Ann worked for a big company. One of the duties of her ________ was to go to the post office every day and ______ the company mail. One day in December, she ______ a beggar making himself up as a Santa Claus _____ on the corner of the street. Each day she ______her coins and dropped them in his bowl. He would smile and _______ her a Merry Christmas.
At night the temperature dropped below 0℃, but the Santa Claus ______stood in the cold wind. ______ she dropped her coins into his bowl, she handed him a pair of gloves.
A week later, a(n) ______ Santa Claus was standing there. “What happened to the other Santa Claus?” she asked. He told her, “He’s very ______ today.” She prayed for his health.
Later that day, a colleague came into her office _______. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” “What’s wrong?” she asked. “It’s my ex—husband,” her colleague _______, “I don’t have any money to buy my boys anything for Christmas, _____ my ex—husband refuses to send money to them. It breaks my heart that they won’t have anything this year. ” The lady _______ her colleague, “I’m sure everything will ______ It’s Christmas. Believe in miracles (奇迹).”
That evening, she told her husband about her colleague’s _______, “I know we don’t have much money to _____ , but I'd like to give her fifty or a hundred dollars. We’ll just get ourselves less this year. Last year we couldn’t afford to buy anything for _______ but we still had a wonderful Christmas.” Her husband smiled, “Give her one hundred dollars. She needs it more than we do.”
She reached up and held him. Warmth spread ______ her body. He held her and realized that there really was a Santa Claus—and he had ______ her !
1.A. family B. job C. life D. religion
2.A. take out B. go through C. bring in D. pick up
3.A. spotted B. watched C. sensed D. followed
4.A. standing B. waiting C. playing D. performing
5.A. earned B. counted C. saved D. threw
6.A. send B. wish C. offer D. tell
7.A. even B. just C. still D. yet
8.A. Although B. If C. Since D. After
9.A. honest B. new C. considerate D. strong
10.A. sad B. poor C. cold D. sick
11.A. in tears B. in shock C. in horror D. in trouble
12.A. concluded B. decided C. continued D. commented
13.A. or B. but C. so D. otherwise
14.A. reminded B. amused C. teased D. comforted
15.A. work out B. come back C. run out D. open up
16.A. message B. suggestion C. situation D. example
17.A. lend B. help C. lose D. pay
18.A. ourselves B. themselves C. us D. others
19.A. off B. to C. among D. through
20.A. relaxed B. doubted C. married D. shaped
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Small talk is a good way to make friends. If you travel to other countries or have friends from abroad, do you know how to use small talk to make conversation?
In Britain, the best topic is the weather. British weather is changing all the time. 1.
Besides weather, it’s good to talk about gardens with British. You could say, “Those roses look really beautiful, don’t they?”2. So it’s nice to start with “What a lovely dog! What is his name?”
In America, people like to talk about sports news, such as American football and basketball. 3. So you might say, “It’s a nice shirt! Where did you get it?”
4.Don’t ask people “How old are you?” Never ask : “How much money do you make?” It makes people uncomfortable. Don’t ask strangers whether they are married. 5.There are others in our daily life.
A.English people love their pets.
B.Politics or religion is not a good topic for two people that have just met either.
C.Friends are important to us all, but how to make friends is a problem.
D.You can start chatting by saying “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”
E.There are also a lot of topics to avoid during small talk.
F.Only a few topics are not used for discussion.
G.Americans also talk about clothes.
Most of the sandstorms that had swept China last year originated from foreign land, a Chinese official in charge of desertification control said Monday. And the invasions (入侵) could partly explain the frequent sandstorms in the country in recent years despite its achievements in desertification control.
Since the start of last spring, the north and northwestern Chinese regions had been hit by 17 sandstorms, of which, a dozen came from foreign land.
Situated in the central-Asia sandstorm region, one of the world’s four largest sandstorm sources, China also suffers from sandstorms from outside the country while being blamed as a sand source to northeast Asia. The other three major sources are in Africa, North America and Australia.
The land suffering from desertification has been decreasing by 7,585 sq.km annually in China, and the area of sandy land has also been falling by 1,284 sq.km a year.
The shrinkage (收缩) forms a clear contrast to the fact that the land suffering from desertification and sandy feature was added by 10,400 sq.km and 3,436 sq.km late last century, respectively.
Currently, the desertification land in China makes up 2.64 million sq.km, accounting for 27.46 percent of the nation’s land, and its sandy land totals 1.74 million sq.km, accounting for 18.1 percent of the country’s total.
1.What does the underlined word “decreasing” mean in Paragraph 4?
A.Going up. B.Going down.
C.Coming from. D.Taking up.
2.Where do most of the sandstorms in China come from?
A.The northern Chinese regions.
B.The northwestern Chinese regions.
C.Foreign countries.
D.The western part of China.
3.Which of the following is believed to be the sand source to northeast Asia?
A.China. B.Africa.
C.Mongolia. D.Australia.
4.In a magazine,the passage may be found in the column of .
