第二节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从16-35各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
The Price of a Dream
　　I grew up poor—living with my wonderful mother. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I was 　16　 and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still 　17　 a dream.
My dream was 　18　. By the time I was sixteen, I started playing baseball. I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and 　19　 anything that moved on the football field.
I was also  20　. My high school coach was John, who not only believed in me, but also taught me 　21　to believe in myself. He 　22　 me the difference between having a dream and remaining true to that dream. One particular 　23　 with Coach John changed my life forever.
　　A friend recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket—money for a new bike, new clothes and the 　24　 of savings for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to 　25　 up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell John I wouldn’t be playing.
　　When I told John, he was 　26　 as I expected him to be. “You have your whole life to work,” He shouted. “Your 　27　 days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.” I stood before him with my head 　28　, trying to think of the right　29　　that would explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his 　30　 in me.
　　“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” He asked. “3.5 dollars an hour,” I replied.
　　“Well,” he asked, “is $ 3.5 an hour the price of a dream?”
　　That simple question made  31    for me the difference between  32 　something at once and having a 　33　. I decided myself to play sports that summer and the ___34    year after I finished high school, I was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was 　35　 a $ 20,000 contract. Finally, I bought my mother the house of my dream!
16. A. happy                 B. polite　             C. shy　                        D. honest
17. A. live                    B. have　　　       C. make　　　           D. need
18. A. athletics                 B. music　　　     C. business　　              D. money
19. A. kick                   B. play                   C. pass　　　　             D. hit
20. A. right                   B. popular　　       C. lucky　　　             D. honest
21. A. how                   B. why　　　        C. when　　　           D. whether
22. A. gave                   B. taught　　　     C. brought　　　          D. asked
23. A. accident                 B. matter　　      C. problem　　            D. experience
24. A. aim　　　　    B. idea　　　       C. start　　　　           D. purpose
25. A. keep　　　      B. end　　　       C. give　　　　           D. pick
26. A. mad　　　　     B. mournful　             C. frightened　           D. shameful
27. A. living　　　     B. playing　　        C. working　　            D. dreaming
28. A. moving　　      B. nodding　　       C. shaking　　           D. hanging
29. A. answers　　      B. excuses　　        C. words　　　            D. ways
30. A. sadness　　    B. regret　            C. hopelessness           D. disappointment
31. A. direct　　　　  B. clear　　           C. straight　　　      D. bare
32. A. wanting　　　    B. changing　　       C. dreaming　　           D. enjoying
33. A. wish　　　　　 B. goal　　　                 C. score　　　　      D. desire
34. A. following　　　 B. same　　           C. previous　　            D. very
35. A. charged　　　　B. got　　　　         C. offered　　       D. presented

There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered system, and the traditional system.

　　In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.

　　An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions. This agency will issue commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts of each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated to different households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy.

　　In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every person’s place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste（阶级） may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with food and shelter, care for their health, and provide for their education. Clearly, in a system where every decision is made on the basis of tradition alone, progress may be difficult to achieve. An inactive society may result.

1.What is the main purpose of the passage?

　 A. To outline contrasting types of economic systems.

　 B. To explain the science of economics.

　 C. To argue for the superiority of one economic system.

　 D. To compare barter and money-exchange markets.

2. In the second paragraph, the underlined word “real” could best be replaced by _______.

　 A. valuable         B. concrete         C. absolute            D. reliable

3.According to the passage, a barter economy can generate ______.

　 A. rapid speed of transactions               B. misunderstandings

　 C. inflation                             D. difficulties for the traders

4. According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control in the administered system?

　 A. Individual households.                    B. Small businesses.

　 C. Major corporations.                   D. The government.

5.Which of the following is not mentioned by the author as a criterion（标准）for determining a person’s position in a traditional society?

　 A. Family background                 B. Age

　 C. Religious beliefs.                        D. Custom

You are given many opportunities in life to choose to be a victim or creator. When you choose to be a victim, the world is a cold and difficult place. “They” did things to you which caused all of your pain and suffering. “They” are wrong and bad, and life is terrible as long as “they” are around. Or you may blame yourself for all your problems, thus internalizing(内化)your victimization. The truth is, your life is likely to stay that way as long as you feel a need to blame yourself or others.

