As Christmas drew near, Ursula was faced with just that problem. She had come to live in an American home and learn English.  21  , she would mind the children and do anything she was asked.

One of her tasks was to keep track of arriving Christmas presents. Ursula did this faithfully, but she became increasingly worried. What could she buy for her   22   with the little money she had that would compare with the gifts she was recording daily?   23  , even without any of the gifts , her employer seems to have everything.

Ursula _ 24 _ long and hard. On Christmas Eve, she went to a store. She moved slowly through crowds of shoppers,   25   things in her mind. Finally she bought a baby dress. She immediately called a taxi.  “Excuse me, please, can you help me find a poor family with a baby?”  “A poor family?” said the   26   driver. “Yes, a very poor family.” Ursula told the man of what she was trying to do. He listened in silence, and then said, “I know a family who needs just about everything.”

When they reached a building, the driver said, “They live on the third floor.” Ursula shook her head, “Would you take this dress to them and tell them it’s from someone …someone who has everything.”

Early the next day, Ursula   27   everyone for the presents she received. Then, she began to   28   why there seemed to be none from her. She told about what she did the night before. When she finished, there was a long   29  . “You see,” she added, “I try to do a kindness in your    30   .  And this is my Christmas present to you.”

21. A. In return          B. As a result      C. By the way        D. In a sense

22. A. own family       B. classmates       C. friends            D. American family

23. A. Otherwise       B. Therefore         C. Besides              D. But

24. A. talked           B. thought          C. waited            D. worked

25. A. selecting          B. matching         C. remembering       D. organizing

26. A. delighted         B. anxious          C. surprised                 D. respectful

27. A. thanked           B. encouraged    C. praised             D. admired

28. A. settle            B. repeat           C. argue                D. explain

29. A. delay            B. silence          C. time                  D. break

30. A. case                B. opinion         C. memory               D. name

When Phillip was on his way to the airport one afternoon, he asked the driver to wait outside the bank while he collected some traveler’s checks.

   The plane was to  36   at 5:30. From the bank there was still a  37   journey to the airport. Phillip merely watched the   38  along the way. Shortly before arriving, he began  39  the things he would need for the  40 . Tickets, money, the address of his hotel, traveler’s checks—Just a moment. How about his passport? Phillip went through his pockets. He suddenly   41   that he must have left his passport  42 .

    Whatever could he do? It was now five past four and there would be too little  43   to return to the bank. This was the  44   time he was representing his firm for an important  45  with the manager of a French firm in Paris the following morning. Without a passport he would be  46  to board the plane. At that moment, the taxi  47   outside the air terminal. Phillip got out, took his suitcase and  48   the driver. He then  49   a good deal of confusion in the building. A  50  could be heard over the loudspeaker.

    “We very much  51  that owing to a twenty-four-hour strike of airport staff, all flights for the rest of today have had to be called off.” Passengers are   52  to get in touch with their travel agents or with this terminal for  53  on tomorrow’s flights. Phillip gave a  54  . He would let his firm know about this situation and, thank goodness, he would have the opportunity of calling at his bank the following morning to  55  his passport.

36. A. leave             B. register       C. check out            D. pull

37. A. pleasant          B. short          C. long              D. rough

38. A. scenery           B. scene                C. view                 D. sight

39. A. counting          B. looking over   C. thinking about      D. checking

40. A. trip              B. plane         C. meeting           D. flight

41. A. remembered       B. realized       C. noticed           D. learned

42. A. at home           B. at the office    C. at the bank        D. in the taxi

43. A. time           B. chance        C. possibility         D. use

44. A. golden            B. last           C. only              D. first

45. A. journey           B. visit           C. business          D. meeting

46. A. sad              B. unable         C. impossible         D. difficult

47. A. stopped           B. was driven      C. reached           D. was parked

48. A. left                   B. sent away       C. paid              D. said bye-bye to

49. A. started            B. noticed         C. caught             D. found

50. A. speech           B. noise               C. call                  D. voice

51. A. apologize          B. announce        C. worry                 D. regret

52. A. advised          B. forced               C. told                 D. persuaded

53. A. ideas            B. plans                C. information           D. time

54. A. loud laugh      B. deep sigh             C. big smile             D. sharp cry

55. A. return           B. find                 C. recover              D. gather

A strong wind was blowing hard, thunder was rumbling, and lightning flashed across the dark sky. Rain was   16   down; it looked as if heaven had been broken open.

