请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Before I turned 29, my parents moved to Queensland, where I arrived for a visit six months later.
I upon my mother with hugs, and for the first time in my life I said, “I love you, mom!” Then I gently , expecting some kind of reciprocation. But it never came. Instead, she appeared in horror.
When I was back at work, I overheard a workmate on a call to her mother and she concluded it with “I love you, Mum.” As as that. Why wasn’t it like that in mine? Something had to be done about this situation once and for all.
My came the next Sunday during my weekly phone call to my mother. After we had shared our usual pleasantries and , I took a deep breath and asked, “Do you love me, Mum?” After a short , she replied, “I love you. Don’t be silly. You know we never said things like that in my family.”
“Well, I want it to be said in ours. From now on I want to our conversations with ‘I love you.’”
In May 2000 my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was to hospital, and I phoned every day to her. One evening when I rang, a nurse answered the phone and regretfully informed me that my mother’s condition had rapidly worsened. She wasn’t expected to it through the night.
Knowing I couldn’t get a flight in time, I asked the nurse to put the phone next to my mother’s ear so I could talk to her. “She’s conscious,” the nurse replied. “It’s unlikely she’ll hear you.” But I didn’t care. I wanted to do it .
she’d placed the phone by my mother’s ear, I started and telling Mum over and over again that I loved her. At first, all I could hear was “Hmmmm” — but then, like a miracle, with a deep she said, “Love you … love you, darling.” It was the last thing she said before drifting into .
Although I was overwhelmed by her death, the surprising part was how well I . Of course, losing a parent is extremely painful and I shed many tears, but receiving those lovely last words made it much more . I had closure in the best possible way.
1.A. fell B. struck C. relied D. depended
2.A. pushed off B. turned up C. pulled away D. looked on
3.A. deserted B. frozen C. guilty D. clumsy
4.A. simple B. sacred C. apparent D. original
5.A. stress B. crisis C. emergency D. love
6.A. potential B. opportunity C. inspiration D. choice
7.A. interests B. secrets C. expectations D. updates
8.A. preparation B. friction C. hesitation D. identification
9.A. end B. start C. continue D. hold
10.A. permitted B. admitted C. allowed D. sentenced
11.A. check on B. attend to C. call on D. see to
12.A. take B. face C. make D. cool
13.A. entirely B. absolutely C. slightly D. barely
14.A. therefore B. otherwise C. anyway D. somehow
15.A. Before B. Once C. Unless D. Since
16.A. whispering B. yelling C. screaming D. sobbing
17.A. sigh B. conversation C. thought D. sleep
18.A. calmness B. unconsciousness C. hardness D. sickness
19.A. prayed B. clarified C. coped D. concluded
20.A. authentic B. arbitrary C. precise D. bearable
College graduates are caught in an annoying situation between a lack of jobs if they leave and a ________ on higher education if they stay.
A. compromise B. squeeze C. burden D. passion
—I’d like to have one more look round. By myself this time.
—Of course. ________.
A. Be my guest B. Drop me a line
C. Count me out D. Allow me
Difficult as part of the passage was ________, I managed to catch hold of its meaning in the end.
A. understanding B. to be understood
C. to understand D. being understood
A competent teacher is perfectly aware that it’s not what is poured into a student that counts, but ________ is planted.
A. what B. that C. why D. how
A great part of the information I have was ________ by looking up something and finding something else on the way.
A. requested B. acquired C. exchanged D. presented