Those who choose to be creators look at life quite differently. They know there are individuals who might like to control their lives, but they don’t let this get in the way. They know they have their weaknesses, yet they don’t blame themselves when they fail. Whatever happens, they have choice in the matter. They believe their dance with each sacred(神圣的)moment of life is a gift and that storms are a natural part of life which can bring the rain needed for emotional and spiritual growth.

Victims and creators live in the same physical world and deal with many of the same physical realities, yet their experience of life is worlds apart. Victims relish (沉溺)in anger, guilt, and other emotions that cause others---and even themselves---to feel like victims, too. Creators consciously choose love, inspiration, and other qualities which inspire not only themselves, but all around them. Both victims and creators always have choice to determine the direction of their lives.

In reality, all of us play the victim or the creator at various points in our lives. One person, on losing a job or a special relationship, may feel as if it is the end of the world and sink into terrible suffering for months, years, or even a lifetime. Another with the same experience may choose to first experience the grief, then accept the loss and soon move on to be a powerful creative force in his life.

In every moment and every circumstance, you can choose to have fuller, richer life by setting a clear intention to transform the victim within, and by inviting into your life the powerful creator that you are.

1．What does the word “they” in Paragraph 1 probably refer to?

　　　 A. People and things around you. 　　　 B. Opportunities and problems.

　　　 C. Creators and their choices. 　　 D. Victims and their sufferings.

2．According to Paragraph 2, creators __________.

A. seem willing to experience failures in life

B. possess the ability to predict future life

C. handle ups and downs of life wisely

D. have potential to create something new

3．What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

　　　 A. Creators and victims face quite different things in life.

　　　 B. Creators and victims are masters of their lives.

　　　 C. Victims can influence more people than creators.

　　　 D. Compared with victims, creators are more emotional.

4．The examples mentioned in Paragraph 4 show that _______________.

　　　 A. strong attachment to sufferings in life pulls people into victims.

　　　 B. people need family support to deal with challengers in life.

　　　 C. it takes creators quite a long time to get rid of their pains.

　　　 D. one’s experiences determine his attitude toward life.

5．What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?

　　　 A. To define victims and creators.

　　　 B. To evaluate victims against creators.

　　　 C. To explain the relationship between victims and creators.

　　　 D. To suggest the transformation from victims to creators.

　　Trees are useful to man in three very important ways: they provide him with wood and other products, they give him shade, and they help to prevent drought and floods.

　　Unfortunately, in many parts of the world man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. In his eagerness to draw quick profit from the trees, he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had.

　　Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It gained the empire but, without its trees, its soil became hard and poor. When the empire fell to pieces, the country found itself faced by floods and starvation.

　　Even though a government realizes the importance of a plentiful supply of trees, it is difficult for it to persuade the villager to see this. The villager wants wood to cook his food with, and he can earn money by making charcoal or selling wood to the townsman. He is usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after trees. So unless the government has a good system of control, or can educate the people, the forests will slowly disappear.

　　This does not only mean that the villagers? sons and grandsons have fewer trees. The results are even more serious. For where there are trees their roots break the soil up—allowing the rain to sink in and also hold the soil, thus preventing it being washed away easily, but where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor. The rain falls on hard ground and flows away on the surface, causing floods and carrying away with it the rich topsoil, in which crops grow so well. When all the topsoil is gone, nothing remains but a worthless desert.

63. The purpose that the writer wrote this article for is ____ .

　A. to tell people that trees are very useful to man

　B. to warn people not to cut down trees any more

　C. to warn that man mustn't destroy forests any more

　D. to explain how trees help to prevent drought and floods

64. In the writer's opinion, ____ , or the forests slowly disappear.

　A. measure must be taken                      B. people shouldn't draw benefit from the tree

　C. government must realize the serious results      D. unless trees never be cut down

65. According to the article we know it is ____ to prevent the forests from slowly disappearing.

　A. necessary but impossible                    B. necessary but difficult

　C. impossible and unimportant                  D. difficult and impossible

66. In the last two paragraphs the writer wanted to make it clear that ____ .

　A. where there are no trees, the soil becomes hard and poor

　B. where there are many trees, there are fewer floods

　C. where there are no trees, the land might become desert slowly

　D. floods will make the land become desert