It was New Year's night. An aged man was standing at the window. The days of his youth appeared like dream before him, and he _____ the serious moment when his father placed him at the ____ of the two roads: one leading to a peaceful, sunny place _____ with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft, sweet songs, and the other leading to a deep dark cave which was ______, and where poison flowed and snakes crawled.
He looked towards the sky and cried ___ Oh youth, return! Oh, my father, place me once more at the entrance to life and I'll ___ the better way! "But both his father and the days of his youth had ___ .
He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness, and these were the days of his wasted life. He saw a star __ from the sky and disappeared, and this was the _____ of himself. His ______, which was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood, which entered life together with him. But they had made their way to _____ and were now ______ and happy on this New Year's night.
The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents' early____for him. They had taught him and prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong way with ___and grief so that he dared no longer to look towards the __ where his father lived. His __ eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing（绝望的）effort, he burst out a cry:" Come back, my early days! Come back!"
And his youth did _____ ,for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year's night. He was still young though his faults were real. He had not yet entered the deep dark cave, and he was _______free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.
Those who still linger on（徘徊）the entrance of life _____ to choose the bright road, remember that when years are passed and your feet stumble（绊倒）on the dark mountains, you will cry bitterly, but ______ ."Oh youth return! Oh give me back my early days! ”
1.A.recorded B.recalled C.doubted D.dreamt
2.A.entrance B.end C.middle D.top
3.A.filled B.covered C.grew D.dropped
4.A.bright B.amazing C.Common D.endless
5.A.loudly B.painfully C.happily D.continuously
6.A.abandon B.build C.choose D.change
7.A.washed away B.passed away C.ran away D.broke away
8.A.fall B.rise C.freeze D.shine
9.A.quality B.harvest C.means D.symbol
10.A.sword B.regret C.pride D.feeling
11.A.success B.cave C.failure D.reality
12.A.worried B.deserted C.honored D.frightened
13.A.love B.misleading C.anxiety D.scold
14.A.joy B.heart C.care D.shame
15.A.heaven B.cemetery C.hell D.house
16.A.dried B.darkened C.lighted D.satisfied
17.A.disappear B.remain C.return D.promise
18.A.never B.still C.hardly D.always
19.A.hesitating B.deciding C.refusing D.claiming
20.A.in brief B.in surprise C.in use D.in vain
Bobby the mountain climber was famous for his attempts to climb the big snowy mountain. He had tried it at least thirty times, but had always failed halfway.
For the sake of ________ Bobby to try again, Old Peeper, the town optician, who bore witness to his ________, presented him with a pair of ________ sunglasses. "If it starts clouding over or if your feet start hurting, put on these glasses. They'll help you.” Bobby accepted the ________ without giving it much mind, but when his feet started _________ again he remembered his words and put on the glasses. Then ________ came as usual in the form of cloud cover, but seemingly not so thick this time. So Bobby ________climbing, leaving the clouds behind, forgetting his ________, and finally arriving at the summit. It was ___________ worth it. His feeling of triumph was ________, almost as magnificent as that wonderful ________. Resplendent in its silence, the mountain below was surrounded by a dense sea of clouds. Bobby didn't remember the clouds being as ________ as that, so he looked more closely at the sunglasses, and ________ everything.
Peeper had carved a light ________ on the lenses (镜片), in the form of the snow-covered summit. It was made in such a way that you could only ________ it if you looked upwards. Peeper had understood that whenever Bobby lost sight of his ________, he would similarly lose sight of his dream, and his ________ to continue would weaken.
Bobby realised that the only obstacle to reaching the summit had been his own _______. When he could no longer see the top of the mountain, the problems ________. He thanked Peeper for using that little ________ to help him see that his aims were not impossible, and that they were still there, where they had always been.
1.A.convincing B.encouraging C.educating D.entertaining
2.A.practice B.disadvantage C.growth D.failure
3.A.special B.beautiful C.fancy D.expensive
4.A.gift B.challenge C.award D.request
5.A.breaking B.damaging C.aching D.swelling
6.A.danger B.adventure C.pressure D.misfortune
7.A.quitted B.kept C.accomplished D.abandoned
8.A.problem B.pain C.injury D.anxiety
9.A.normally B.practically C.certainly D.exactly
10.A.incomparable B.invisible C.undesirable D.unmeasurable
11.A.experience B.attempt C.view D.present
12.A.white B.thin C.dark D.thick
13.A.recognized B.grasped C.believed D.acknowledged
14.A.image B.spot C.photo D.message
15.A.move B.feel C.change D.see
16.A.objective B.power C.success D.journey
17.A.preference B.will C.competence D.concentration
18.A.mistake B.prejudice C.ignorance D.discouragement
19.A.set off B.cut in C.set in D.showed off
20.A.technology B.tool C.trick D.mark
Courtesy(礼貌)wasn’t really optional in my childhood home. I grew up with two sisters just older than me. If I wasn’t ________ to them, they would strike me hard.
