Carl lost his job. He had so little money that he spent his days at home. He watched his neighbor’s room, where an old professor lived. He found the rooms were full of old furniture and vases. Carl thought, “Why haven’t I got an old and valuable vase? I can sell it for a lot of money.”
Carl had an old gun. It had been his great grandfather’s favorite thing a long time before. Carl didn’t want to use the gun but he thought, “Anything could happen.” He wanted to hide the gun under his coat but it was too long so he cut the end off with a saw(锯子).
Next morning he watched the professor leave home at 10 o’clock. Carl broke the window and entered the house. He didn’t know much about arts. He couldn’t choose. He reached his hands towards a big vase when he heard a noise. The front door opened and someone entered the house. It was the professor. He had forgotten to take an important document. Carl became so afraid that he pulled out the gun, “I haven’t stolen anything. I just want to go away or I will shoot.” cried Carl. “With that gun? ”asked the professor and he began to laugh. He wasn’t afraid of Carl at all.
He said, “You can’t shoot with that old gun. Its place should be in a museum.”
“Is this really an old gun? ” asked Carl. “How much is it worth?”
“It was worth about 27,000 dollars,” said the professor, “But now you can get 20 dollars for it．”
“Why?” asked Carl.
The professor said, “Because its end is missing.”
36. Carl wanted to steal because he was interested in beautiful vases.
37. He cut the end of the gun off in order to hide it easily.
38. The professor came back because he saw Carl enter his house.
39. The professor was not afraid of Carl because he thought Carl dared not shoot.
40. The gun is worth 20 dollars now because Carl cut off its end.
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中,选出可以填人空白处的最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Once a group of tourists who were staying at a hotel in Birmingham were having dinner in the restaurant. Fish was brought in and while they were 16 it, some of them told interesting stories about 17 pearls and other 18 things inside fish.
An old gentleman, who up to now had 19 quietly to their conversation, at last said,
“ I’ve heard all your stories, now I’ll tell you 20 . When I was a young man I was working in a large importing factory in New York, and 21 is usual with young persons, I fell in 22 with a pretty young girl. Very __23__ we were engaged（订婚）. About two months __24___ our marriage was to take place, I was suddenly 25 to Birmingham on a very important business. I left my sweetheart, 26 to write to her. ”
“ I had to stay in Birmingham longer than I had 27 . At last my work was done and I could leave Birmingham. But just before I 28 New York, I bought a beautiful and very expensive diamond 29 , planning to give it to my sweetheart. ”
“ On my way to New York, I was__30___ the morning newspaper, which had been brought on board by the sailor. Suddenly I 31 an announcement of my sweetheart’s 32 with another. This made me so angry that I threw the ring overboard. A few days 33 , when I was eating fish, I bit(咬) on something 34 . What do you think it was ? ”
“ The diamond ring, ” cried his companions. “ No ” , said the old gentleman 35 , “ it was a fish-bone.”
16. A. eating B.
cooking C. peeling
D. weighing
17. A. exchanging B. tasting C. finding D. searching
18. A. valuable B. terrible C. common D. cheap
19. A. sat B. listened C. stood D. thought
20. A. one
B. all
C. some
D. another
21. A. it B. which C. that D. as
22. A. trouble B. debt C. quarrel D. love
23. A. quickly B. fast C. soon D. lucky
24. A. when B. before C. after D. since
25. A. reported B. sent C. caught D. taken
26. A. promising B. agreeing C. refusing D. wishing
27. A. regretted
B. wondered C.
expected D. finished
28. A. left for B. left to C. returned back D. returned from
29. A. watch B. ring C. earring D. necklace
30. A. looking at B. looking up C. looking through D. looking for
31. A. looked B. saw C. heard D. recognized
32. A. marriage B. fight C. talk D. agreement
33. A. before B. later C. earlier D. ago
34. A. hard B. sweet C. soft D. crisp
35. A. happily
B. loudly
C. angrily
D. sadly
I will work as hard as I can _____ for the final exam.
A. prepare B. to prepare C. preparing D. prepared
_____ there are many different interpretations of our body language, some gestures seem to be universal.
A. When B. While C. Because D. Since
The speaker raised his voice but still couldn’t make himself _____.
A. hear B. to hear C. heard D. to be heard
Theme parks try to make sure that visitors leave _____ more about their theme.
A. to know B. knowing C. know D. known
