Question

When I was thirteen, my family moved from Boston to Tucson, Arizona. ______ the move, my father ______ us in the living-room on a freezing January night. My sisters and I sat around the fire, not ______ that the universe would suddenly change its course. “In May, we’re ______ to Arizona.” The words, so small, didn’t seem ______ enough to hold my new life. But the world changed and I awoke on a train moving across the country. I watched the ______ change from green trees to flat dusty plains to high mountains as I saw strange new plants that ________ mysteries yet to come. Finally, we arrived and ______ into our new home.  ______ my older sisters were sad at the loss of friends, I ______ explored our new surroundings.

One afternoon, I was out exploring ______ and saw a new kind of cactus(仙人掌). I crouched(蹲) down for a closer look. “You’d better not ______ that.” I turned around to see an old woman. “Are you new to this neighborhood?” I explained that I was, ______, new to the entire state.

“My name is Ina Thorne. Have you got used to life in the ______? It must be quite a ______ after living in Boston.” How could I explain how I ______ the desert? I couldn’t seem to find the right words.

“It’s vastness,” she offered. “That vastness ______ you stand on the mountains overlooking the desert — you can ______ how little you are in comparison with the world. ______, you feel that the possibilities are limitless.” That was it. That was the feeling I’d had ever since I’d first seen the mountains of my new home. Again, my ______ would change with just a few simple words. “Would you like to come to my home tomorrow? Someone should teach you which plant you should and shouldn’t touch.”

1.A. During    B. Until    C. Upon    D. Before

2.A. gathered    B. warned    C. organized    D. comforted

3.A. hoping    B. admitting    C. realizing    D. believing

4.A. going    B. moving    C. driving    D. flying

5.A. good    B. simple    C. big    D. proper

6.A. picture    B. ground    C. scene    D. area

7.A. suggested    B. solved    C. discovered    D. explained

8.A. settled    B. walked    C. hurried    D. stepped

9.A. If    B. After    C. Once    D. While

10.A. bitterly    B. easily    C. proudly    D. eagerly

11.A. as well    B. as usual    C. fight away    D. on time

12.A. move    B. dig    C. pull    D. touch

13.A. of course    B. in fact    C. after all    D. at least

14.A. desert    B. city    C. state    D. country

15.A. luck    B. doubt    C. shock    D. danger

16.A. found    B. examined    C. watched    D. reached

17.A. why    B. when    C. how    D. where

18.A. prove    B. guess    C. sense    D. expect

19.A. However    B. Otherwise    C. Therefore    D. Meanwhile

20.A. idea    B. life    C. home    D. family

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.B

5.C

6.C

7.A

8.A

9.D

10.D

11.B

12.D

13.B

14.A

15.C

16.A

17.B

18.C

19.D

20.B

【解析】文章讲的是作者13岁时与家人一起从美国的大城市波士顿搬到美国西南部的亚利桑那州，以及搬家后生活所发生的变化。

1.D考查介词。A. During在……期间；B. Until直到……为止；C. Upon在……之上；D. Before在……之前。表示在搬家前父亲把孩子们召集在一起说搬家的事情。故选D。

2.A考查动词。A. gathered聚集；B. warned警告；C. organized组织；D. comforted安慰。比较四个选项，再结合本段大意，只有gather最佳，指父亲把孩子们聚集在一起讲搬家的事情。故选A。

3.C考查动词。A. hoping希望；B. admitting承认；C. realizing意识到；D. believing相信。通读全文可知，由于两地的地理环境差异很大，搬家给孩子们的生活带来了很大的变化，而当时只是听父亲说要搬家，孩子们并没意识到今后的生活发生变化。故选C。

4.B考查动词。A. going去；B. moving移动；C. driving开车；D. flying飞。文章讲的是搬家的事，所以只有填空move最合适。

5.C考查形容词。A. good好的；B. simple简单的；C. big大的；D. proper合适的。与前面的small形成对比，用big。故选C。

6.C考查名词。A. picture图画；B. ground地面；C. scene景色；D. area地区。指作者在火车上所观察到的景色(scene)的变化——从绿树到平原，再到高山。故选C。

7.A考查动词。A. suggested建议；B. solved解决；C. discovered发现；D. explained解释。指作者在沿途看到了许多新的陌生的植物，这表明(suggest)他今后还会接触到更多新的奥秘。故选A。

8.A考查动词。settle into迁入(新居)，习惯于(新居、生活、环境等)；walk into 走进；hurry into 匆匆忙忙进入；step into步入，走进。由于其后的宾语是home，不是house，所以不能直接“走进去”。settle into 表示“习惯于”的例子：It takes a few months to settle into life at college. 要过几个月才能习惯大学的生活。故选A。

9.D考查连词。A. If如果；B. After在……之后；C. Once一旦；D. While然而。while在此表示对比。句意：姐妹们正在为失去朋友而伤心，而“我”却急切去探索周围的新环境。故选D。

10.D考查动词。A. bitterly苦涩地；B. easily容易地；C. proudly自豪地；D. eagerly渴望地。指作者来到新地方后那种渴望了解大自然的急迫心情。(做此题要注意结合下文讲的“我”对探索大自然的热情。)故选D。

11.B考查词组。A. as well也；B. as usual像平常一样；C. fight away消除；D. on time按时。as usual意为“像往常一样”。（这是作者热心探索大自然的表现之一。）故选B。

12.D考查动词。A. move移动；B. dig挖；C. pull拉；D. touch触摸，感动。根据文章最后一句话Someone should teach you which plant you should and shouldn’t touch可知，此空应填touch。

13.B考查词组。A. of course当然；B. in fact事实上；C. after all毕竟；D. at least至少。in fact意为“事实上”，表示对前面情况的进一步强调。故选B。

14.A考查名词。A. desert沙漠；B. city城市；C. state州；D. country国家。根据How could I explain how I ___16___ the desert?可知，答案为A。

15.C考查名词。A. luck运气；B. doubt疑问；C. shock震惊；D. danger危险。此处指作者以前住的大城市与现在的desert形成强烈对比，因此选shock。其余几项用于此处均讲不通。

16.A考查动词。A. found发现；B. examined检查；C. watched观看；D. reached到达。此处填空的find不是表示“发现”，而是表示“感觉”，又如：How do you find your new job? 你认为你的新工作怎么样？故选A。

17.B考查状语从句。A. why为什么；B. when当……时候；C. how怎样；D. where在哪里。句中的vastness 意为“宽广”或“空旷无际”。句意：这种宽广就是当你站在山上眺望其下沙漠的情景。故选B。

18.C考查动词。A. prove证明；B. guess猜测；C. sense感知；D. expect期盼。此句的大意是：当你站在山顶上眺望这一片沙漠的时候，与这个世界相比，你会感觉到你自己是多么的渺小。sense在此表示“感到”，其余几个动词填在此处均讲不通。故选C。

19.D考查副词。however但是，然而；otherwise要不然；therefore因此，所以；meanwhile在此同时。结合上句话的意思，只有meanwhile最合适。句意：与此同时，你觉得可能性是无限的。

20.B考查名词。A. idea主意；B. life生活；C. home家；D. family家庭。结合全文的意思，此处应是指作者的生活发生变化。故选B。