Gleams of light appeared from windows of   17   houses, shining like jewels in all the dark.

A   18   woman dressed in rags and trembling with cold was   19   on a lonely road, while the merciless rain was   20   her without pause. She knocked at the door, and a   21   answered it. She begged him to let her stay a while   22  . The boy then let her into the sitting room and   23   her sitting by the fire.

The woman   24   old and tired under the bright electric light,   25   she was only in her early thirties. She sat   26   for a moment, and then her eyes began to look about the   27 . When her wandering eyes rested on the picture of a young man, she   28  up, looking thunderstruck. Just then, the boy came with his   29  . The man at once recognized the woman as his    30  . They had   31   touch with each other during the war, and he thought he had lost her forever.

  32   words needed to be spoken, They embraced each other   33   the boy stared at them, puzzled.

The storm was over and the sky cleared. Feeling very   34  , the couple stood face to face with their child between them, watching the rain as it gradually   35  .

16. A. pouring     B. falling         C. dropping                  D. flooding

17. A. poor         B. black          C. faraway                     D. nearby

18. A. rich          B. beautiful         C. poor                    D. ugly

19. A. crying      B. wandering        C. struggling             D. wondering

20. A. striking    B. hitting          C. flowing                 D. beating

21. A. boy          B. girl              C. woman                 D. man

22. A. out               B. near           C. outside                 D. inside

23. A. made       B. left                     C. asked                      D. told

24. A. became    B. showed        C. appeared                    D. sounded

25. A. so        B. and                 C. however                    D. though

26. A. straight    B. thirsty          C. hungry                  D. still

27. A. room       B. house           C. picture                  D. fire

28. A. picked     B. stood            C. came                  D. looked

29. A. father     B. mother         C. friend                   D. brother

30. A. wife        B. sister           C. mother                 D. girlfriend

31. A. kept         B. got                     C. made                    D. lost

32. A. Much     B. Many         C. No                  D. Not

33. A. as         B. while        C. when              D. since

34. A. disappointed B. sorry          C. happy       D. sad

35. A. began          B. stopped      C. ended       D. wanted

He hated my name, Whitney. My family never knew why. He wished for my name to be Nicole, which was how it became my  （36）  name. He was the first man I ever trusted,  （37）  my father, and he still is one of the few men I trust. He loves me; after all, I am his granddaughter,  （38） .

He has a disease that causes his  （39）  to drift. He doesn’t remember his own wife half the time; I don’t know why I  （40）  he will remember me when I see him. My dad and grandmother held his hands as they  （41）  him in to see me for the first time in four months. His bones  （42）  under his skin, and I could tell that his  （43）  no longer occupied his mouth. He didn’t look like my grandfather; his face was that of a  （44） . He looked like he might have when he was in World War II, but Alzheimer’s（老年痴呆症）was his  （45）  now.

They sat him down. Without a glance at me, my grandfather  （46）  his head for at least a half hour, almost as if he were ashamed. Suddenly he  （47）  tracing（顺着轮廓描画）my palm, noticing every line and detail. His fingers fell through the spaces between  （48）  like sand. I stood up, still holding his hand, and took him for a walk to try to  （49）  him a bit.

When we returned, he did not want to sit. He looked at me with a grandfather’s  （50） . His eyes played with mine, searching for memories we had  （51） . He started to play with my hair, examining the faint color through his almost  （52）  eyes. I took his hand and spun myself around  （53）  we were dancing like we used to.

All too soon, it was time to  （54） . He planted a million kisses on my cheeks as I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I was his little girl again, although he didn’t remember my  （55） . That’s okay. He didn’t like it anyway.

