How old was I? I can’t recall. Maybe I was only 10, about to turn 11, making it the first Christmas after my father left, and left me to fill that sad, shattered place in my mother’s heart. Whenever it was, it was the Christmas the magic changed: the year I stopped being a wide-eyed child and tried eagerly to play Father Christmas myself. It was the Christmas of the coat.
Mom first saw the coat at Tobias, one of the nicer women’s stores in our town’s little mall. It was a deep forest green. A long, heavy, wool dress coat with side pockets. Mom pulled it out from the rack（架） and held it up. “Long enough,”she murmured and slipped it on.
“I need a new coat,” Mom smiled before the three-way mirror. She made any clothing look good, and this coat hugged her just right. She glanced at the price tag, then hung the coat back on the rack, pausing once more to feel the smooth brush of wool.
Eighty-seven dollars. But I didn’t think twice. As we moved on through the mall, I found some excuse to come back and ask one of the Tobias ladies to hold the coat.
At last I had the coat. The store ladies wrapped it in their biggest box with bright blue paper and a thick silver ribbon. I don’t remember how I got it home, but I can still feel the bursting excitement and pride that filled me each time I glimpsed at the beautifully wrapped gift hiding under my sweater. I would occasionally dig it out just to hold the box, to imagine the big space it would take up under our tree. Here it was ─ joy, peace, and love ─ all wrapped up, waiting for Mom’s loving gratitude.
36. That the writer’s mother felt the coat before they left the store showed that ____.
A. the coat was of good quality B. the coat was too expensive
C. she liked the coat very much D. she’d get it in the end
37. The writer tried to act as Father Christmas in order to ____.
A. show he grew up B. show he missed his father
C. bring his mother a surprise D. enjoy himself
38. The writer hid the coat under his sweater in order to ____.
A. imagine the space taken up under the Christmas tree
B. feel the strong feeling to his mother on Christmas
C. give his mother a big surprise on Christmas Day
D. keep the new coat tidy and orderly in the box
39. What can be the best title of this passage?
A. A Merry Christmas B. Christmas of the Coat
C. A Deep Green Coat D. Mother’s Merry Christmas
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
The winter skies are grey and it’s cold outside. The nights come early and we spend a lot more time 16 and alone. Many people 17 winter: so cold, so dark, so boring. But I like winter because I have more time to read.
For many students reading means school; it means 18 . Reading is something your teacher assigns and it’s something you’re 19 . Reading is something you have to do, not something you want to do. But for me and many other people, reading is the most 20 thing we can imagine. Getting lost in a good book can 21 a cold winter evening disappear. Dull grey skies are no 22 for the fantastic adventures of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings《指环王》，or for romantic trouble-making of Jane Austen’s Emma《爱玛》, or for the youthful problems of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye《麦田守望者》.
All of those books are studied in North American high schools. They are interesting and well written books that 23 young people. 24 , even there, many high school students don’t enjoy reading the books because they are 25 their school work: “Oh, my God! Two hundred pages! I’ll never be able to read 26 much.” But sometimes a funny thing happens. They begin to read and they begin to follow the 27 . Suddenly, the world inside the book becomes more exciting and more wonderful than the world they 28 . At the moment the thought 29 reading is work disappears and reading becomes 30 .
Reading anything is 31 but reading good books is a terrific way to improve your English. Good writers write English very well and 32 you with good examples to follow. And good books will tell you more about English 33 : what people think, how they talk, how they interact with each other. But don’t let me 34 it by telling you that reading is good for you. Just think of it as a good way to 35 on a cold winter evening.
16. A. indoors B. indoor C. outdoors D. outside
17. A. like B. prefer C. hate D. love
18. A. job B. worry C. try D. work
19. A. tested B. tested on C. examined D. examined on
20. A. enjoyable B. reasonable C. comfortable D. considerable
21. A. want B. cause C. make D. force
22. A. contest B. challenge C. competition D. match
23. A. appeal to B. respond to C. react to D. reply to
24. A. Fortunately B. Luckily C. Unfortunately D. Accidentally
25. A. free from B. part of C. in place of D. far from
26. A. not B. very C. those D. that
27. A. story B. subject C. instruction D. theme
28. A. leave for B. care about C. flee from D. live in
29. A. what B. that C. this D. which
30. A. a comfort B. a failure C. a success D. a pleasure
31. A. bad B. mean C. great D. grand
32. A. provide B. offer C. give D. award
33 A. custom B. language C. culture D. art
34. A. break B. spoil C. make D. develop
35. A. keep warm B. stand still C. stay calm D. stay cool
Mary didn’t want of the two kinds and asked the shop assistant to show her .
|
A．both; the other |
B．all; the others |
|
C．either; another |
D．neither; another |
You can’t camp you like these days. Many natural areas are now under protection.
|
A．what |
B．when |
C．wherever |
D．which |
We got home to find the whole house upset down . Thieves obviously .
|
A．turned; had been broken in |
B．turned; had broken in |
|
C．to have turned; had been broken in |
D．turning; had been broken into |
Lily her husband the moment she met him, but lily’s friends don’t believe that at all.
|
A．took up |
B．took after |
C．took over |
D．took to |