Kathy, my youngest sister, was crazy about my ________ habits. Whenever we traveled and Dad bought ________ for us to have on the way, Kathy would ________ wait until I had hungrily wolfed mine down ________ she would start eating her burger slowly and happily. She said it was ________. Wanda Lynne, on the other hand, was ________ to make me a courteous gentleman. Never mind that I was still years away from actually ________. Wanda Lynne wanted to make sure I would treat the girls I dated better than the boys she was dating were treating her. So she made me ________ doors for her every day and ________ me to walk on the inside closest to the road. She said it was courteous for me to do this.
Years later I went away to ________, and I remembered the things my ________ had taught me. One day in the university library, I ________ an older woman walking behind me, and I held the ________ open for her. “What’s the matter?” she asked, glaring at me. “Do you think that because I’m a woman, I’m not ________ enough to open a door for myself?” She rolled her ________ and shook her head. “Freshman,” she whispered, ________ past me. I decided that there would be no more door opening or chair holding or closest-to-the-traffic walking for me.
As I stood there, however, another upperclassman ________ the library door, her arms overloaded with textbooks. Instinctively I reached to open the door for her. “Thanks!” she said ________. “It’s nice to see we still have a few gentlemen around here!”
Three years later I met a beautiful freshman who actually ________ my courtesy to her, and for 35 years we’ve been trying to out-nice each other.
1.A.rude B.polite C.naughty D.lovely
2.A.eating B.sleeping C.speaking D.traveling
3.A.tickets B.clothes C.hamburgers D.drinks
4.A.impatiently B.delightedly C.unwillingly D.intentionally
5.A.when B.before C.after D.since
6.A.good manners B.bad manners C.common practice D.basic knowledge
7.A.proud B.curious C.anxious D.foolish
8.A.growing B.dating C.marrying D.divorcing
9.A.answer B.close C.repair D.open
10.A.forced B.requested C.taught D.allowed
11.A.college B.hospital C.church D.office
12.A.classmates B.teachers C.sisters D.colleagues
13.A.ignored B.noticed C.knocked D.mentioned
14.A.box B.parcel C.window D.door
15.A.strong B.old C.brave D.wise
16.A.hair B.sleeves C.eyes D.body
17.A.pacing B.brushing C.escaping D.running
18.A.ran into B.went past C.jumped at D.came near
19.A.eagerly B.calmly C.brightly D.nervously
20.A.refused B.appreciated C.doubted D.evaluated
My grandparents lived in a town in Michigan. Every summer I stayed with them as a young child. I came from the _______ but loved the small place where they lived. People there knew everyone else, their kids, their pets and their ancestors. The bond with them continued to grow _______ I grew older.
My grandma was _______ at making something exciting by hand. She would make little sandwiches and we'd have tea parties. She'd plant flowers and carefully _______ them. She'd _______ sweaters for her grandchildren as well as making beautiful _______ for each one. I remember the small thimble （顶针）she would use while doing her needlework. _______ her thimble on her finger, she'd remark, "I wouldn't want to sew without one."
A few years ago my grandma _______ at the age of 91. After attending her funeral, I realized how _______ our lives had changed. I missed her very much. When my birthday came, I was feeling ________ because there was no card from my grandma. But what happened later made me feel that she was ________ that special day with me. While I was arranging some ________ pillows that my grandma had made, I ________ felt something inside one pillow. It was small and ________ I moved the object to a seam （接缝）and I carefully opened it. To my delight, out ________ a tiny silver thimble!
How ________ it was to find something that had been a part of her. Not realizing it had fallen off her finger, my grandma ________ it in that little pillow for me. I carefully laid the thimble along with the other things I had ________ over the years, which reminded me of the pleasant ________ of her.
I heated the tea kettle and made some tea, using my best china, as my grandma always did, and enjoyed my tea and my grandma's __________. What a wonderful birthday that was!
1.A.building B.cottage C.city D.town
2.A.as B.though C.that D.if
3.A.mad B.angry C.good D.poor
4.A.watch B.tend C.pick D.cut
5.A.mend B.buy C.wash D.make
6.A.books B.houses C.quilts D.bikes
7.A.Buying B.Placing C.Collecting D.Removing
8.A.called on B.fell ill C.dropped in D.passed away
9.A.quickly B.shamefully C.slightly D.slowly
10.A.upset B.worried C.thrilled D.surprised
11.A.sharing B.thinking C.planning D.wasting
12.A.tiresome B.ugly C.colorful D.broken
13.A.eagerly B.carelessly C.suddenly D.gladly
14.A.neat B.difficult C.hard D.soft
15.A.went B.came C.took D.made
16.A.ashamed B.proud C.wise D.exciting
17.A.mixed B.sewed C.hid D.stored
18.A.learned B.designed C.collected D.saved
19.A.memory B.book C.letter D.clothes
20.A.kettle B.tea C.thimble D.coffee
Christmas was near a season that we took seriously in our house. But a week or so before the 25th, my father would give each of his children $ 20. This was the 1970s, and $ 20 was quite a bit of money.
