It was my 14th birthday and I would have the biggest party ever. The number of the_____ had quickly grown from seven to seventeen. Nearly every girl in _____ class was invited. When each guest excitedly _____ the invitation, I was especially happy.
The living room was full of shouts and _____. We had just finished a game of Twister when the door bell rang. I was so _____ and I could feel my face turning red. That was because when I _____ the door, there at the front door stood Sarah Westly—the quiet girl who sat next to me in music class—and she was holding a _____. I thought about the guest list. How did I _____ to invite Sarah?
I remembered that I only added a name to the _____ when someone showed an interest in me. But Sarah had never done that. I accepted the box, a gift _____ Sarah, and asked her to join the party. "I can't ____," she said. "My dad's waiting in the car." At that moment I felt bad about forgetting to invite Sarah and really wanted her to rest for some time in my room. "Thanks, but I have to go, "she said, turning _____ towards the door. "See you Monday."
I didn't open the box until the party was _____. Inside the small box was a ceramic tabby cat. It was the best gift I had received _____ I didn't like cats. I later _____ that the gift looked exactly like Sarah's cat, Seymour. I didn't know it then, but now I realize that Sarah was my true friend.
1.A.boys B.guests C.parents D.relatives
2.A.her B.his C.your D.my
3.A.canceled B.copied C.accepted D.offered
4.A.pride B.fear C.sadness D.laughter
5.A.surprised B.angry C.proud D.worried
6.A.touched B.opened C.caught D.saw
7.A.cat B.toy C.pen D.box
8.A.forget B.stop C.hope D.choose
9.A.gift B.list C.diary D.book
10.A.for B.to C.from D.about
11.A.stand B.sing C.wait D.stay
12.A.quickly B.carefully C.finally D.happily
13.A.away B.late C.over D.early
14.A.when B.unless C.if D.though
15.A.took out B.found out C.thought out D.put out
The 91st Academy Awards were held on Feb.25. The film Green Book directed by Peter Farrelly won Best Picture, the biggest award of the night. 1. Part of the reason is that it speaks openly about the problem of racial discrimination.
The film is inspired by a true story.2. In the movie, a white man named Tony is looking for a part-time job. Donald, a black jazz musician, needs a driver to take him on tour. Although Tony doesn't like black people, he takes the job. He drives Donald all over the southern United States.
3. Their own biases toward each other's races start to disappear as they learn more about each other. For example, in one scene, Donald helps Tony write a love letter to his wife Dolores. 4. As time passes, they realize how much they are similar to each other. At the end of the film, Donald comes to Tony's home to celebrate Christmas together. That's the final picture Green Book wants to really express.
The 1960s was a hard time for black people in the US. Discrimination was usual, especially in the south. 5. Though the road was hard, temple could still find the way out.
A.The story is set in the 1960s.
B.How did the film touch so many people's hearts?
C.But Green Book shows people how to fight against it.
D.In another scene, they share their love of fried chicken.
E.During the trip, the two men came to understand each other more deeply.
Joey was a boy. He was born with clubfeet. The doctors said that with treatment he would be able to walk normally—but would 1. run very well.
In seventh grade, he decided 2. go out for the crosscountry team. Every day he trained with the team. He worked harder and ran more 3. any of the others. Perhaps he realized his weakness. He continued to run four to five miles 4. day, even when he had a bad fever.
Two weeks later, the names of the team runners 5. called. Joey was number six on the list. He succeeded. He was in seventh grade and the other members were all eighth graders. We never told him he couldn't do it. But he just did it successfully.
偶遇龙卷风
While vacationing last summer, my brother and I were out in the middle of the lake on our rowboat, having a great time. We were about one kilometre away from our campsite _____ the wind picked up and bad weather rolled in.
“_____！” my brother called. “Let's get out of here before the storm hits.” We _____ to row back to the beach. But we soon found that the _____ was very strong, and we were moving slowly.
Over the treetops where our camp was, we _____ clusters of clouds floating above. They were very dark. “It's going to be a terrible storm，” shouted my _____.
The winds were strong now. There was a strange green color in the clouds as they raced _____ above us. Try as we might, we could make no headway against the powerful force. Just then, my brother came up _____a good idea.
Since we obviously couldn't make it back to shore against the wind, we could simply go with the wind and let it push our _____ to the other shore.
We turned the boat around and began to row as ______ as we could. The little rowboat had never travelled so fast! We ______ the beach and stood there, watching the sky.
It was then that I saw the scariest thing ever. From the sky came a long stream of cloud, shaping like a funnel. We realized ______ we were seeing a tornado!
We watched the tornado touch down and sweep across our campsite. If we had made it back to the camp, who knows what would have happened to ______！
Our site was ruined, but we weren't hurt. We were very ______. I learned about the incredible ______ of nature that day. It's something that I will never forget.
1.A.before B.if C.though D.when
2.A.Come on B.Go away C.Hurry up D.Keep off
3.A.learned B.started C.used D.finished
4.A.wind B.rain C.snow D.storm
5.A.felt B.touched C.sounded D.saw
6.A.father B.brother C.mother D.sister
7.A.shyly B.sadly C.happily D.angrily
8.A.with B.in C.on D.under
9.A.coat B.boat C.glasses D.books
10.A.strongly B.quietly C.slowly D.fast
11.A.reached B.found C.remembered D.looked
12.A.where B.that C.what D.who
13.A.us B.him C.her D.them
14.A.clever B.kind C.lucky D.helpful
15.A.story B.result C.power D.influence
American English, like all languages, has plenty of colorful expressions. Today, let's talk about some common expressions about “rain” and “cloud”.
1.
Most of you have heard the expression “rain cats and dogs”. We use it when it is raining very, very hard. In other words, we use this expression when it is pouring. For example, it is raining cats and dogs, so we have to put off our picnic.
The expression about rain but beyond “rain” itself
2.
The expression about cloud
3.
For example, if I'm living under a cloud, it means I'm under the deep sadness. However, if you add a few extra words to the expression, the meaning changes greatly.
4.
Even for people living under a dark cloud, there is always something hopeful. And that brings us to our last expression—every cloud has a silver lining.
5.
A.The expression about heavy rain
B.The expression about dark cloud
C.Sometimes, a person is under a cloud. That means he or she meets something bad.
D.We have another useful expression about hard rain—When it rains, it pours! This means that when something bad happens, other bad things happen soon after. We often say this after someone describes a lot of bad things which happen one after another.
E.For example, Jim had cars accident. He wasn't badly hurt but his car was damaged so badly that it couldn't be fixed. He began to talk to the other driver. They found that they shared the love of old cars. So, they became good friends. Just as the saying goes, “Every cloud has a silver lining！”
Nancy looked unhappy because she thought everything was going wrong1. her. So her mom thought of a good way to make her daughter happier than before—make a cake.
When the cookers and ingredients were prepared2. the mom, the mom asked Nancy, “My dear,3. you like a piece of cake？” Nancy replied, “Sure！” “All right，” the mom said, “drink some of this cooking oil.” Nancy was very surprised and said loudly, “What? No way！” “How about a couple of eggs？” asked the mom and Nancy answered, “4. way！” “How about some flour？”“No, Mom! I will be sick！”
The girl's mother explained, “All of these taste bad, but if you put them5.， they will make a delicious cake. Life works the same way. Sunshine comes after the storm, and the sweet cake comes after bitter.”
