Question

I’d never been crazy about Christmas. My husband John and the kids had always done their best to infuse(使充满) me with the holiday ___ , but this Christmas their efforts would be especially ___ .

My salary had reduced and John’s government salary was _______, too. There wasn’t much money to go around, and _______ were just impossible. John was _______ a brave face as usual. But for me our financial hardship brought back ___  memories of my childhood.

“I got a Make and Bake set for Christmas!” one girl shouted. “I got clothes!” another girl said. “What did you get, Lori?” someone asked. “So many presents.” I lied. My parents gave me plenty of love, but love was the ____   thing I had. Mom and Dad always had trouble making ends meet. I’d long since ____  Christmas just wasn’t for me.

John was ______ the tree for just the right branch to ______ the red glass bulb with the “Merry Christmas” writing. It was a precious _______ of his childhood, and he took great pleasure in hanging it on our tree every year. A few days earlier, the tree _______ and several ornaments( 装 饰 物 ) broke, but this one was unique because of the memories it held for him. It was fine if I didn’t have any Christmas spirit, but it was a different ____ for John. He took a step back to admire the replacement I’d finally found after endless searching on foot and surfing the Internet.

I worked hard to make things right for John because I loved to see my Christmas-loving husband full of holiday joy. I _______ one of the tree lights so it shone directly on John’s beloved ornament. The words on it sparkled(闪烁). After all this time, I finally understood its ______ . Christmas was the season to show my love for my family. How could anyone not like Christmas?

1.A. practice    B. desire    C. spirit    D. pressure

2.A. aimless    B. priceless    C. endless    D. hopeless

3.A. decreased    B. received    C. measured    D. doubled

4.A. performances    B. presents    C. rewards    D. donations

5.A. putting up    B. putting down    C. putting off    D. putting on

6.A. embarrassing    B. horrible    C. precious    D. exciting

7.A. first    B. same    C. real    D. only

8.A. predicted    B. decided    C. imagined    D. promised

9.A. searching    B. preparing    C. approaching    D. planting

10.A. change    B. remove    C. hold    D. handle

11.A. dream    B. reminder    C. comfort    D. resource

12.A. got down    B. broke away    C. turned off    D. fell over

13.A. idea    B. story    C. business    D. account

14.A. flashed    B. repaired    C. adjusted    D. adapted

15.A. message    B. procedure    C. commitment    D. attitude

Answer

1. C

2. D

3. A

4. B

5. D

6. A

7. D

8. B

9. A

10. C

11. B

12. D

13. B

14. C

15. A

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。短文叙述了因作者和丈夫的工资减少，导致今年的圣诞节可支配的钱减少，作者本身就不太热衷于圣诞节的庆祝活动，经济困难情境让她重新想起了童年时没有礼物的圣诞节记忆。但是经济困难并没有影响丈夫对圣诞节的庆祝，作者的丈夫很快乐，也感染了作者，最终作者终于明白了圣诞节是表达对家人的爱的节日。

1.考查名词辨析。A. practice实践；B. desire愿望；C. spirit精神，气氛；D. pressure压力。句意：我的丈夫约翰和孩子们总是尽最大努力给我灌输节日的气氛，但是今年圣诞节他们的努力怕是没有希望了。由下文可知，作者童年的记忆里，圣诞节没有礼物，没有圣诞节的气氛，所以到现在为止，对圣诞节也不是很热衷，而她的丈夫很热衷于圣诞节的庆祝活动，所以丈夫和孩子总在给作者灌输节日的气氛，希望她能够快乐。故C选项切题。

2.考查形容词辨析。A. aimless无目的的；B. priceless无价的；C. endless无止境的；D. hopeless没有希望的。句意：我的丈夫约翰和孩子们总是尽最大努力给我注入节日的气氛，但是今年圣诞节他们的努力怕是没有希望了。由下文可知，作者和丈夫的薪水减少了，对圣诞节的支持也会减少，所以作者觉得今年圣诞节他们的努力怕是没有希望了。故D选项切题。

3.考查动词辨析。A. decreased减少； B. received收到；C. measured测量；D. doubled加倍。句意：我的工资减少了，约翰的政府工资也减少了。由and可知，and连接的两个句子为并列句，所以根据reduced以及句末的too判断出空处填decreased。故A选项切题。

