第二节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21 – 40 各题所给的四个选项（A, B, C, 和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
It was so cold that I couldn’t feel my legs. There was going to be a racing contest that night so I was 21 my horse, Skippy, up. I was simply running laps(跑道的圈) around the ring. The  22  cold air had been blowing past me, freezing my limbs, but every second I  23  it. You could hear the faint  24  of the people up at the clubhouse eating their dinner. My parents were also there, not knowing that my little sister had slowly wandered her way down to the ring. It was  25  because there was no moon or stars. Nobody else was in the ring at the time. I was really enjoying the 26  and I was able to  27  what Skippy was doing. As I took my last lap it  28 . Everything rapidly slowed down as I saw my little sister step  29   the ring. I saw true fear on her face because she knew she wouldn’t be  30  to move out of the way fast enough. She knew that she was going to get hit.
She tried to  31  but nothing came out of her fear-dried throat. When my horse got to her, he was still in a full out run.  32 , miraculously(奇迹般地), he slid so hard on his back feet that he  33 . It really made the  34  seem absolutely unreal. I thought that maybe I was  35 . I had  36  in my mind that I wasn’t seeing what was happening. I knew I had hit my sister. There was no way I could have  37  her. My horse was rising straight up and while he was in the air I couldn’t breathe. It’s like I forgot  38 . As all of this happened I watched my sister’s face transform (变形) through many different  39 : terror, confusion, curiosity, and then a sort of relief. Then she was laughing.
As I held my sister into my arms, Skippy stood right behind me knowing that I actually owed him my life  40  he saved my sister’s.
21.A. picking                B. warming                  C. catching                   D. setting
22.A. bitterly                B. hardly                      C. gently                      D. perfectly
23.A. challenged                  B. witnessed                 C. enjoyed                    D. hated
24.A. ceremony                   B. tradition                   C. victory                            D. laughter
25.A. windy                        B. bright                      C. dark                         D. cloudy
26.A. quiet                          B. quality                            C. impression                D. significance
27.A. rely on                   B. focus on                   C. insist on                   D. put on
28.A. let out                 B. held on                    C. participated in               D. took place
29.A. close to               B. out of                      C. into                         D. towards
30.A. able                 B. frightened          C. content                     D. proud
31.A. evaluate               B. worry                      C. scream                            D. escape
32.A. Accidentally         B. Normally                 C. Generally                 D. Somehow
33.A. sped up               B. rose up                        C. broke down                     D. wore out
34.A. moment               B. contest                            C. comment                  D. technique
35.A. advancing                   B. breathing                  C. concluding               D. dreaming
36.A. that                            B. none                        C. neither                            D. it
37.A. hit                      B. recognized                C. missed                            D. acknowledged
38.A. how                           B. what                        C. when                       D. why
39.A. actions                B. emotions                  C. attitudes                   D. thoughts
40.A. if                               B. because                    C. as if                         D. so that

