阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
My wife and I like watching plays, so we will go to the theater whenever we have time. But before we buy tickets, we would like to know if the play is good or bad. When a new play comes, we1. (usual) read the newspaper to get information about it. Last week a new play was put on at the theater. The newspaper said it was very2. ( interest ) so we decided to go on Saturday night. My wife took a long time to make her 3. (decide) about what to wear and we left our house a little late.4.the time we got to the theater, the first act had already5. (begin).After the play was over, we met some friends,6. lived next to us several years ago. Then we went dancing. By the time we got home, it was about two o clock in the morning. I’m not used to7. (stay) out so late and I was 8. (extreme) tired.
When I was younger, I did not have the money to go out for9.evening like this. Though I can afford it now, I don’t have the energy10. (enjoy) it。
With supper finished, it was our time with Dad. Cindy, Tom and I climbed onto our couch. We all __ Mom to turn on the old tape player.
Dad had been piloting airplanes in Vietnam for the Air Force for a year. Through the year, our family received at least one ____a week from Dad. Mom played a part to us every day. Every day when Mom turned on the tape player, Dad ____by asking each of us how our ____had gone and what we had done.____ to the tape machine as if he could hear every word, each of us told him about our ____. Because Mom wrote down our responses, Dad was kept_____. In the following tape, he______our good deeds and ____corrected our errors. After ___ told Dad their tales, he read to us from the book Mom had sent.
The day Dad was to______, all of us were playing around the ___. Then the gate in the fence opened. A tall man in a _____walked through the gate.
My eldest sister jumped off the diving board and ran towards the man. Mom ran behind. The man embraced Mom and kissed her.
____by the scene, Tom and I looked at each other. Soon, the tall, uniformed man arrived at the pool’s edge and smiled ___ at us. With the innocence of a four-year-old girl, I looked up and ___ , “Are you my father?”
He burst into tears, knelt down, ____us into his arms and said, “Yes, I’m your father.” ____ I heard his voice, I ____him as my father because it was the same_____ that I heard so frequently on tape.
1.A. waited for B. looked at C. agreed with D. asked for
2.A. letter B. book C. tape D. photo
3.A. began B. greeted C. ended D. faced
4.A. study B. night C. morning D. day
5.A. Listening B. Speaking C. Staring D. Turning
6.A. actions B. movements C. adventures D. events
7.A. up-to-date B. down-and-out C. out-of-date D. up-and-coming
8.A. talked B. praised C. showed D. presented
9.A. strictly B. angrily C. gently D. violently
10.A. anyone B. nobody C. someone D. everyone
11.A. leave B. get C. arrive D. depart
12.A. swimming pool B. house C. grassland D. playing ground
13.A. uniform B. suit C. T-shirt D. jean
14.A. Delighted B. Frightened C. Amused D. Puzzled
15.A. down B. up C. back D. into
16.A. asked B. shouted C. required D. cried
17.A. pushed B. carried C. pulled D. sucked
18.A. Before long B. The moment C. Long after D. Just then
19.A. recognized B. realized C. understood D. found
20.A. sound B. voice C. man D. story
Tips for Cooking on a Tight Schedule
From my experience，there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often：ability，money，and time．1. Money is a topic I'll discuss another day．So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen．Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule：
1．Think ahead．The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and there's nothing ready to eat．So think ahead of the coming week．When will you have time to cook？Do you have the right materials already？2.
2．Make your time worth it．When you do find time to cook a meal，make the most of it and save yourself time later on．Are you making one loaf of bread？3. It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something．So save yourself the effort for a future meal．
3．4. This may surprise you，but one of the best tools for making cooking is to try new things．It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule．The more you learn and the more you try，the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule．
Hopefully that gives you a good start．5. And don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!
A．Try new things．
B．Ability is easily improved．
C．Make three or four instead．
D．Understand your food better．
E．Cooking is a burden for many people．
F．Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden．
G．A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on．
When I was in the eighth grade, one caring teacher of mine taught me several useful little techniques. He told me to keep a notebook nearby when I was reading and that I should try to figure out what the main idea of every paragraph was so that I could understand the passages better. It seemed awfully boring at that time, but I decided to give it a try anyway.
It didn’t take long before I started reading a book called How to Read a Book that would completely change how I thought about the written word. Thanks to these techniques, I learned to get the most out of reading. I kept applying them over the years until I finally came up with a lot of little techniques for reading a book.
I also eventually came to learn that there were a lot of different kinds of reading. For example, when I read a Stephen King novel, the interesting plot made me completely relaxed. Then there’s reading to learn new things, which is what I do when I read personal finance books. There’s also reading to understand and grow, which is easily the hardest and the most rewarding. The last kind of reading involves taking a piece of literature or a nonfiction book that you might read for simple pleasure and transforming it into something life-changing, or something that causes you to question some of your deeply-held ideas and beliefs.
