leg ring and push it through the machine to 31 what time he’d arrived. Then my wife would 32 up and say, “Has he arrived yet?” Then we would work out if we’d won 33 .
Then last year we had a 34 ! All of them got some sort of flu and 35 . It was terrible. I had to burn them all. We lost a fortune, of course.
A．racing B．feeding C．tending D．flying
A．dream B．work C．marriage D．hobby
A．just B．even C．almost D．hardly
A．notice B．learn C．imagine D．recognize
A．living B．fun C．money D．change
A．losing B．winning C．giving D．making
A．subject B．decision C．relation D．attitude
A．proud B．fond C．careful D．sure
A．different B．1ong C．short D．far
A．distances B．activities C．trips D．movements
A．direction B．sight C．hearing D．touch
A．over B．across C．with D．through
A．heaven B．mountain C．cloud D．sky
A．turn B．dance C．circle D．whistle
A．fly B．time C．day D．1ook
A．write B．record C．count D．memorize
A．come B．show C．phone D．cheer
A．again B．finally C．only D．accidentally
A．disadvantage B．chance C．problem D．disaster
A．flew B．died C．cured D．lost
Not being sure where I want to start this, I will say that I lost my mom back in April of this year. She was ninety-two. , I was not expecting her to and I don’t think she was expecting it either. I was very close to my mom, being an only child. We did have on the surface, but we still had a close relationship those.
Being newly married less than a year, and having moved a couple of times , I have had more changes recently in my life than at any other point of my fifty-four years. Stability is one of the gifts that Mom me and it had so many that I wasn’t aware of until now. My husband and I have made some to Mom’s home and will be moving at the end of next week. It is now our home, but it still has my heart in it. It’s where I grew up, and there are many that will live there with us. At the same time, I am looking forward to some very happy and memorable ones with my husband.
Mom such a big part in my life. Our lives were woven because she gave me her values which have become strongly in the woman I am today. I don’t have any children whom I could these on to. However, Mother’s values affect me every day with the I have with others, whether I know them or not. I hope Mom would be of who I am, what I’ve become because of her, and of I am going to live with my . She gave me everything I needed to know in life: respect others, and give help to others who it most. I love you, Mom, and I will never forget you.
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Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time！
When I was a senior in high school，I________knew I wanted to pursue writing as a career．
Writing had basically________me when I was only 7 years old，________since that time，I’d been bombarded by guidance counselors and career planners who all________me to have “a back up plan” in case writing didn’t work out．
I’d never even________a different career path，so I was very____6____and worried．After much thought，I decided________would be my “back up plan,”and I signed up for a class through my high school．
This________that every morning，I would serve as a teacher’s helper for my favorite 6th grade teacher，Mr．Ralston．Morning after morning，I showed up in Mr．Ralston’s classroom and_______papers for him．
Sometimes，I even________a lesson or two．It was fun，and the students seemed to like me，so I was surprised when it came time for my________．Mr．Ralston looked me right in the eyes and asked，“Do you really want to teach？”
“Had I really been that_______？” I thought．
“Don’t misunderstand．You’ll do fine in teaching,”he continued．“But，is your______really in it？”
“Not really,” I______．“I want to write．I want to write news stories and fiction and poetry and so much more…but I’ve been told it’s tough to make it as a writer________I thought maybe I would teach and then use my summers______to pursue writing．”
As I shared with Mr．Ralston my hopes，dreams and carefully plotted out back up plan，he smiled and said，“Why are you preparing to______with this back up plan？If you want to be a writer，go for it！Pursue writing！”
Mr．Ralston’s________to follow my dreams was the little nudge I needed to help me push past my________of not making it as a writer and simply “Go for it！”
That’s what an encouraging word will do when spoken in love in________season．So，let’s try and be like Mr．Ralston and speak that word of encouragement at just the right time and make a difference in someone’s life today．
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Leaving for work one morning, I noticed that my newspaper hadn’t been delivered yet．Since I always took it to work, it me that I would have to stop at the store and pick one up．I was already running late, but figured I could make it if I hurried．It was putting me in a mood．
As I pulled into the parking lot of the to get a newspaper, I noticed a young man in a wheelchair who seemed to be with his wheelchair．“I’m sure he’s all right”, I thought, “or if he’s not, someone else will help him．”
by the customers and cars that were passing him by, I guessed they were thinking the thing．I got out and walked over to see what the was．
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked．I noticed he wasn’t able to , and was still struggling with the wheelchair．
I at the wheelchair and noticed that the clamp(夹锁) holding the electronic keyboard and chair controls had loosened, causing the equipment to slip down, out of his reach．
I pulled it back into ．His hand pulled over to the keyboard and he hit a single key．An electronic voice said, “Thank you．”
I felt a wave of gratitude come over me． I was truly blessed to have the physical that allowed me to live a normal life．The young man helped me gain a new way of thinking in life．
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A Different View At age 14, 15 and 16, the way we looked was the most important thing in the world to us．My friends and I wanted nothing less than perfection.