If I raised the question, “What would be the last thing you would expect to happen while watching your son’s flag football game?” you probably still couldn’t come up with what happened to me and my family.
As we were sitting on the sidelines enjoying the game, a low-flying bird came swooping in attempting to land on my daughter’s head! It honestly came out of nowhere. We were seated by ourselves on the tree lined side of the field. I was able to calm my daughter’s shock and fear once I showed her that the bird was not some wild animal, it was in fact, somebody’s pet!
Now, we’re sitting at the outdoor fields of the Pontiac Silverdome, far from any populated area, wondering where this very social cockatiel, an Australian parrot (澳洲鹦鹉) could have come from. I walked up to the bird and put out my hand. Immediately, it hopped on and chirped in a friendly way. We looked around us and knew that we could not just leave and suppose that the bird would return to where it came from. This was a very domesticated bird that needed help or it would not survive.
The flag football game had ended so we walked the bird over to other groups of adults and asked if they knew of anyone who had lost a bird. All the kids were excited about the bird and fed it with some post game snacks. The bird’s nails were getting long and he was looking pretty dirty, so we knew it had been out here for a long time and was hungry. Since its wings were clipped, it could fly a little but probably not more than 100 yards or so at a try. We all just scratched our heads as a group wondering what to do with the lost bird.
We explained to the kids that this bird needed our help since it was someone’s pet and would not know how to get its own food, and it could not fly well since its wings were clipped. The kids understood, and all of them wanted to take the bird home! The parents however, knew this was not a good choice as one had a large dog, another two cats, etc. We explained to the kids that one of us could take the bird home for the night and then bring it to the Humane Society in the morning in hopes to connect it to its owners. We couldn’t keep the bird. It wasn’t ours. This was tough for the kids to understand at first. We couldn’t just leave the bird either. There was no way it could attend itself. The group of us sat around the Silverdome practice fields for quite a while trying to determine the best course of choice for the lost bird. It was getting dark out but no one was willing to leave that parking lot until we had a game plan for how to help the bird.
The owner of the football league, Chris Novak, offered to take the bird. It was extremely nice of him and he really stepped in to help while all the rest of us who had kids tugging on our shirts and begging to take it home. We took a box and put a bunch of holes in it and he brought it home for the night. Another mom went online and found a family that had lost a bird that looked just like the one we’d found. She emailed the info to Chris who got in touch with the family and the next day, reunited the bird with the family that lost it almost 3 weeks earlier! When Chris emailed us to let us know, we could not believe that this bird had traveled from The Rochester Tienken area all the way to the Silverdome!
We were so happy to be able to save this bird and get it back to its family. I showed my kids the email about how the other family got their pet back. The family has 3 kids who were so happy to see their bird. My kids realized what a nice ending this story had. Not only had we been able to save this bird’s life, but we were able to bring it back to the family that loves and misses him.
The life lesson in the missing bird story seemed to miss its mark with my kids at first. They were a little bummed out that they couldn’t keep the lost bird. I explained to them that when an animal or someone needs help, you just can’t turn a blind eye and hope everything works out OK. The “lost bird incident” was also a reminder to them that teamwork and the kindness of strangers can make a world of difference and that a group of well-meaning strangers can work together to help someone. It wasn’t a heroic act, but one that I knew had sunk in with my kids when they realized that trying to help was the best and only real course of action. 　
【小题1】What happened when the author watched his son’s football games?

At a meeting, a well-known speaker lifted up a bill of 20 dollars before starting his speech.

Facing 200 people, he asked, “Who wants this 20-dollar bill?” A great many hands were put up. Then he continued to say, “I intended to give it to any one of you, but allow me to do a thing before giving it to you.” Suddenly he crumpled （揉）it into a round mass. Then he asked, “Who wants it? ” Still some hands were lifted up.

He asked again, “Well, how could it be if I do it like this?” he threw the bill onto the ground, stepped on it and twisted it. As he picked it up, the bill had become not only dirty but wrinkled.

“Who still wants it?” Still a few people put up their hands.

“My dear friends, you have had a meaningful class. No matter how I treated this bill, you still want it, because it is worth 20 dollars. On your life road, you may be knocked down（击垮） or even broken into pieces by your determination or unfavorable situations. We may feel ourselves worth nothing, but, my darling, remember that whatever happens in the future, you should never lose your value（价值） in the God’s heart. You’re particular ---- never forget it.”

1.How many times did the speaker ask the people whether they wanted the bill?

A. Once             B. Twice             C. Three times         D. Four times

2. The underlined word “wrinkled” in the third paragraph probably means ________.

A. broken     B. having small lines or folds in it       C. flat      D. having holes on it

3.The speaker did this test in order to _____________.

