完形填空,阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36~55各题中所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
What a busy day! The three boys were fed, bathed and changed into their nightclothes. Mary had _ __ them a story and finally they were asleep. “Babysitting（照看）the three boys aged eight, six and four is extremely __ __,” she thought.
“Sleep,” she considered, “if only I could!” But she had difficult homework to complete. Leaning back, she __ __ her feet onto the sofa to get comfortable. Whoever said babysitting was a (an) __ _ way to make money obviously hadn’t met the three boys, she thought. The television was on, the room was warm, and the lights were dim. Mary’s __ _ felt heavier and heavier. I mustn’t sleep, she thought — which was __ _ what she did, of course.
Strangely enough, she soon __ _ that she was a world-famous chef（主厨）. She made a __ __ and wore diamonds and designer clothes. Most days she relaxed by the pool, meeting the rich and famous or __ __ — her favorite hobby. She _ __ took the leading role in her own TV show.
That is, until she became too __ __. “I am definitely the best in the world,” she thought, as she prepared a tasty chicken dish. But _ __ seemed to go right. She spilt the flour, she dropped an egg and she cut her finger. Despite all the troubles, she __ __ to get the chicken into the dove. Soon, smoke blanketed the room. The chicken was on fire. __ __ set in, but Mary could not run — she was __ ___to the spot. She tried hard to move, but could not, __ __ a sharp sound awoke her.
She got shocked and confused — __ __ was pouring from the kitchen. Rushing to investigate, she was met by three _ ___little faces and some very burnt bread. “Sorry, we were hungry and you were __ __, so we tried to make some bread,” explained a boy. Relieved, Mary made them a snack and sent them back to bed. She__ __ them never to fall asleep on the job again!
1.A. given B. written C. told D. taught
2.A. successful B. helpful C. tiring D. surprising
3.A. shook B. put C. bent D. kept
4.A. difficult B. boring C. important D. easy
5.A. eyes B. mind C. heart D. legs
6.A. nicely B. exactly C. curiously D. carelessly
7.A. realized B. reminded C. learnt D. dreamt
8.A. decision B. fortune C. business D. plan
9.A. cooking B. reading C. running D. babysitting
10.A. just B. ever C. even D. only
11.A. selfish B. proud C. stubborn D. sensitive
12.A. everything B. something C. anything D. nothing
13.A. tried B. arranged C. managed D. prepared
14.A. Panic B. Pain C. Noise D. Stress
15.A. frozen B. dragged C. pushed D. brought
16.A. because B. until C. as D. unless
17.A. smoke B. light C. water D. fire
18.A. cheerful B. strange C. guilty D. confident
19.A. busy B. hungry C. worried D. asleep
20.A. promised B. allowed C. expected D. persuaded
根据短文内容，从短文后面的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。其中有两项为多余项。
Money Matters
Parents should help their children understand money. 1.__ so you may start talking about money when your child shows an interest in buying things, candy or toys, for example.
1. The basic function of money
Being explaining the basic function of money by showing how people trade money for goods or services. It’s important to show your child how money is traded for the thing he wants to have. If he wants to have a toy, give him the money and let him hand the money to the cashier.___ 2. when your child grows a bit older and understands the basic function of money, you can start explaining more complex ways of using money.
2. Money lessons
Approach money lessons with openness and honesty. 3. If you must say no to a child’s request to spend money, explain,” You have enough toy trucks for now.” Or, if the request is for many different things, say. “You have to make a choice between this toy and that toy.”
3. 4.
Begin at the grocery store. Pick out similar brands of a product—a name brand butter and a generic(无商标产品),for example. You can show your child how to make choices between different brands of a product so that you can save money. _5. If he chooses the cheaper brand, allow him to make another purchase with the money saved. Later, you may explain how the more expensive choice leaves less money for other purchases.
A. Wise decision.
B. The value of money.
C. Permit the child to choose between them.
D. Tell your child why he can or cannot have certain things
E. Ask yourself what things that cost money are most important to you.
F. Talk about how the money bought the thing after you leave the toy store.
G. The best time to teach a child anything about money is when he shows an interest.
We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor(谣言).
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.
This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.
1.According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.
A. doing a medical experiment
B. solving a math problem
C. visiting an exhibition
D. doing scientific reasoning
2.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.
A. active learning B. knowledge
C. communication D. passive learning
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Active learning is less important.
B. Passive learning may not be reliable.
C. Active learning occurs more frequently.
D. Passive learning is not found among scholars.
Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.
The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.
The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”
Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.
Existing pedometers （计步器） normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”
1.According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.
