Today I am known for my voice. Perhaps the greatest honor came when I was asked to read The New Testament（《新约全书》）on tape .

         But it  21  a long time to believe such good things could happen to me. When I was a child, I stuttered（结巴）so badly that I was completely  22  to speak in public.

          23  when I was 14, Professor Donald Crouch came to my school. He was a retired college professor. English was his favorite subject and  24  was his deepest love. He held a book of poems as if it were a crystal,  25  pages as if uncovering treasures. When he heard that our school was teaching Shakespeare and other classics, he felt  26  for not being a part of our school sooner.

         When he  27  that I not only loved poetry but was  28  it, we became closer. There was, however, one  29 -- Professor Crouch could not stand the  30  that I refused to read my poems to the class.

    “Jim, poetry is  31  to be read aloud,” he said. “You should be able to speak those beautiful words.” I shook my head and  32  .

         One day he   33  me .

         After handing in a poem, I waited for his  34  . It didn’t come. Instead one day as the students had gathered together, he  35  me , “Jim, I don’t think you wrote this poem.”

         I stared at him in disbelief. “Why,” I started,  36  flooding me. “of course I did !” “Well, then,” he said, “you’ve got to prove it by getting up and reciting it from  37  .”

         By then the other students had settled at their desks. With knees shaking, I walked up to the front. For a moment I stood there  38  Then I began, and kept going. I recited my poem all the way   39  !

         Afterwards, Professor Crouch encouraged me to read other writers’ poetry before the public. I discovered I did have a(n)  40  and found my classmates actually looked forward to hearing me recite.

1.A．lasted       B．took    C．spent  D．wasted

2.A．impatient B．disabled      C．unable         D．impossible

3.A．But  B．Then   C．Besides        D．However

4.A．archaeology     B．art       C．architecture        D．poetry

5.A．drawing   B．turning        C．writing         D．finding

6.A．regretful  B．thankful       C．relieved      D．annoyed

7.A．decided   B．recognized C．learned       D．proved

8.A．reading    B．reciting        C．publishing   D．writing

9.A．problem  B．promise       C．agreement  D．difference

10.A．matter   B．fact     C．idea    D．belief

11.A．said        B．found C．prepared    D．meant

12.A．turned away  B．sat down     C．talked back D．gave in

13.A．greeted B．scolded       C．tricked         D．comforted

14.A．help       B．idea    C．reward       D．comment

15.A．challenged     B．attracted     C．noticed        D．talked

16.A．pride      B．anger  C．excitement D．joy

17.A．heart      B．beginning    C．mind   D．memory

18.A．panic      B．disappointed       C．breathless   D．aimless

19.A．down     B．up       C．around        D．through

20.A．voice      B．sound C．appearance         D．interest

 

She has _____she remembers all the names of the students she has taught.

A．so good memory that	B．such a good memory that
C．such good memory that	D．good memory

 

It’s amazing that Mike should get such good marks while he does only ________ the others.

A．as much as half

B．as many as half

C．half as much as

D．half as many as

 

It seems that there is no middle ground when it comes to cats. People either love them or hate them. These feelings are not new either. All through history, cats have been worshiped or hated. A study of ancient writings and evidence found in tombs indicates that for the past 5,000 years, cats have been kept as pets in China, Arabia, Egypt, and India. However, this isn’t very long compared to dogs, which have been domesticated for 50,000 years. Still, while the period in which cats have been domesticated may be quite short, it has definitely had its high and low points.

Cats were at their highest position of domesticated life in ancient Egypt. There were more cats living in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs than in any other place in the world since that time. This high number of cats was probably due to the laws protecting them. Cats were associated with the moon goddess, Bast, so the Egyptians worshiped them as holy animals. If anyone was caught killing a cat, the person could be put to death. Families in Egypt also mourned the death of a cat and had the body of the dead cat wrapped in cloth before it was finally laid to rest. This respect for cats carried over to the Roman Empire where cats were the only animals allowed into temples. This fact was probably due to the ability of cats to keep the temples free of mice and rats. With the coming of the Dark Ages in Europe, the place of cats in society took a turn for the Empire, Christians began to associate cats with pegan (异教徒) beliefs. Cats had a reputation as helpers of witches. When a person was accused of being a witch, a cat would often be put on trial with the person. The cat would be tortured（拷打） to try and make the person tell the truth, and usually the cat and the person would end up being burned in a bonfire or drowned. Bonfires of collected cats were not uncommon during this time.