4.考查名词辨析。A. performances表演；B. presents礼物；C. rewards报酬；D. donations捐赠。句意：没有多少钱可以支配，买礼物也是不可能的了。礼物是圣诞节的必备品，无论孩子还是大人都期望着圣诞礼物。故B选项切题。

5.考查动词短语辨析。A. putting up 张贴；B. putting down镇压；C. putting off推迟；D. putting on假装。句意：约翰像往常一样摆出一副勇敢的样子。由as usual可知，尽管经济困难，但还是表现出和往常一样庆祝圣诞节。put on“假装”符合句意。故D选项切题。

6.考查形容词辨析。A. embarrassing令人尴尬的；B. horrible恐怖的；C. precious 珍贵的；D. exciting令人兴奋的。句意：但对我来说，我们的经济困难使我回想起童年的尴尬回忆。由下文“What did you get, Lori?” someone asked. “So many presents. I lied”可知，当有人问到我得到了什么礼物，作者撒谎说“很多礼物”这样的情景让作者觉得自己童年的圣诞节很尴尬。故A选项切题。

7.考查形容词辨析。A. first第一的；B. same相同的；C. real真实的；D. only唯一的。句意：我父母给了我很多爱，但爱是我唯一拥有的东西。由前文可知，作者童年的圣诞节是没有礼物的，唯一有的就是父母的爱。故D选项切题。

8.考查动词辨析。A. predicted预测；B. decided决定；C. imagined想象；D. promised承诺。句意：爸爸妈妈总是很难维持收支平衡。我早就决定，圣诞节不适合我了。家里经济困难，圣诞节没有礼物，别人问起来还要撒谎，所以作者在心里已经决定了，圣诞节不适自己。故B选项切题。

9.考查动词辨析。A. searching寻找；B. preparing准备；C. approaching接近；D. planting种植。句意：约翰正在树上寻找合适的树枝来挂上写着“圣诞快乐”的红色玻璃灯泡。树上挂了很多的东西，所以作者的丈夫要在树上寻找一个树枝来挂玻璃灯泡。故A选项切题。

10.考查动词辨析。A. change改变；B. remove移除；C. hold举起；D. handle操作。句意：约翰正在树上寻找合适的树枝来挂上写着“圣诞快乐”的红色玻璃灯泡。由下文“he took great pleasure in hanging it on our tree every year. ”可知，每年他都把红色玻璃灯泡挂在圣诞树上，所以判断出今年约翰正在树上寻找合适的树枝来挂上写着“圣诞快乐”的红色玻璃灯泡。故C选项切题。

11.考查名词辨析。A. dream梦想；B. reminder提醒物；C. comfort安慰；D. resource资源。句意：这是他童年的珍贵回忆，他每年都非常高兴地把它挂在我们的树上。挂上写着“圣诞快乐”的红色玻璃灯泡能够使约翰想起他的童年。故B选项切题。

12.考查动词短语辨析。A. got down写下；B. broke away 脱 离； C. turned off关闭；D. fell over倒下。句意：几天前，那棵树倒了，几件装饰品坏掉了，但是这一件是独一无二的，因为它为他保留了记忆。由“several ornaments( 装 饰 物 ) broke, ”可知，几件装饰品坏掉了，所以判断出这是由树倒了造成的。故D选项切题。

13.考查名词辨析。A. idea观点；B. story故事；C. business生意；D. account账号。句意：如果没有圣诞节氛围，我是没关系的，但对约翰来说，情况就不同。在作者的童年故事中，作者没有圣诞礼物，没有享受到圣诞的氛围，但是作者的丈夫的圣诞故事与作者的不同。故B选项切题。

14.考查动词辨析。A. flashed 闪 现；B. repaired修理；C. adjusted调整；D. adapted使适应。句意：我调整了其中的一盏灯，使它直接照在约翰心爱的装饰品上。由“so it shone directly on John’s beloved ornament.”可知，使它直接照在约翰心爱的装饰品上。所以判断出，作者是调整了灯的角度。故C选项切题。

15.考查名词辨析。A. message信息；B. procedure程序；C. commitment 承诺；D. attitude态度。句意：经过这么长时间，我终于明白了它的意思。由下文可知。作者明白了圣诞节是表达对家人的爱的节日。这就是信息所要传达的真正含义。故A选项切题。