Question

One of the easiest things in the world is to become a fault-finder. However, life can be _______ when you are not busy finding fault with it.

Several years ago I _____ a letter from seventeen-year-old Kerry, who described herself as a world-class fault-finder, almost always _____ by things. People were always doing things that annoyed her, and _____ was ever good enough. She was highly self-critical and also found fault with her friends. She became a really _____ person.

Unfortunately, it took a horrible accident to change her _____. Her best friend was seriously hurt in a car crash. What made it almost _____ to deal with was that the day before the _____, Kerry had visited her friend and had spent the whole time criticizing her _____ of boyfriends, the way she was living, the way she related to her mother, and various other things she felt she needed to _____. It wasn’t until her friend was badly hurt that Kerry became _____ her habit of finding fault. Very quickly, she leamed to appreciate life rather than to _____ everthing so harshly(刻薄). She was able to transfer her new wisdom to other parts of her _____ as well.

Perhaps most of us aren’t as extreme at fault-finding, _____ when we’re honest, we can be sharply _____ of the world. I’m not suggesting you _____ problems, or that you pretend things are ____ than they are, but simply that you learn to allow things to be as they are ---_____ most of the time, and especially when it’s not a really big _____.

Train yourself to “bite your tongue”, and with a little _____, you’ll get really good at letting things go. And when you do, you’ll get back your enthusiasm and love for life.

1.A. lonely    B. quiet    C. great    D. uneasy

2.A. answered    B. received    C. expected    D. rejected

3.A. threatened    B. interrupted    C. spoiled    D. bothered

4.A. anything    B. everything    C. nothing    D. something

5.A. boring    B. caring    C. interesting    D. surprising

6.A. measure    B. plan    C. attitude    D. explanation

7.A. urgent    B. unnecessary    C. certain    D. impossible

8.A. occasion    B. event    C. accident    D. adventure

9.A. memory    B. notice    C. evidence    D. choice

10.A. hear    B. contribute    C. express    D. admit

11.A. afraid of    B. aware of    C. curious about    D. confused about

12.A. discuss    B. realize    C. settle    D. judge

13.A. family    B. career    C. life    D. education

14.A. so    B. or    C. but    D. for

15.A. proud    B. sure    C. hopeful    D. critical

16.A. face    B. ignore    C. solve    D. create

17.A. rarer    B. stranger    C. better    D. worse

18.A. at least    B. at last    C. by far    D. so far

19.A. task    B. deal    C. result    D. duty

20.A. practice    B. speech    C. rest    D. pity

Answer

1. C

2. B

3. D

4. C

5. A

6. C

7. D

8. C

9. D

10. C

11. B

12. D

13. C

14. C

15. D

16. B

17. C

18. A

19. B

20. A

【解析】

本文是一篇夹叙夹议文，通过毒舌女孩Kerry在朋友受伤后意识到并改正自己吹毛求疵这个毛病告诉我们顺其自然，学会放手才能让自己的世界变得更美好。

1.考查形容词词义辨析。A. lonely孤独的；B. quiet安静的；C. great伟大的、极好的；D. uneasy不安的。根据本空前的“One of the easiest things in the world is to become a fault-finder.”可知，世界上最简单的事情就是成为一个吹毛求疵的人，然而当你不忙于挑毛病时，生活可以变得很好，故C选项切题。

2.考查动词词义辨析。A. answered回答；B. received收到；C. expected期望；D. rejected拒绝。根据本空后的“a letter from seventeen-year-old Kerry…”可知，我收到了17岁女孩Kerry的信，故B选项切题。

3.考查动词词义辨析。A. threatened威胁；B. interrupted打断；C. spoiled变质、损坏； D. bothered烦扰。根据本空前的“who described herself as a world-class fault-finder,”可知，Kerry说自己是一个世界级的吹毛求疵者，总是被各种事情所烦扰，故D选项切题。

4.考查代词词义辨析。A. anything任一；B. everything每一；C. nothing没有；D. something某一。根据本空前的“People were always doing things that annoyed her,”可知，人们做的事情都让她生气，没有一件事情是好的，故C选项切题。