But I saw it ___. My father trusted me to have the ________ to spend money wisely. Even better, he gave me the ____ to get it. On a very basic level ,my father was giving me a shopping spree（狂欢）every year. But he was also giving me charge over my own fun, trusting my ability to ____ money and making me feel like a/an _______. He didn't buy me Sherlock Holmes, but he gave me the means to walk into the bookstore and choose it for myself, so it felt like a gift from him.
My mother had a/an____for giving me what I needed, usually____at the moment I needed it most. This was when I was 25, I _____at being an adult on my very first try. I had quitted my ___job but had no new one. But when my mother____me a visit, I____a good show, telling her I had started my own company.
My mother knew that I was trying hard and failing at that time. It wasn't until____she left that I noticed at the foot of my bed an envelope thick with _________. She knew how _______ I needed it. She knew that had she just shown up with groceries, or____to pay my rent, she would have made me feel much __________ . The cold, hard cash meant she was helping me. And, funnily enough, the____with which she gave the gift felt like she was giving me space to ___my life and preserve my dignity. My mother and father both did the same thing. One was giving me the means to take my own ____ ,and the other was giving me a second ____ when those decisions had cost me dearly.
1.A.positively B.differently C.naturally D.originally
2.A.intelligence B.passion C.power D.potential
3.A.courage B.suggestions C.discipline D.means
4.A.spend B.carry C.manage D.use
5.A.grown-up B.teenager C.adventurer D.pioneer
6.A.habit B.gift C.approach D.tradition
7.A.approximately B.about C.right D.slightly
8.A.failed B.fooled C.dropped D.fell
9.A.important B.creative C.challenging D.previous
10.A.brought B.suggested C.paid D.gave
11.A.put on B.put away C.put off D.put forward
12.A.before B.after C.when D.as
13.A.credit B.loans C.receipts D.cash
14.A.desperately B.hardly C.eventually D.accurately
15.A.attempted B.offered C.promised D.refused
16.A.better B.more C.less D.worse
17.A.decoration B.love C.distance D.method
18.A.defend B.equip C.fix D.develop
19.A.actions B.opportunities C.risks D.decisions
20.A.solution B.chance C.visit D.assistance
A 2018 report found that food waste would increase by a third to 2. 1billion tons by 2030. Beyond the cost of the waste itself，thrown-away food generates a gas that contributes to climate change.
Home delivery meal kits(盒)can reduce food waste by more than two-thirds，but suppliers need to switch to reusable packaging to make them environmentally friendly.
Tailor-made meal kits cut waste by providing people with precise amounts of fresh ingredients(烹饪原料)for chosen recipes，meaning leftovers are minimized. But while the delivery services score well on reducing food waste，buying the same food ingredients from the supermarket almost always saves energy overall simply because meal kits use so much single-use packaging. The good news is that if people have meals that are tailored for consumption，they won’t overbuy and have less food waste. They fine-tune the amount of food to what they will actually eat.
Meal kits can reduce transport emissions(排放)if people go to the supermarket less frequently. If people only go and buy such goods as soap and toilet paper，they may only have to visit once every couple of months. A delivery truck can carry meals for a lot of people in the neighborhood. So dozens of car trips might be replaced with one truck trip.
However，study found that even if delivery meal kits reduced food waste to zero，they would still use up more energy overall than buying the same food from the supermarket unless the energy used for the meal kit packaging was cut by a fifth. The packaging is a killer if it’s single-use and thrown away，which can make all the environmental benefits lost. But if the packaging can be reused，if it’s glass bottles，like in the old days，we can get some benefits.
1.What can we learn about home delivery meal kits?
A.They can cut down on daily expenses.
B.They will totally solve the problem of food waste.
C.They can keep energy consumption to a minimum.
D.They will benefit the environment with reusable packaging.
2.What does the underlined word“fine-tune”in paragraph 3 mean?
A.Attach. B.Adjust.
C.Raise. D.Compare.
3.The author suggests carrying meals with a delivery truck to__________.
A.reduce transport emissions B.save more food
C.shop only in the supermarket D.shorten car trip distances
4.What’s the author’s attitude to meal kits?
A.Supportive. B.Unfavorable.
C.Objective. D.Indifferent.
