Question

For much of my childhood, my mother filled the evening hours doing something for someone else. Sometimes she knitted (编织) hats for babies, and at other times she cooked chicken soup for sick neighbors. Therefore, I wasn't     when one evening my mother announced she'd start a new project.

"I'm going to telephone neighboring     every night," said my mother.

"Every night? But you don't even     these people. "

"Doesn't matter," she said. "What's important is that I want to listen."

I was sixteen years old and couldn't figure out why my mother was willing to spend her evenings talking to strangers.  She had friends and my two elder sisters to call     she felt lonely.

My     didn't affect my mother's project. That evening after supper, she settled on the sofa with the phone and began making phone calls.

For a while, I listened as she asked the lady on the phone about her day, what she had eaten for dinner, and asked if she had       that the beautiful roses had come out in a neighboring park. When she finished the call, I said, "What do you     whether she had cookie or cream pie for dessert?"

My mother replied, "I'm the     person she talked to today."

It took me nearly thirty years to understand the     of what she was doing. Now, as my mother is nearing sixty, I find myself thinking about those nightly   she used to make.

I am often the only person who telephones my mother, and sometimes I'm the only person she speaks to all day. I ask her what she cooked for dinner, but mostly I just     as she describes a walk she took, or how her dog Lucky stole a piece of cheese from the kitchen.

I     that my mother's calls were lifelines (生命之线 ) that kept lonely seniors connected to the world. Somehow, she managed to work full-time and   a family while improving the lives of others.

That kind of   needs commitment (奉献，投入) and organizational skills that I do not have. While she freed several seniors from     , I struggle to call just one － my mother.

1.A. interested      B. satisfied        C. surprised      D. excited

2.A. teenagers        B. children         C. juniors        D. seniors

3.A. meet           B. know             C. pass           D. find

4.A. because          B. if               C. though         D. until

5.A. doubt           B. advice           C. answer         D. praise

6.A. decided          B. felt             C. noticed        D. imagined

7.A.  hate          B. love             C. mean           D. care

8.A. only            B. early            C. first          D. last

9.A. difficulty        B. importance       C. possibility    D. difference

10.A. visits           B. orders           C. calls          D. cries

11.A. think            B. listen           C. talk           D. write

12.A. realize          B. explain          C. express        D. recognize

13.A. protect         B. start            C. affect         D. support

14.A. service         B. experience       C. promise        D. tradition

15.A. hopelessness   B. illness          C. loneliness     D. helplessness

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.B

5.A

6.C

7.D

8.A

9.B

10.C

11.B

12.A

13.D

14.A

15.C

【解析】

1.C考查动词。A. interested感兴趣；B. satisfied感到满意；C. surprised感到吃惊；D. excited感到兴奋。根据上句：有时她为婴儿编织草帽，有时为生病的邻居做鸡汤。因此，当妈妈向我宣布她将开始一个新项目时，我并不感到惊讶。故选C。

2.D考查名词。A. teenagers青少年；B. children孩子们；C. juniors子弟，年少者；D. seniors较年长者; 地位较高的，资历较深的。句意：我每天晚上都会打电话给邻近的老人。故选D。

3.B考查动词。A. meet遇见；B. know知道；C. pass传递；D. find找到。句意：每天晚上？你甚至不认识这些人。故选B。

4.B考查状语从句。A. because因为；B. if如果；C. though尽管；D. until直到---为止。句意：如果她感到孤单，她有朋友，也可以给我的两个姐姐打电话。故选B。

5.A考查名词。A. doubt 怀疑；B. advice建议；C. answer回答；D. praise表扬。句意：我的质疑并没有影响我妈妈的项目。故选A。

6.C考查动词。A. decided决定；B. felt感觉；C. noticed注意到；D. imagined想象。句意：妈妈在电话里问那位女士晚饭吃得什么，是否注意到公园里的玫瑰花已经开了。故选C。

7.D考查动词。A. hate厌恶；B. love爱；C. mean意味着；D. care关心。句意：你是什么意思，她吃饼干还是奶油派甜点？故选D。

8.A考查副词。A. only仅仅；B. early早； C. first第一；D. last最后。句意：我是今天唯一一个和她谈话的人。故选A。

9.B考查名词。A. difficulty困难；B. importance重要性；C. possibility可能性；D. difference不同。句意：我花费了30年的时间才明白了妈妈所做的一切的重要性。故选B。

10.C考查名词。A. visits访问；B. orders命令；C. calls电话；D. cries哭声。句意：我发现我一直在想过去妈妈晚上打得那些电话。故选C。

11.B考查动词。A. think认为；B. listen听；C. talk谈论；D. write写。句意：我问他晚饭做得什么，但多数时候我是在听它的描述。故选B。

12.A考查动词。A. realize意识到；B. explain解释；C. express表达；D. recognize辨认。句意：我意识到我妈妈的那些电话就是那些孤独老人的与世界联系的生命之线。故选A。

13.D考查动词。A. protect保护；B. start开始；C. affect影响；D. support支持。句意：她设法在改善其他人生活的同时，全职工作，支持一个家庭。故选D。

14.A考查名词。A. service服务；B. experience 经历；C. promise许诺；D. tradition传统。句意：那种服务需要奉献和组织技能，这是我没有的。故选A。

15.C考查名词。A. hopelessness希望；B. illness疾病；C. loneliness孤独；D. helplessness帮助。句意：她使几个老年人摆脱了孤独，而我努力去呼唤的只有一个人，我的妈妈。故选C。