When my grandmother moved into a retirement community named Seventy Five State Street last December, I didn’t know quite what to expect. I imagined the place as a terrible nursing home where the residents would need ____21___ to go to the bathroom and where the staff was cruel. To prove my assumption ___22__, my aunt took me to see my grandmother.

   The view of my grandmother’s room was beautiful. Her two rooms with a private bath were __23___ for someone in her 80s. The sofa and chairs were very comfortable. You could tell she ___24__ it.

   After our ___25__, my grandmother brought up the idea of my ___26__ at the retirement community. It was __27___ to visit, but to spend hours talking to old people and hearing their long, boring stories of family and wars didn’t ___28__ me, especially since it would be during my summer vacation. However, it was still winter, and with my busy life, I put the __29__ in the back of my mind. But my grandmother was ___30__ about her idea. To my surprise, she talked to the director without my ___31__. Eventually, I was ___32__ to have a try.

   After scheduling my first day, I became a little ___33__. I wasn’t sure if the residents would ___34__ me. When I finally went in for the beano (雇工宴席) on that summer afternoon, I was ___35__ by what I saw. Instead of a large beano hall crowded with ___36__ people, I found a warm, inviting center. I was immediately drawn into the nicely wallpapered, air-conditioned room.

   Over the next two months, I ___37__ more than 100 hours at Seventy Five State Street doing the beano, social gatherings, picnics and talking to people one-on-one. ___38__, the experience turned out to be well worth my time and efforts.

   It’s a(an) ___39__ feeling to walk down the halls of Seventy Five State Street and be stopped by a resident who doesn’t always know your name, ___40__ who knows you’re someone who cares.

21. A. time            B. help            C. permission        D. guidance

22. A. reasonable       B. good            C. wrong           D. honest

23. A. terrible          B. possible         C. necessary         D. great 

24. A. bought          B. cleaned          C. destroyed         D. liked

25. A. walk            B. ride             C. visit             D. report

26. A. staying          B. volunteering      C. studying          D. arriving

27. A. hard            B. nice             C. strange           D. useless

28. A. interest          B. worry            C. shock            D. satisfy

29. A. story            B. dream           C. suggestion         D goal

30. A. concerned        B. careless          C. angry             D. excited

31. A. promise          B. presence         C. agreement         D. preparation

32. A. told             B. persuaded        C. allowed           D. invited

33. A. bored            B. eager            C. anxious           D. upset

34. A. praise            B. believe          C. accept            D. remember

35. A. surprised         B. frightened        C. cheated           D. encouraged

36. A. famous           B. common         C. busy             D. old

37. A. wasted            B. saved           C. waited           D. spent

38. A. Unfortunately      B. Certainly         C. Hopefully        D. Basically

39. A. horrible           B. mixed            C. awesome        D. real

40. A. but               B. and              C. if               D. unless

 ----- Can you understand what I said?

   ----- Sorry, _____. Can you repeat it?

  A. that’s all right                B. I managed somehow   

C. that’s a good point            D. I didn’t get it

 We hope the measures to control house prices, _____ are taken by the government, will succeed.

  A. which        B. that         C. what            D. as

 I wonder why Ann didn’t get _____ the job. She is the right person for it.

  A. to be offered   B. to offer      C. offering         D. offered

 With most of the problems _____, I felt a great weight taken off my mind.

  A. to solve       B. solved       C. solving         D. being solved

 ----- Oh, how depressing! I am bound to lose to him in tomorrow’s competition.

   ----- Cheer up! In fact, he is _____ than you.

  A. not more nervous              B. no more nervous   

C. no less nervous                D. a little less nervous

 ----- Why weren’t you at the meeting yesterday?

   ----- I _____ for a long-distance call from my aunt in America then.

  A. waited                       B. was waiting 

  C. had been waiting               D. had waited

 Many experts hold the view _____ teachers’ development is _____ the key to better education lies. 

  A. which; where   B. which; which  C. that; where     D. that; in which

 It is I _____ my parents who _____ to blame for the accident.

  A. other than; are                 B. rather than; am

C. better than; am                 D. more than; are

 To the boss’s disappointment, his work is _____ satisfactory.

  A. far away      B. far from       C. out of          D. free from