When I was a law professor, a student reported that I made an error in grading his exam by giving him too many points. He was   36 , and after thanking him for his honesty, I changed the grade in my   37 . His beaming (欢笑的) face turned to shock. “You’re   38  my grade?” he said angrily. “I would never have come in   39  ……”
He didn’t finish the   40 , but it was obvious that his display of honesty was   41 . He thought he’d have it all—praise and the higher grade.
Several colleagues thought I should have let the higher grade   42  because all I’d accomplished was to discourage him from being   43  in the future. And every time I tell this story some people agree with this   44 .
But I can’t see how I could give good reason for worsening my   45  in grading by undermining (损害) the honesty of all my grades by failing to   46  an error. The grade itself would be a dishonest   47  of his knowledge and it would have been   48 to other students. How could I   49  give a student a gift of an unearned grade?
I know  50  reporting an error in one’s favor is unusual, but, like   51  too much change, it’s clearly the right thing to do. People of character, those with real honesty, hate to give up  52_ as much as anyone else. The difference is that for them a good conscience and reputation is  _53 enough to give reason for the cost of doing the right thing.
Perhaps lowering the student’s grade did   54  him from being honest in the future, but bribing (贿赂) him to be honest so that he does the right thing when it’s cost-free would have _55
him even more. The duty to be honest is about right and wrong, not risks and rewards.

I hated dinner parties. But I decided to give them another shot because I'm in London. And my friend Mallery invited me. And because dinner parties in London are very different from those back in New York. There, “I’m having a dinner party” means: "I'm booking a table for 12 at a restaurant you can't afford and we'll be sharing the checque evenly, no matter what you eat." Worse, in Manhattan there is always someone who leaves before the bill arrives. They'll throw down cash, half of what they owe, and then people like me, who don’t drink, end up paying even more. But if I try to use the same trick, the hostess will shout: "Where are you going?" And it's not like I can say I have somewhere to go: everyone know I have nowhere to go.
But in London, dinner parties are in people's homes. Not only that, the guests are an interesting mix. The last time I went to one, the guests were from France, India. Denmark and Nigeria; it was like a gathering at the United Nations in New York. The mix is less striking. It's like a gathering at Bloomingdale's, a well-known department store.
For New Yorkers, talking about other parts of the world means Brooklyn and Queens in New York. But at Mallery's, when I said that I had been to Myanmar recently, people knew where it was. In New York people would think it was a usual new club.
【小题1】What does the word "shot" in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Easy-going.

B．Self-centred.

C． Generous.

D．Conservative.

I was late for the school bus and rushing to get ready. My dog, Tippy, got to the front door and lay down in front of it – his way of asking to be petted. I___36___his begging for affection (喜爱), hurdled over him and ran for the waiting bus.
___37___, that afternoon, when I came home, Mom said to me___38___, “Honey, I have some___39___news that I need to tell you. This morning, while you were at school, Tippy was hit by a car and___40___. I’m so sorry.”
“No! It’s not true!” I was___41___. I couldn’t believe her. “Tippy, come here! Come on, boy!” I called and called for him. I waited. He didn’t come. Feeling___42___, I wandered into the living room. I didn’t cry that night. I still couldn’t believe that he was___43___.
When I got off the bus the next day, the___44___at home was deafening. Finally, my sobs (哭泣) bubbled up and erupted (喷发) like lava (熔岩) from a volcano. I couldn’t stop___45___. I hadn’t even petted him when I left.___46___could I have known that was my last chance? I cried until I felt empty inside.
Time passed, and against my will, I started to___47___some things. I realized what little control any of us have over what happens ___48___ a dog. We can do everything right, but___49___things can still happen. But good things can happen too. That’s___50___. The best way to deal with the hard times is to___51___what you need to do to get through them when they come, and to remember that hard times always___52___.
I now deeply understand the “circle of life”. Everyone is born, everyone___53___, and that’s the way it is. If dogs never died, there would be no___54___for others like Belle – my new dog.
Best of all, I realized that Tippy___55___all of my good memories of him. And they come to me every time I call!

I’ve often puzzled over something that happened to me one winter when I was eight. Over the years I had been wondering if my  31 was nothing more than a kid’s imagination.
There was a  32  near our house. In winter it was the greatest  33 place in the world. One  34 all I wanted to do was go skating. I had been waiting for weeks  35  the water was frozen solid. Mom had one rule: “Never ice-skate alone.” But I couldn’t  36 any longer that afternoon. So I  37 my skates under my coat and ran to the pond. Several people were skating near the shore, and some kids were playing hockey．I was not really  38 ．
The hockey game had attracted   39 audience, so I skated in the other direction until their cheering  40  . But another noise came soon. The ice was cracking beneath me. Freezing water  41  my body, and I sank like a rock.  My feet  42   the bottom. Just when I thought I wouldn’t last another 43 , I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Don’t worry,” someone said. I swung my 44 around. I couldn’t see anybody. But I heard the voice again，“Push your feet into the bottom and you’ll shoot straight up to the surface.” I did as I was told and  45 . I crawled to the shore and lay down,  46 ．The next thing I knew was people were   47   around me, covering me with coats.   
When I awoke, I was home in my own bed. Mom sat next to me,   48  my hand. “I saw nobody there. It must be an angel that came to my  49 ．” I said. Mom smiled, “I just thank God you’re safe.”
For a long time I thought I would  50 a more realistic explanation if I just thought hard, but I never did.

For years I wanted a flower garden. I spent hours and days thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together.
But then we had Matthew. And Marvin. And the twins, Alisa and Alan. And then Helen. Five children. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.
Money was tight, as well as time. Often when my children were little, one of them would want something that cost too much, and I’d have to say, “Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know.”
Finally, all five children got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about having a garden.
I wasn’t sure, though. I mean, gardens do cost money, and after all these years I was used to living on a pretty poor, no-frills budget (预算).
Then, one spring morning, on Mother’s day, I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly, I realized that cars were tooting their horns as they drove by. I looked out of the window and there was a new tree, planted right in my yard. I thought it must be a weeping willow, because I saw things blowing around on all its branches. Then I put my glasses on—and I couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a money tree in my yard!
I went outside to look. It was true! There were dollar bills, one hundred of them, tied all over the tree. Think of all the garden flowers I could buy with one hundred dollars! There was also a note attached: “IOU eight hours of digging time. Love, Marvin.”
Marvin kept his promise, too. He dug up a nice ten-by-fifteen foot bed for me. And my other children bought me tools, a trellis (绷架), a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books.
That was three years ago. My garden’s now very pretty, just like what I wanted. When I go out to weed or tend my flowers, I don’t seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they are right there with me.
I live up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where winters are long and cold, and summers are too short. But every year now, when winter sets in, I look out of my window and think of the flowers I’ll see next spring in my little garden. I think about what my children did for me, and I get tears in my eyes---every time.
I’m still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does.
【小题1】By saying “Do you see a money tree outside?”, the mother actually means _____.