A. tell the audience that one should never lose one’s own value

B. tell the audience that God values money most

C. test if some of the audience were extremely interested in money

D. play a trick on the audience

4. What would the speaker probably talk about next?

A. How money can make people crazy.   B. How to avoid being knocked down in one’s life.

C. How to keep one’s value of life.       D. How to give a meaningful class

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
“Hey, Dad, are you going to come to my award ceremony tonight?” I  36  asked my father. “I have to work late tonight. I doubt whether I’ll be able to 37 it on time. I am just too busy right now,” he replied.
My mind could not 38  the idea that he would be too busy working late. He was also too busy to  39  my horse show, football games and the 15th birthday party. He always used the same  40 . Why had I even bothered to ask?  41 , there was always a slight hope that tonight would be  42 .
As my mother and I arrived at school, two friends  43  me. “Jill, meet my dad. Dad, this is my friend Jill.” I shook the hand of a tall man. Camera flashes lit up the room, and claps filled the  44  as students accepted their awards. My name was finally called,  45  three others. I followed my classmates to the  46 . When I reached out my hand to shake the  47 , a big smile lit up her face. The blinding flash from my mother’s camera  48  my eyes and I knew my dad wasn’t there. I walked back to my seat  49 .
Back at home, seeing my dad’s car in the garage, I told myself he would not be  50 . But the strong smell of alcohol（酒精）hit me as soon as I 51  inside, and I could feel my tears  52  . I followed the sound of his drunken words and saw him  53  on the couch(沙发).
54 did father lie to me? I threw my award on the floor, walked to my bedroom, and shut the door. Tears rolled down my face. I wondered if I would ever be more  55 than his whiskey bottle.

【小题10】

A．apart from B．other than C．except for D．along with

【小题20】

A．perfect B．comfortable C．fortunate D．important

I was shopping in the supermarket when I heard a young voice.

“Mom, come here! There’s this lady here my size!”

The mother rushed to her son; then she turned to me to apologize.

I smiled and told her, “It’s okay.” Then I talked to the boy, “Hi, I’m Darryl Kramer. How are you?”

He studied me from head to toe, and asked, “Are you a little mommy?”

“Yes, I have a son,” I answered.

“Why are you so little?” he asked.

“It’s the way I was born,” I said. “Some people are little. Some are tall. I’m just not going to grow any bigger.” After I answered his other questions, I shook the boy’s hand, and left.

My life as a little person is filled with stories like that. I enjoy talking to children and explaining why I look different from their parents.

It takes only one glance to see my uniqueness. I stand three feet nine inches tall. I was born an achondroplasia dwarf. Despite this, I did all the things other kids did when I was growing up.

I didn’t realize how short I was until I started school. Some kids picked on me, calling me names. Then I knew. I began to hate the first day of school each year. New students would always stare at me as I struggled to climb the school bus stairs.

But I learned to smile and accept the fact that I was going to be noticed my whole life. I decided to make my uniqueness an advantage rather than a disadvantage. What I lacked in height, I made up for in personality.

I’m 47 now, and the stares have not diminished as I’ve grown older. People are amazed when they see me driving. I try to keep a good attitude. When people are rude, I remind myself, “Look what else I have — a great family, nice friends.”

It’s the children’s questions that make my life special. I enjoy answering their questions. My hope is that I will encourage them to accept their peers (a person of the same age, class, position, etc.), whatever size and shape they come in, and treat them with respect.

1... Why did the mother apologize to the author?

   A. Because the boy ran into the author.

   B. Because the boy laughed at the author.

   C. Because the boy said the author was fatter than him.

   D. Because she thought the boy’s words had hurt the author.

2..  When did the author realize that she was too short?

   A. When she began to go to school.       B. When she was 47 years old.

   C. When she grew up.             D. When she met the boy in the supermarket.

3..  Which of the following word can best replace the underlined word “diminished”?

   A. dismissed       B. increased       C. decreased      D. discriminated

4.. How does the author feel about people’s stares?

   A. Angry.         B. Calm.          C. Painful.        D. Discouraged.