How to Read a Book really focuses on the latter two: books that you read to learn about a new topic or to learn a skill, and books that you read to learn about yourself. If you’ve ever been drawn to read to really improve yourself, this book is well worth the time to read even if it’s a bit dry at times. Let’s dig in.
1.The writer’s teacher gave him some reading techniques so that __________.
A. he could become interested in reading
B. he could increase his reading speed
C. he could learn more from what he read
D. he could remember all the books he read
2.The writer said that he read a Stephen King novel for _________.
A. fun and pleasure B. personal development
C. learning new things D. changing his former beliefs
3.The writer wrote the passage to _________.
A. encourage readers to improve themselves by wide reading
B. thank the teacher who once helped him improve his reading
C. give an introduction to a very practical finance book
D. advise people to read a personal development book
There is a story about a man who lost his legs and left arm in an accident.After the accident, only a finger and thumb on his right hand remained.
He was a brilliant, creative, and educated man.He had gained a lot of experience while travelling around the world, so he became very depressed after his accident.He was afraid that he would spend the rest of his life suffering and would no longer be able to spend his life in a meaningful way.Then, he realized that he still had partial function of his right hand and could still write even though it was very difficult.An idea occurred to him.“Why not write to other people who need encouragement? ”
He wrote to the prison ministry about sending letters to the prisoners.The prison minister replied, “Writing to the prisoners is acceptable, but your letters will not be answered.”
Filled with excitement, the man knew he could write his letters.He began sending oneway messages of God's love, hope, strength, and encouragement.He wrote twice a week, testing his strength and ability to the limit.He poured his heart and soul into his words and shared his experience, sense of humor, optimism, and faith.
It was difficult to write those letters, especially without hope of a reply.One day he received a letter from the prison ministry.It was a short note from the officer who monitored and checked the prison mail.
The letter said, “Please write on the best paper you can afford.Your letters are passed from cell to cell until they literally fall to pieces! ”
No matter what circumstances life may present, we all have unique experiences, abilities, and Godgiven talents.We can discover ways to reach others who desperately need messages of encouragement and strength.
1.In order to live in a meaningful way, the man began to ．
A. receive the school education
B. write to other people who need encouragement
C. meet the people who are depressed
D. help other people with lost arm and legs
2.From the officer's short note we are told that ．
A. the man would be offered free paper to write letters on
B. some of the prisoners were not satisfied with his letters
C. the prisoners eagerly wanted to write back to the man
D. his letters were very popular among the prisoners
3.What can be the best title for the passage?
A. Stories about a Humorous Person
B. Popularity of Special Letters
C. Special Letters of Encouragement
D. Relationship between writers and prisoners.
Diana Ross, American pop singer and actress, achieved international popularity, first as the leader singer of the Supremes and later as a solo(独唱的) artist. Diana Ross was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. She was the second of six children of Fred and Ernestine Ross, who lived in one of Detroit’s poor districts. Because her family were closely connected with each other,Ross almost didn't notice the difficult life as she grew up.
Ross professional career began in 1959, when she joined several neighborhood friends to form the Primettes. The group was renamed the Supremes after signing a recording contract (合同) with Motown late the following year. The group produced many number-one hit singles (热门单曲) on the US Billboard hot 100, including Baby Love, Stop! In The Name of Love and Someday We Will Be Together. In 1967, the group was renamed Diana Ross and the Supremes, foreshadowing（预示） Ross’solo career,which she started in 1970.
Beginning with Ain’t No Mountain High Enough from her first solo album, Ross enjoyed more than ten years of great success with her hit singles. Ross also developed a film-acting career in the 1970s, beginning with a starring role as blues singer Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues and continuing with Mahogany, for which she also recorded the theme song Do You Know Where You’re Going To.
However, in the mid-1980s, Ross saw her career begin to wane. Most of her albums were re-recordings of earlier material. In 2006, she produced I Love Y ou, a collection of love songs by many artists, and she started an energetic concert tour the following year to make the album publicly known. Although you can’t find her songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 now, Ross remains popular as one of the leading musical performers of all time.
1.According to the passage, the Supremes ____.
A. had to break up in 1967
B. used to be named the Primettes
C. was made up of Ross and her classmates
D. signed a contract with Motown in 1959
2.Which of the following songs is included in Ross’s first solo album?
A. Baby love.
B. Stop! In the name of love.
C. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
D. Someday We’ll Be Together.
3.What can we learn about Do You Know Where You’re Going To?
A. It was the theme song of Mahogany.
B. It was one of Ross’No.1 hit singles.
C. It was sung by a blues singer.
D. It was from Ross’first film.
4.What does the underlined word “wane” in the last paragraph probably mean？
A. Develop faster.
B. End quickly.
C. Start again.
D. Become weaker.