A.entertainment B.health
C.education D.environment
The success of The Pickwick Papers made Dickens very popular. He suddenly found himself at twenty-four the most famous novelist of his day. Busy as his social life was, he worked on two novels at the same time—Oliver Twist and The Pickwick Papers. He was particularly proud of The Pickwick Papers, which was a huge success and was regarded as a comedy (喜剧) masterpiece (杰作). “If I were to live a hundred years and write novels in each, I should never be so proud of any of them as I am proud of The Pickwick Papers,” he said.
It has been said of Dickens that he grasped (抓住) the imagination of his readers because his imagination grasped himself. The people in his works were so real that they could make him laugh or cry. When writing Oliver Twist he said that he could not rest until Fagin, the wrongdoer (做坏事的人), had been hanged.
Dickens’ marriage to Catherine Hagarth, with whom he had ten children, ended unhappily in 1858. He started to travel about giving readings of his works. His interest in theater gave his novels the qualities that made them suitable for reading aloud on the stage. A tiring travel to the United States affected his health. On June 9, 1870, when he was working on a new novel, he died, as he had wished. He said he wanted to die working.
1.Dickens became a famous novelist .
A.because his social work
B.when he began to give readings of his works
C.because he was writing two novels at the same time
D.with the success of The Pickwick Papers
2.According to this passage, we know that Dickens .
A.was only interested in writing novels
B.didn’t like Oliver Twist
C.didn’t think he could write a better novel than The Pickwick Papers in his life
D.wished to live one hundred years and write three novels in each
3.Fagin must be .
A.a person in real life
B.a character in Oliver Twist
C.a character in The Pickwick Papers
D.one of Dickens’ works
4.Which of the following is TRUE?
A.Dickens had a happy marriage to Catherine Hagarth.
B.Dickens was a successful actor.
C.Dickens’ death had little to do with his hard work.
D.Dickens had wished to die in the course of his work.
One spring, when I was 10, during one of my father’s layoffs (失业), I could tell my mother was unhappy. I decided to cheer her up by buying her a special Mother’s Day gift.
One day after school I rode my bike to the Agins, which, I learned years later, was known for its high-end fashions (时尚) and styles. I introduced myself to Sylvia Agins, telling her I was looking for a Mother’s Day present.
“Do you think she’d like a purse?” she asked. I told her. I thought she might.
She took out an Italian handbag made of leather. She asked me what I thought, and I told her that my mom would like it.
“How much money do you have?” she asked.
“Twelve dollars,” I said.
“You’re in luck,” she told me. “It’s only $11. You have a dollar left over for the card.” She gift-wrapped the purse and thanked me for my business, and I rode off home with the package under my arm.
When my mother opened the gift the next Sunday morning, she asked in an accusing tone, “Where did you get this?”
“I bought it at the Agins. It cost me $11.” I said.
My mother was shocked into silence.
It wasn’t until many years later, when I learned that the purse was worth several hundred dollars, that I appreciated just how wonderful Sylvia Agins had been to me. I always felt bad that I never had a chance to properly thank her.
“You know, my son, what really amazes me to this day,” my mother said, “Letting you have the purse for just a few dollars was unbelievable enough. But the fact that she let you leave the store with a dollar for the card was a touch of kindness that I’ll never forget.”
1.The author bought his mother a purse to ________.
A.surprise his mother B.make his mother happy
C.show his ability of making money D.thank his mother for buying him a bike
2.Why was the author’s mother shocked into silence?
A.She wasn’t expecting a gift from her son.
B.The purse was bought from the Agins.
C.The author bought a card to go with the purse.
D.The Agins charged so little money for the purse.
3.Sylvia Agins’ behavior shows that________.
A.she is good at making money B.she is kind and thoughtful
C.she knows how to choose presents D.she is critical and mean
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A.An Unforgettable Event B.A Considerate Mother
C.A Priceless Mother’s Day Gift D.A Kind-hearted Shop Owner
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Successful Fishermen
Fishing is a healthy hobby. You can enjoy fresh air when you go fishing in the countryside. This book will teach you how to choose fishing places and how to make good fishing rods(竿) easily. Many kinds of fishing skills are shown in the book. Read it and you will become a more successful fisherman.
Best Learners
This book can give you the answers to the questions most often asked by parents, teachers and students themselves. Read this book and learn:
•What the three difficulties in study are and how to deal with them.
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How to Keep Pets
A pet can be our best friend. Do you have pets in your house? Are they in good shape? This book not only offers you many colorful pictures of lovely pets, but also provides you with the knowledge about:
•How to choose right pets for yourself.
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1.If you buy and read Successful Fishermen, you will________.
A.go to the countryside
B.know how to cook fish
C.learn how to choose fishing places
D.know where to buy fishing rods
2.You can ________ for more information about other books according to the passage.
A.call the writer B.go to the shop
C.ask the clerk D.search the Internet
3.The writer wrote this passage in order to ________.
A.tell people how to keep pets
B.increase sales of the books
C.buy useful and interesting books
D.teach students to study easily and fast
