My sister and I have been a headache for my mother, because my father was in the army, he was not around too often. __21__, my mother brought us up almost single-handedly and it must have __22__ real strength of mind to bring up such naughty and stubborn children who got out from one trouble only to get into another.

Bonus and I weren’t scholars either. __23__, we hated studying from the very beginning. We were __24__ to spend time with our schoolbooks---out of the fear of Mum’s scolding. I almost did not make it to 10th grade. That entire summer Mum __25__ that I read my schoolbooks from the very first chapter till the last.

I left __26__ college at 18. In my second year of college, while I was studying for my final exams, I got a phone call from Mum __27__ my sister had failed her 9th grade exams. Mum was heartbroken. My mother was an English teacher in a famous school in the city and it was a(n) __28__ for her.

Then started another __29__ for my Mum. There always seemed to be people who would come and talk about how well their children were doing __30__ my mother would be having a tough time making sure we stayed on the right path. Mum was __31__ that we would do well for ourselves. She never let my sister and me __32__ that we had lost out on something and always told us: “Let this be a lesson. We are going to work really really hard...__33__ will change.”

Things did change, but very slowly and __34__, one little step at a time. Last year I finished with law school and started working. My mother’s belief in me __35__. And just a few days ago I got a phone from Bonus. She had __36__ the exam with honors and was __37__ to the best university in the country. I was in tears. Later that night I __38__ Mum: “Mum, your two little failures didn’t do as badly as everybody thought.” Mum __39__ and said: “You are my daughters and I knew you the best. I always knew that you would succeed. It was just a __40__ of time.”

1.                A．However       B．Thus           C．Otherwise D．Besides

2.                A．devoted        B．spent          C．taken D．wasted

3.                A．In that case      B．In this way       C．On the other hand  D．On the contrary

4.                A．pleased        B．annoyed        C．forced   D．advised

5.                A．demanded      B．concluded       C．promised D．mentioned

6.                A．at             B．for            C．from D．after

7.                A．announcing     B．reading         C．knowing  D．saying

8.                A．shame         B．challenge       C．pride D．honor

9.                A．experiment     B．research        C．conflict   D．trial

10.               A．though         B．while          C．as    D．unless

11.               A．determined     B．astonished      C．satisfied   D．concerned

12.               A．predict         B．imagine        C．guess D．feel

13.               A．Environment    B．Society         C．Circumstances  D．Impressions

14.               A．quickly         B．extremely       C．smoothly  D．gradually

15.               A．made up        B．paid off         C．took on   D．burst out

16.               A．attended       B．received        C．passed    D．failed

17.               A．accepted       B．allowed        C．admitted  D．permitted

18.               A．questioned      B．convinced      C．persuaded D．called

19.               A．nodded        B．laughed        C．shouted   D．joked

20.               A．matter         B．period         C．waste D．length

One Sunday, a picture in the newspaper touched me. A young woman stood in front of a totally destroyed home．A little boy stood beside her with his head   36  .  Holding her skirt tightly was a tiny girl, eyes wide with   37  and fear.

   With growing  38   I noticed that their sizes of each family member closely   39  ours. This would be a good opportunity to   40  my children, so I explained their difficult   41   to my seven-year-old twins and three-year-old Meghan.

   “We have so much, but these people now have nothing,” I said, “we’ll   42  what we have with them.”

   I brought three large boxes and placed them on the living room floor.  Meghan watched seriously,  43  the boys and I filled one box with canned food.

While I   44   through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and   45   some of their less favourite things. Meghan watched  46   as the boys piled up useless toys in the box.

“I’ll help you find something for the little girl,” I said to her.

The boys placed the toys they had   47  to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third box with clothes. Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, faded,  much-loved toll   48     tightly to her chest. She  49  in front of the box, pressed her little face into Lucy’s face,  gave her a  50   kiss, then , laid her gently on the top of the other toys.

   “Oh , honey,” I said , “You   51   to give away Lucy．You love her so much.”

   Meghan nodded ,eyes shining with tears. “Lucy makes me happy, Mommy.   52   she’ll make that little girl happy too.”

I stared at Meghan for a long moment,   53   how I could teach the boys the lesson she had just taught me.

It’s easy to give what we don’t want any more, but   54  to let go of things we cherish, isn’t it?  55 , the true spirit of giving is to give with your heart.

