Question

A city child’s summer is spent in the street in front of his home, and all through the long summer vacation I was watching enviously the other boys play baseball. I was never asked to take part even when one team had a member ________ because they thought I would be no good at it. They were ________, of course.

I would never forget the wonderful evening when my life as a(n) ________ changed. The baseball ________ about eight or eight thirty when it grew dark and it was the _______ of the boys to gather by a little stoop（门廊）and talked about the games. Then long silences would fall and the boys would ________ off one by one. I can no longer remember which boy broke the ________ with a question: but whoever he was, I nod to him _________ now. “What’s in those books you’re reading?” he asked without much _________.

Instead of ________ the question, I told them for two hours the story I was reading. They listened breathless. I must have told it ________, but I think there was a deeper reason that made them keep a(n) ________. Listening to a tale being told in the dark is one of the most ancient of man’s ________, but I was offering them a new and exciting experience.

The next night and many nights thereafter, I would take my ________ in the center of the stoop and begin the evening’s stories. Some nights, in order to taste my ________ more completely, I cheated. I would _______ at the most exciting part of a story, telling them that was as _______ as I had gone in the book and it would have to be _______ the following evening.

Other words of mine have been ________ to by larger and more fashionable audiences, but I have an unreasoning love for the ________ audience that sat close outside the candy store, and it will last forever.

1.A. missing    B. playing    C. waiting    D. failing

2.A. cautious    B. proud    C. cruel    D. right

3.A. outsider    B. insider    C. success    D. loser

4.A. started    B. ended    C. paused    D. came

5.A. honor    B. order    C. custom    D. responsibility

6.A. drop    B. fall    C. wander    D. take

7.A. record    B. link    C. promise    D. silence

8.A. gratefully    B. politely    C. eagerly    D. quickly

9.A. kindness    B. doubt    C. difficulty    D. interest

10.A. asking    B. answering    C. raising    D. keeping

11.A. directly    B. simply    C. well    D. roughly

12.A. watch    B. eye    C. audience    D. secret

13.A. entertainment    B. permission    C. focus    D. reception

14.A. turn    B. place    C. chance    D. step

15.A. peace    B. bravery    C. bitterness    D. victory

16.A. stop    B. argue    C. laugh    D. predict

17.A. long    B. soon    C. far    D. much

18.A. polished    B. continued    C. shortened    D. changed

19.A. related    B. adjusted    C. listened    D. limited

20.A. clever    B. greedy    C. lazy    D. athletic

Answer

1. A

2. D

3. A

4. B

5. C

6. C

7. D

8. A

9. D

10. B

11. C

12. C

13. A

14. B

15. D

16. A

17. C

18. B

19. C

20. D

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。讲述了一个曾经不合群的少年，通过自己特长，增强自信，充分融入他向往群体的故事，这位少年成长经历的同时，也必定感受到阅读的力量——因为正是阅读帮他找到了自信。

1.考查动词词义辨析。A. missing失去，缺少；B. playing 玩耍；C. waiting等待；D. failing失败。根据下文because they thought I would be no good at it可知，他们认为我不擅长打球，即使少一个队员，我也不会被邀请加入，故选A。

2.考查形容词词义辨析。A. cautious小心的；B. proud 自豪的；C. cruel残忍的；D. right对的。句意：当然，他们是对的。根据作者的语气，结合下文语境可知，作者融入到这个集体中是大家喜欢听他讲故事，因此，作者认为他们是对的，故选D。

3.考查名词词义辨析。A. outsider局外人；B. insider 会员；C. success成功；D. loser失败者。结合上下文语境可知，作者先前没有加入这个群体，后来因为大家喜欢他讲故事而融入其中，因此可以说作者本是个局外人，故选A。

4.考查动词词义辨析。A. started开始；B. ended结束；C. paused 停止；D. came来。根据下文提到天变黑了，可知，棒球赛在八点多的时候结束了，故选B。

5.考查名词词义辨析。A. honor荣誉；B. order命令；C. custom惯例；D. responsibility责任。句意：这些男孩子们聚在门廊上讨论球赛，这是惯例。根据句意并结合四个选项可知，这是他们的习惯，故选C。

6.考查动词词义辨析。A. drop掉落；B. fall下降；C. wander徘徊，漫步；D. take拿。句意：他们会有长时间的沉默，孩子们会一个接一个地走开。根据句意和逻辑推理可知，孩子们无话可说了之后，就会 各自离开了，wander off走散的意思，故选C。

7.考查名词词义辨析。A. record记录；B. link联系；C. promise承诺；D. silence沉默。根据上文的Then long silences would fall可知，此处是指有个男孩打破了沉默，故选D。

8.考查副词词义辨析。A. gratefully感激地；B. politely礼貌地；C. eagerly渴望地；D. quickly快速地。结合上下文语境，作者一直没有机会融入这个群体，有人给他机会，自然是感激的，故选A。

9.考查名词词义辨析。A. kindness善良；B. doubt怀疑；C. difficulty困难；D. interest兴趣。根据上下文语境可知，此处是指男孩随口一问，并没有太大的兴趣，故选D。

10.考查动词词义辨析。A. asking问；B. answering回答；C. raising 举起；D. keeping保持。根据上文男孩问他读的什么，可知，此处是指作者并没有回答他的问题，故选B。

11.考查副词词义辨析。A. directly直接地；B. simply简单地；C. well好；D. roughly粗糙地。根据上文大家听的很投入，可知此处作者要表达自己讲的一定非常好，故选C。

12.考查名词词义辨析。A. watch 看；B. eye眼睛；C. audience观众；D. secret秘诀。结合上下文语境可知，这些孩子开始听他讲故事，成为了他的观众，故选C。

13.考查名词词义辨析。A. entertainment 娱乐；B. permission 允许；C. focus焦点；D. reception接待。句意：听一个在黑暗中被讲述的故事是大多数古人的娱乐之一。根据句意，结合常识可知，在黑暗中讲故事，是古人的娱乐方式之一，故选A。

14.考查名词词义辨析。A. turn 转弯；B. place地方；C. chance机会；D. step脚步。句意：第二天晚上，以及此后的许多个晚上，我都会在门廊中央就位，开始讲故事。take one’s place“就位”的意思，故选B。

15.考查名词词义辨析。A. peace和平；B. bravery勇敢；C. bitterness苦难；D. victory胜利。结合上下文语境可知，作者最终融入这个群体，并成为了大家的焦点，可见作者是胜利的，因此此处是指作者想要体味更完全的胜利，故选D。

16.考查动词词义辨析。A. stop停止；B. argue争论；C. laugh笑；D. predict预测。根据上文作者提到要取得更完全的胜利可知，此处是作者故意在讲到最激动人心的时候会停下来，故选A。

17.考查副词词义辨析。A. long 长；B. soon 快；C. far 远；D. much多；结合上文可知，作者讲到关键时候会停下来，骗他们说自己只读到这儿，以吸引他们下回接着听。as far as远到…..，故选C。

18.考查动词词义辨析。A. polished 擦亮；B. continued继续；C. shortened变短；D. changed改变。根据上文可知，我故意停下来是为了 第二天晚上接着讲，故选B。

19.考查动词词义辨析。A. related 与…..有关；B. adjusted 调整；C. listened听；D. limited限制。结合上文语境可知，我在给大家讲故事，因此，此处应是指我的故事被更多的人听，故选C。

20.考查形容词词义辨析。A. clever聪明的；B. greedy贪婪的；C. lazy懒惰的；D. athletic运动员的。根据上文可知，此处是指作者特别喜欢运动员观众，与上文打棒球的小伙伴们呼应，故选D。