As a young man, Al was a skilled artist, a potter. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his oldest son developed a severe stomachache. Thinking it was only some ________ intestinal (肠内的) disorder, neither Al nor his wife took the condition very seriously. But it was actually acute appendicitis (急性阑尾炎), and the boy ________ suddenly that night.
Knowing the death could have been ________ if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, Al’s emotional health deteriorated under the huge burden of his ________. To make matters worse, his wife ________ him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two ________ were more than Al could handle, and he ________ to alcohol to help him cope, thus in time Al became an alcoholic.
________ the alcoholism progressed, Al began to lose everything he ________—his home, his land and his art objects. Al ________ died alone in a San Francisco motel room.
When I heard of Al’s death, I reacted with the same disdain the world shows for one who ends his life with nothing to show for it. “What a complete ________ he is!” I thought. “What a totally wasted life!”
As time went by, I began to re-evaluate my earlier judgment. I knew Al’s now ________ son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his children and saw the free ________ of love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.
I hadn’t heard Ernie talk much about his ________. One day I worked ________ my courage to ask him. “I’m really ________ by something,” I said. “I know your father was ________ the only one to raise you. What on earth did he do to make you become such a special person?”
Ernie sat quietly and ________ for a few moments. Then he said, “From my earliest ________ as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ‘I love you, son’.”
Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any ________ possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known. (423words)
1.A.certain B.average C.rare D.common
2.A.worsened B.choked C.starved D.died
3.A.cured B.forbidden C.prevented D.saved
4.A.disease B.guilt C.pressure D.duty
5.A.left B.scolded C.quarreled D.forgave
6.A.accidents B.situations C.conflicts D.adventures
7.A.got B.drank C.turned D.sank
8.A.As B.Though C.Because D.If
9.A.needed B.possessed C.benefited D.shared
10.A.accidentally B.gradually C.eventually D.immediately
11.A.trouble B.failure C.disaster D.rubbish
12.A.teen B.adolescent C.aged D.adult
13.A.will B.fall C.flow D.space
14.A.mother B.brother C.father D.child
15.A.with B.up C.on D.through
16.A.puzzled B.worried C.interested D.attracted
17.A.especially B.basically C.merely D.specially
18.A.argued B.searched C.analyzed D.reflected
19.A.thoughts B.ideas C.minds D.memories
20.A.spiritual B.material C.memorable D.emotional
阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空，在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
Buildings around the world will go dark for 60 minutes this evening in a voluntary event 1. (know) as Earth Hour. This grassroots effort started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, and since then it 2. (grow) into a global movement 3. (raise) awareness of our energy consumption and the effects of climate change on our planet. Anyone can participate in this movement by switching 4. the lights at 8:30 PM local time. Last year close to 18,000 landmark buildings switched off their lights in 188 countries. Will you dim your lights tonight?
阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空，在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
Chocolate was first used as a drink over 3,500 years ago in 1. (center) America. It was very popular with the Mayans and the Aztecs. In fact, cocoa beans were very important to people there. That was 2. they were used as money. In the beginning, cocoa 3. (plant) in Ecuador, which was, for a long time, the world’s number-one producer of cocoa beans. It is still one of the top producers of the beans, but nowadays more than 70 per cent of cocoa beans come from West Africa.
阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空，在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
Old Tom sent his four sons to look at an apple tree in different seasons, 1. he wanted them to learn not to judge things too quickly. The first son went in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer, and the youngest in autumn. When they all came back, he asked for the 2. (describe) about what they had seen. The sons had different opinions. Tom then told them 3. they shouldn’t judge a tree, or a person, by only one season.
假如你是晨光中学高三一班班长李津。由于新冠疫情，不得不在家学习。你计划开学后举行一次班会，鼓励大家充分利用时间，向高考冲刺。现请用英文根据以下要点写一篇演讲稿。
1. 表达能够上学的喜悦；
2. 给出学习上的建议(至少3条)；
3. 希望同学们只争朝夕，不负韶华。
注意： 1.词数不少于100词；
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
3.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：新冠疫情 the novel coronavirus outbreak
只争朝夕，不负韶华seize the day and live it to the full
Dear classmates, good afternoon! It’s my great pleasure to stand here, on behalf of everyone, to deliver a speech.
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Thank you for your listening!
阅读表达
“Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy---they're given after all. Choices can be hard.”
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2300 percent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30, and I’d been married for a year. I told my wife that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most start-ups don’t and I wasn't sure what to expect. She told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I had been a garage inventor. I had always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people and a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him that I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park，listened carefully to me and finally said,“That sounds like a really good idea，but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job.”That logic made some sense to me，and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice，but ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I would regret trying and failing. And I suspected that I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.
After much consideration, I took the less secure path to follow my passion, and I'm proud of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.
1.What inspired the author to start Amazon 16 years ago? (No more than 15 words)
2.How did the author’s wife respond to his crazy idea of building an online bookstore? (No more than 10 words)
3.What was the attitude of the author’s boss towards his starting a company online? (No more than 10 words)
4.What’s your understanding of the underlined sentence in the last paragraph? (No more than 15 words)
5.What is the most important factor when you make your career choice? Give your reasons. (No more than 20 words)