The days of hunting witches have ended, but other myths about cats still hold out. For a while, people in some places used to bury live cats under new buildings for good luck. As well, many people today continue to believe that black cats bring bad luck. If a black cat walks in front of a person, that person must take extra care in the near future to watch out for dangerous situations. Regardless of superstition(迷信), cats remain a popular pet today. Some cat experts believe that a cat never truly be domesticated because it may turn wild and run away at any time. However, this claim has not put people off keeping cats in their homes. A third of homes in the United States have cats, and one out of every three of these homes keeps both a dog and a cat. Especially in large cities, many people in small apartments have found that cats make much better pets than dogs.

Cats may not be worshiped as gods any more, but there are people who seem to think of their cat as their children. These cat owners will do almost anything to keep their pets healthy and happy. For those cat owners who have always wondered what their pets are trying to tell them, a Japanese company may have come up with the perfect invention. In 2003, the Takara Company announced the Meowlingual, a cat translation device. The Meowlingual uses a microphone, display, and cat voice analyzer to analyze a cat’s meows to determine which of 200 phrases a cat is trying to say.

According to a company spokesperson, “… cat owners all over the world have been telling Takara, ‘ We want a cat translator!’” Now, the company “is making their dream come true by bringing in a new era of communication between cat lovers and their pets.”

1.Which of these is NOT discussed in the passage?

A．the status of cats throughout history

B．the evolution of different species of cats

C．the popularity of the cats today

D．communication between cats and their owners

2.The second paragraph mainly describes_______.

A．how Bast became a goddess.

B．the low point in the history of cats

C．the high point in the history of cats

D．the reason why cats are such good hunters

3.How were cats treated in Europe during the Dark Ages?

A．as farm animals     B．as food           C．as magical creatures D．as honored guests

4.According to the passage, what percentage of people in the United States keep both a cat and a dog?

A．about 10 percent   B．nearly 25 percent   C．about 33 percent   D．close to 50 percent

 

Not too long ago ,an incident that happened at Walt Disney touched me greatly．A guest  36     out of our Polynesian Village resort（度假胜地）at Walt Disney was asked how she   37     her visit．She told the front-desk clerk she had had a (n)     38    vacation ,but was heartbroken about    39     several rolls of Kodak color film she had not yet    40    ．At that moment she was particularly     41    over the loss of the pictures she had shot at our Polynesian Luau ,     42    this was a memory she especially treasured．

Now ,please understand that we have no written service rules    43    lost photos in the park．   44    ,the clerk at the front desk   45     Disney’s idea of caring for our    46    ．She asked the woman to leave her a couple rolls of    47     film ,promising she would take care of the rest of our show at Polynesian Luau．

Two weeks later the guest received a      48   at her home．In it were photos of all the actors of our show,    49     signed by each performer．There were also      50    of the public procession（游行队伍）and fireworks in the park ,taken by the front-desk clerk in her own    51     after work．I happened to know this     52     because this guest wrote us a letter．She said that    53     in her life had she received such good service from any business．

Excellent    54     does not come from policy (政策性的)handbooks．It comes from people who    55     —and from a culture that encourages and models that attitude．

A．working     B．checking        C．trying           D．staying

A．expected       B．realized         C．paid            D．enjoyed

A．disappointing B．wonderful     C．uncomfortable  D．important

A．taking         B．dropping       C．losing           D．breaking

A．developed     B．taken           C．washed          D．loaded

A．silly           B．nervous        C．calm            D．sad

A．when          B．where           C．as              D．which

A．covering       B．finding         C．making         D．keeping

A．Excitedly      B．Fortunately      C．Therefore        D．Quietly

A．understood    B．reminded       C．trusted       D．discovered

A．workers        B．guests           C．managers      D．clerks

A．printed        B．shot            C．unused          D．recorded

A．film           B．card            C．camera         D．packet

A．frequently     B．personally       C．alone          D．actually

A．rules          B．pictures        C．handbooks       D．performances

A．case           B．work           C．time          D．position

A．story          B．place          C．photo           D．show

A．only          B．almost          C．never           D．nearly

A．advice        B．experience      C．quality          D．service

A．care           B．serve           C．like             D．know