36．  A． first               B．  last                     C．     middle             D．   full

37．  A． according to   B．  besides               C．     like                  D．   unlike

38．  A． always           B．  sometimes          C．perhaps         D．unbelievably

39．  A． mind              B．  eyes                   C．     hands              D．   body

40．  A． doubt             B．  hope                   C．     know              D．   expect

41．  A． walked           B．  called                 C．     carried             D．   pushed

42．  A． felt sharp        B．  looked terrible     C．     stood out         D．   hurt badly

43．  A． speech           B．  smile                  C．     tongue             D．   teeth

44．  A． soldier            B．  stranger              C．     patient             D．   victim

45．  A． war                B．  dream                 C．     career              D．   story

46．  A． turned            B．  raised                 C．     hung               D．   scratched

47．  A． stopped          B．  started                C．     remembered     D．   imagined

48．  A． them              B．  those                  C．     others              D．   mine

49．  A． calm              B．  move                  C．     amuse             D．   wake

50．  A． bravery          B．  intelligence          C．     softness           D．   weakness

51．  A． exchanged      B．  refreshed            C．     shared             D．   lost

52．  A． blind              B．  tearful                C．     cold                D．   sleepy

53．  A． so that            B．  as if                   C．     until                D．   because

54．  A． eat                 B．  rest                    C．     leave               D．   meet

55．  A． appearance     B．  childhood            C．     birthday           D．   name

An Indian warship destroyed a suspected pirate vessel off the Horn of Africa last November. Finally, here is the language that pirates can understand:   36.   a ship.

   Several countries have    37.    forces to patrol Somali waters in    38.   to the growing number of pirate attacks on   39.  . But the pirates have only become more brazen (肆无忌惮),   40.   larger ships. Pirates even hijacked (劫持) a Saudi    41.   that was carrying over $100 million of oil.

   Nearly 100 ships were hijacked    42.   the Horn of Africa in 2008. Ransoms (赎金) paid to   43.   the ships reached nearly $50 million. This has   44.    much hand-wringing (much disappointment) in government circles, and some  45.     decisions by shipping companies. Some have decided to reroute their ships all the way    46.   the Cape of Good Hope. That could  47.     over $250,000 to each trip, but it’s better for their ship and crew to be kept by pirates for some weeks.

   International patrols are having little    48.  . Pirates responded by moving their armed attacks    49.  offshore. In effect, they've created a much larger field of play. The Sirius Star was    50.   450 nautical miles off the Kenyan coast, in the Indian Ocean--a     51.   of water so vast that    52.   forces can't possibly patrol(巡航) it.

   It seems that shipping firms have a decision to make: 53.    the region altogether or arm their ships to defend off direct attacks. There are some creative ways to do that. A chemical tanker fought off pirates    54.   with automatic weapons by releasing foam from fire hoses into the waters around the ship. In 2005, a cruise ship used a Long Range Acoustic Device, capable of causing permanent ear damage and temporary vision loss, to defend off a pirate attack on Somalia's coast.

When shall   55.   return to this body of water? People are still seeking the answer.

36. A. Attack               B. Sink           C. Control              D. Drive

37. A. joined                B. attended        C. gathered            D. united

38. A. return                B. turn            C. response           D. favor

39. A. warships            B. commercial ships   C. fishing ships   D. passengers ships

40. A. aiming               B. targeting                C. intending      D. taking

41. A. fishing boat        B. goods ship       C. passenger ship   D. oil tanker

42. A. out                    B. about                    C. off            D. from

43. A. charge         B. seize            C. keep           D. free

44. A. caused        B. led                          C. did            D. brought

45. A. reasonable          B. unreasonable       C. negative             D. sensitive

46. A. about                 B. over              C. around                 D. beyond

47. A. increase             B. put               C. make                   D. add

48. A. effect                B. affect             C. effort                    D. afford

49. A. away                 B. further            C. about                    D. around

50. A. forced               B. left               C. captured         D. broken

51. A. sea                    B. flow              C. mass                     D. body

52. A. air                     B. naval             C. land                         D. mixed

53. A. Avoid                 B. Protect             C. Keep                     D. Guard

54. A. mixed                B. combined          C. fitted                      D. armed

55. A. war             B. hijack                C. peace            D. conflict