36．A．off                 B．up                  C．round               D．down

37．A．smile               B．confusion            C．joy                 D．anger

38．A．puzzle               B．interest              C．happiness            D．friendship

39．A．matched             B．suited               C．compared            D．equalled

40．A．teach               B．change              C．help                D．complain

41．A．problem             B．life                 C．suffering            D．situation

42．A．give                B．spare               C．share               D．send

43．A．as                  B．because             C．since               D．though

44．A．got                 B．looked              C．sorted               D．came

45．A．keep                B．donate              C．leave                D．sell

46．A．hopefully      B．quietly              C．depressingly          D．anxiously

47．A．separated            B．chosen              C．supposed            D．bought

48．A．hugged              B．caught              C．held                D．grasped

49．A．regretted            B．stood               C．paused              D．cried

50．A．precious             B．lovely               C．hearty               D．final

51．A．oughtn’t             B．wouldn’t like  C．don’t have             D．had better not

52．A．Though             B．Also          C．Yet                    D．Maybe

53．A．realizing             B．wondering             C．expecting              D．knowing

54．A．hard                B．necessary            C．available               D．important

55．A．Therefore            B．Moreover            C．Otherwise             D．However 

I’m Monty Don. Though I’m a host and writer now, I had an unhappy study experience actually. I changed   21  many times.
I first went to school at five. None of my teachers or classmates liked me, because I always gave them a lot of   22 . I once put a worm in a girl's pocket. When I was seven, I was asked to      23   the school. Then I was sent off to a boarding school. I missed my   24  very much at first; I didn't want to leave once I returned home. Later I met a very   25  teacher, who cared for me and helped me with study. He was also the   26  person to encourage me to act and write. At 13, I moved to Malvern College, but I was kicked out at 15 for   27  school rules. Then I went to another school where I failed my English A level. In fact, I didn't like studying.
I finally   28  that life shouldn't be like this. So I retook the  29  and got an A grade. And more   30 , I made a decision: to go to college, so I began to   31  for the entrance exam. I   32  passed the exam and went to Cambridge to read English. I met my wife there and I was   33  I made that decision, otherwise I wouldn't have had a happy family. Looking back on what I've   34 , I come to know that if you devote yourself to it, nothing is   35 .

I’m Monty Don. Though I’m a host and writer now, I had an unhappy study experience actually. I changed   36  many times.
I first went to school at five. None of my teachers or classmates liked me because I always gave them a lot of trouble. I once put a worm in a girl’s pocket. When I was seven, I was asked to
  37  the school. Then I was sent off to a boarding school. I missed my   38  very much at first; I didn’t want to leave once I returned home. Later I met a very   39  teacher, who cared for me and helped me with my study. He was also the first person to encourage me to act and write. At 13, I moved to Malvern College, but I was kicked out at 15 for   40  school rules. Then I went to another school where I failed my English A level. In fact, I didn’t like studying.
I finally   41  that life shouldn’t be like this. So I retook the exam and got an A grade. And more   42 , I made a decision: to go to college, so I began to   43  for the entrance exam. I finally passed the exam and went to Cambridge to read English. I met my wife there and I was
  44  I made that decision, otherwise I wouldn’t have had a happy family. Looking back on what I’ve   45 , I come to know that if you devote yourself to it, nothing is impossible.

I’m Monty Don. Though I’m a host and writer now, I had an unhappy study experience actually. I changed   36  many times.

I first went to school at five. None of my teachers or classmates liked me because I always gave them a lot of trouble. I once put a worm in a girl’s pocket. When I was seven, I was asked to

  37  the school. Then I was sent off to a boarding school. I missed my   38  very much at first; I didn’t want to leave once I returned home. Later I met a very   39  teacher, who cared for me and helped me with my study. He was also the first person to encourage me to act and write. At 13, I moved to Malvern College, but I was kicked out at 15 for   40  school rules. Then I went to another school where I failed my English A level. In fact, I didn’t like studying.

I finally   41  that life shouldn’t be like this. So I retook the exam and got an A grade. And more   42 , I made a decision: to go to college, so I began to   43  for the entrance exam. I finally passed the exam and went to Cambridge to read English. I met my wife there and I was

  44  I made that decision, otherwise I wouldn’t have had a happy family. Looking back on what I’ve   45 , I come to know that if you devote yourself to it, nothing is impossible.

1.                A．subjects        B．schools         C．jobs D．goals

2.                A．leave          B．join            C．visit  D．describe

3.                A．friend          B．class           C．teacher   D．family

4.                A．rude           B．terrible         C．good D．hard

5.                A．breaking        B．changing        C．keeping  D．following

6.                A．guessed        B．wondered       C．remembered  D．realized

7.                A．painfully        B．briefly          C．importantly    D．frequently

8.                A．prepare        B．call            C．wait D．hope

9.                A．foolish         B．proud          C．glad D．afraid

10.               A．written         B．experienced     C．dreamed  D．concerned