In high school, we joined the gymnastics team, and our became even more important to us．We had no fat, only muscle．On the weekends, we would go to the beach, of our flat stomachs．
One summer day, all my friends were at my house ．At one point, I was running back to the pool．I on a bee, and while it was dying under my foot, it stung (蛰) me．I instantly started to feel ．That night, I began to run a high fever and my leg and foot were red, hot and swollen．I couldn’t walk．I could barely .
When my foot started to go numb, everyone became more ．My foot was not getting enough blood．I had to go to the , and my leg hurt as if it were badly broken．I couldn’t move．All I could do was think about how soft my middle was becoming．That me more than any concern over my leg.
That would all 1 when I heard the doctors mention possibly cutting off my foot．It was still not getting the supply it needed．The doctors would have to speed up their treatment.
Never before did I have such great for my foot．And walking seemed like a from the gods．Less and less would I want to hear my friends talk about and who was wearing what．More and more I expected visits from other kids in the hospital, who were quickly becoming my friends.
One girl came to visit me ．Every time she came, she brought flowers．She was recovering from cancer and felt she should come back and the other patients.
She still had no hair, and she was swollen from medications she had been taking．I would not have given this girl a second before．I now loved every inch of her and looked forward to her .
Finally, I was improving and soon I went home．My leg was still swollen, I was walking, and I had my foot! When I would go back to the hospital, I often saw my friend．She was still visiting people and good cheer．I thought if even there was an angel on this earth, it had to be her.
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阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1—20各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Though she had been in a coma（昏迷）for nearly six months, it was still a when my grandmother passed away．I was not yet thirteen when she ．I'd understood that death awaited her, but in those first moments of knowing, I could not that "eventually" had finally come to pass．
Friends came to the funeral home to pay their last respects to my grandmother and to show their support for my mother．Not where to be or what to do, I stayed off to the side．The finally ended with the arrival of my friend Kelly．
Kelly and I had been friends ever since she was three and Four．We were “home" friends, the kind who rode bikes together after school, went to a KFC a few blocks away, even though we weren't allowed to leave the block．
At the funeral home, Kelly came right to me．In her hands were two packages of M&M's．Kelly knew that was one of my ．We had often taken long trips to the store for ．We sat in the back, eating M&M's and talking quietly．A experience had suddenly become easier to bear, with a childhood offering of chocolates and the of a devoted friend．
Trying to come up with something to offer a heartbroken person is ．Kelly had understood, even at twelve, that there wasn't much she could do to reduce my pain be there with me and bring something that just might make me ．
Now, whenever Kelly and I find ourselves at funeral home for family member of ours, the other has always shown up M&M's, a small offering of to take the edge off the hovering sorrow．We've that when we' re old, the one who dies first will have a crazy old lady throwing M&M' s into her grave．M&M's will be significant to me．They will me that even when something as painful and powerful as comes to claim what’s most important to me, there will always be Kelly… and her chocolate．
M&M's, melt（溶解）in your , not in your hand．
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