5.考查形容词词义辨析。A. boring无聊的、讨厌的；B. caring关心的、关怀的；C. interesting有趣的；D. surprising令人惊讶的。根据本空前的“She was highly self-critical and also found fault with her friends.”可知，她总是自我批评并且对朋友吹毛求疵，她变得非常令人讨厌，故A选项切题。

6.考查名词词义辨析。A. measure措施；B. plan计划；C. attitude态度；D. explanation解释。根据本空前的“Unfortunately, it took a horrible accident to change her”可知，一场可怕的事故改变了她的态度，故C选项切题。

7.考查形容词词义辨析。A. urgent紧急的；B. unnecessary不必要的；C. certain确定的；D. impossible不可能的。上文说朋友在车祸中严重受伤，让事情处理起来变得不可能的是事故的前一天Kerry还拜访过那个朋友并批评她一个下午，故D选项切题。

8.考查名词词义辨析。A. occasion场合；B. event事件；C. accident事故、意外；D. adventure冒险。句意参考上题解析，此处指朋友发生的意外，故C选项切题。

9.考查名词词义辨析。A. memory记忆；B. notice通知、注意；C. evidence证据；D. choice选择。根据本空后的“of boyfriends, the way she was living, the way she related to her mother”可知，她批评朋友对男朋友的选择，她生活的方式以及她与母亲联络的方式等等，故D选项切题。

10.考查动词词义辨析。A. hear听见；B. contribute贡献；C. express表达；D. admit承认。她批评朋友对男朋友的选择，她生活的方式以及她与母亲联络的方式以及其他她认为需要表达的观点，故C选项切题。

11.考查形容词短语辨析。A. afraid of害怕；B. aware of知道；C. curious about好奇； D. confused about迷惑。根据本空后的“her habit of finding fault.”可知，直到朋友严重受伤，她才意识到自己爱挑毛病这个习惯，故B选项切题。

12.考查动词词义辨析。A. discuss讨论；B. realize意识到；C. settle解决；D. judge判断。根据本空前的“Very quickly, she learned to appreciate life rather than to”可知，很快，她就学会了要欣赏生活而不是刻薄地评判一切，故D选项切题。

13.考查名词词义辨析。A. family家庭；B. career职业、生涯；C. life生命、生活；D. education教育。根据本空前的“She was able to transfer her new wisdom to other parts of her”可知，她能把这种新智慧运用到生活的其他方面，故C选项切题。

14.考查连词词义辨析。A. so所以； B. or或者、否则；C. but但是；D. for因为。根据本空后的“when we’re honest, we can be sharply…”可知，也许我们大多数人在吹毛求疵方面没那么极端，但当我们诚实的时候，我们能刻薄地批评这个世界，前后是转折关系，故C选项切题。

15.考查形容词词义辨析。A. proud骄傲的；B. sure必定；C. hopeful有希望的；D. critical批评的。句意参考上题解析，be critical表示“对……不满、挑……毛病”，故D选项切题。

16.考查动词词义辨析。A. face面对；B. ignore忽视；C. solve解决；D. create创造。根据本空后的“problems, or that you pretend things are … than they are”可知，我不是建议你忽略问题或是假装事情比实际更好，故B选项切题。

17.考查形容词词义辨析。A. rarer更稀罕的；B. stranger更奇怪的；C. better更好的；D. worse更坏的。句意参考上题解析，此处是说假装事情比实际更好，故C选项切题。

18.考查介词短语辨析。A. at least至少；B. at last最后；C. by far到目前为止；D. so far到目前为止，根据本空前的“but simply that you learn to allow things to be as they are”可知，学会顺其自然，至少大多数时候是这样，故A选项切题。

19.考查名词词义辨析。A. task任务；B. deal交易；C. result结果；D. duty责任。学会顺其自然，至少大多数时候是这样，尤其是在不是什么大不了的事情的时候，a big deal表示“大事、非常重要的事”，故B选项切题。

20.考查名词词义辨析。A. practice练习、实践；B. speech演讲；C. rest休息；D. pity可惜。根据本空前的“Train yourself to “bite your tongue””可知，训练自己忍住不说，稍加练习，你就学会了放手，故A选项切题。