A. keep a record of the steps of the wearer
B. deal with overweight among teenagers
C. enable children to resist the temptation of TV
D. prevent children from being tricked by TV programs
2.Which of the following is TRUE of Square Eyes shoes?
A. They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time.
B. They determine a child’s daily pocket money.
C. They have raised the hot issue of overweight.
D. They contain information of the receiver.
3.What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?
A. The exact number of steps to be taken.
B. The precise number of hours spent on TV.
C. The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.
D. The way of changing steps into TV watching time.
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time
B. Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise
C. Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise
D. Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight
Pearl Buck(1892—1973)was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia. She grew up in China, but was educated at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. After her graduation she returned to China and lived there until 1934 with the exception of a year spent at Cornell University, where she took an MA in 1926.Pearl Buck began to write in the twenties; her first novel, East Wind; West Wind, appeared in 1930.It was followed by The Good Earth (1931),Sons(1932),and A House Divided(1935),together forming a trilogy(三部曲)on the stories of the family of Wang. The Good Earth stood on the American list of bestsellers for a long time and earned her several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the William Dean Howells Medal. She also published The first Wife and Other Stories(1933),All Men are Brothers(1933),The Mother(1934),and This Proud Heart(1938).The biographies(传记)of her mother and father, The Exile and Fighting Angel, were published in 1936 and later brought out together under the title of The Spirit and the Flesh(1944).
Pearl Buck’s works after 1938 are too many to speak about. Her novels have continued to deal with the differences between East and West. Her interest has spread to such countries as India and Korea.
Pearl Buck was active in many charity(慈善)organizations; in particular she set up an organization for the adoption of Asian-American children and took an active interest in children with low IQ.
1.What is the correct time order of the following events?
a. Pearl Buck took an MA at Cornell University.
b. Pearl Buck published The First Wife and Other Stories.
c. Pearl Buck’s first novel, East Wind; West Wind appeared.
d. Pearl Buck published the biographies of her mother and father.
A.a,b,c,d B. a,d,c,b
C.a,c,b,d D. a,d,b,c
2.We can learn from the passage that_______.
A. Pearl Buck attended a college in China
B. The Good Earth was well-received by American readers
C.Pearl Buck stayed in China in 1926
D. Pearl Buck stopped writing in 1938
3.According to the passage, Pearl Buck was interested in______.
A. American history B.politics in India and Korea
C. writing novels about war D.doing charity work
4.In which part of a magazine would you probably read the passage?
A. People B. Politics C. Travel D. Business
When I was growing up, I was ashamed to be seen with my father. He was severely disabled and very short, and when we would walk together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare. If he ever noticed or was bothered, he never let it on.
It was difficult to coordinate(协调)our steps---his slow, mine impatient---and because of that, we didn’t say much as we went along. But as we started out, he always said, “You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.”
He never talked about himself as an object of pity, nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able. What he looked for in others was a “good heart”, and if he found one, the owner was good enough for him.
Now that I am older, I believe that is a proper standard by which to judge people, even though I still don’t know accurately what a “good heart” is. But I know the times I don’t have one myself.
Unable to engage in many activities, my father still tried to participate(参加) in some way. I now know he participated in some things indirectly through me, his only son. When I played ball(poorly),he “played” too. When I joined the navy ,he “joined” too. And when I came home on leave ,he saw to it that I visited his office. Introducing me, he was really saying, “This is my son, but it is also me, and I could have done this, too, if things had been different.”Those words were never said aloud.
He has been gone many years now, but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my unwillingness to be seen with him during our walks. If he did, I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was, how unworthy I was, how I regretted it. I think of him when I complain about small affairs, when I am envious of another’s good fortune, when I don’t have a “good heart”.
At such times I put my hand on his arm to regain my balance, and say, “You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.”
1.The author felt unhappy walking with his father because___.
A. he was pitiful for his father’s physical disability
B. it was hard for them to walk at the same pace
C. he didn’t want others to know he had an ugly father
D. it was not easy for his father to keep balance
2.In the father’s view, the most important quality a good person should have is___.
A. beautiful appearance B. excellent health
C. a smart head D. a good heart
3.It can be inferred from the text that_____.
A. the father was proud of his only son
B. the father took part in all his son’s activities
C. the author was upset when asked to his father’s office
D. the author was a good ball player and outstanding soldier
4.According to the last paragraph, by saying “You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.”, the author means that____.
A .he is now glad to help his father to walk
B. he regrets his unwillingness to walk with his father
C. he will follow father’s standards of being a good man
D. he will never forget how mentally strong his father was
