Question

Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Discovering a Lost Brother

Kieron Graham always knew he had an elder brother named Vincent. His adoption papers, 1. (sign) when he was three months old, listed a brother named Vincent but no last name. Though Kieron spent years thinking about Vincent, he could never track him down.

That changed in December 2017, when Kieron’s adoptive parents gave him an DNA test as a Christmas gift. When his results came back, he was surprised 2. (find) he had a lot of DNA matches for relatives who had also taken the test. Most were distant connections, but one match was so strong that it 3. (label) “close family.” His name was Vincent Ghant. Kieron looked for him on Facebook and soon made a possible connection.

When they connected, it was 4. they had known each other their whole lives. As they talked, the brothers realized they lived about 20 minutes from each other. 5.(surprisingly), they attended the same university and majored and minored in the same subjects.

Vincent was nine when Kieron was born and remembers caring for his baby brother. But times were tough, and Shawn, who worked 15-plus hours a day as a nurse, decided that 6.(place) Kieron for adoption would give him the best chance to succeed.

“She was very emotional about that time, to the point 7. it was hard for her to put into words anything about what happened,” Vincent says.

Now the brothers had the chance to make up for lost time. They decided to meet at a local tea shop that week. One of Vincent’s concerns was that Kieron 8. hate his birth family for placing him for adoption. He was relieved Kieron didn’t, and 9. he’d grown up in a loving family. After that first meeting, the brothers played football together and celebrated Christmas with their families. “We’ll keep growing our relationship 10. it’s time to leave this planet,” says Vincent. That shouldn’t be hard. As Kieron says, “We’ve got years and years to catch up on.”

Answer

1.signed

2.to find

3.was labeled/labelled

4.as if/though

5.More surprisingly

6.placing

7.where

8.might

9.that

10.until/till

【解析】

本题是一篇记叙文。讲述了主人公寻找到失散了多年哥哥的故事。

1.考查过去分词作后置定语。分析该句“His adoption papers, ____ (sign) when he was three months old, listed a brother named Vincent but no last name.”，其中主语为his adoption papers，谓语动词为list，宾语为a brother，句子主谓宾成分齐全，故sign应使用非谓语形式，sign与adoption papers之间是被动关系，应填入sign的过去分词作adoption papers的后置定语。故填signed。

2.考查不定式作原因状语。be surprised to do sth…其中to do不定时做“惊喜”的原因。故填to find。

3.考查被动语态。该空前的it的指代的是one match，与label（标签，标为）之间为被动关系，又因为此处描述的是过去的事情，所以采用一般过去时的被动语态。故填was labeled/labelled。

4.考查表语从句连词。句意：当他们联系上时，就好像早已熟知对方生活一样。作者在这里想要表达兄弟俩一见如故的情境，即好像他们很早就认识。故填as if/though。

5.考查副词比较级。根据前文的“the brothers realized they lived about 20 minutes from each other”（兄弟俩发现他们住在相距20分钟范围内）及该空后句“they attended the same university and majored and minored in the same subjects”（他们上同一所大学，主修辅修的都是同一个科目），可发现后句子是前一个句子的递进，两者之间是递进关系。故填More surprisingly。

6.考查动名词作主语。该句“_____(place) Kieron for adoption would give him the best chance to succeed.”的谓语动词是would give，该句子缺少一个主语，所以要将place变为placing，即placing Kieron for adoption动名词充当句子的主语。故填placing。

7.考查定语从句。该句point为先行词，而“it was hard for her to put into words anything about what happened”实际上是对point的修饰和解释，充当其定语从句作用，而先行词与小句之间缺少连词引导，结合句意及分析句子结构应使用where引导。故填where。

8.考查情态动词。该句“One of Vincent’s concerns was that Kieron ______ hate his birth family for placing him for adoption.”Vincent担心Kieron可能会因为将他寄养给别人，从而对他原生父母记仇。作者在这里想要表达的是一种不确定性。故填might。

9.考查宾语从句。该句补全是：He was relieved (that) Kieron didn’t（hate his birth family）, and that he’d grown up in a loving family.当句子出现由that引导的两个及以上宾语从句时，其第一个连词that可以省略，第二个及后面的that则不能省略，该空是第二个从句，故不能省略。故填that。

10.考查状语从句。该句子想要表达的是“我们一定要不断增进之间的关系，一直到我们离开地球那一刻”，until连接时间状语从句，表示“直到……为止”。故填until/till。