第二节：完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分，共30分）
It was on a winter morning, near Oxford, Maryland, that I set the breakfast table beside the huge window, which __36__ the Tred Avon River．The snow decorated the shore in white．For a moment I stood quietly against the bookcase, appreciating what the night’s snow had __37__．
38    I leaned forward and peered （盯着看） close to the frosted window．“It really is!” I cried out loud．“There is a goose out there!” I __39__ to the bookcase and pulled out a pair of binoculars （望远镜）．Into their sights came the __40__ of a large Canada goose, very still, its wings folded tight to its sides, its __41__ frozen to the ice．
Then from the dark sides, I saw a line of swans．They crossed __42__ the west of the broad river, moving __43__ to the east．
As I __44__, the leader swung to the right, and then the white __45__ of birds become a white circle．It floated from the top of the sky downward．At last, as easy as feathers coming to earth, the circle __46__ the ice．The swans __47__ the frozen goose! Amazingly, those bills （啄） began to work on __48__．The long necks were lifted and curved down, __49__．It went on for a long time．At last, the goose was free and __50__ its big webbed （有蹼的） feet slowly．The goose __51__ its wings as far as they would go．The swans took off and __52__ their eastward journey, in perfect formation, to their secret destination．__53__ them, rising with incredible speed and joy, the goose moved into the sky．
I watched them __54__ they disappeared over the tips of the farthest trees．Only then did I realize that tears were running down my cheeks．
This is a true story．I do not try to interpret it here．I just often __55__ it in the bad moments, and tell myself, “If so for birds, why not for man?”
36．A．undertook B．overlooked       C．overshadowed  D．evaluated
37．A．destroyed  B．covered    C．painted     D．hidden
38．A．Finally     B．Unwillingly     C．Disappointedly D．Suddenly
39．A．rushed      B．returned    C．advanced  D．reached
40．A．figure       B．shadow     C．cry    D．baby
41．A．head  B．body C．feet   D．beak
42．A．along       B．from C．around      D．in
43．A．steadily    B．smoothly  C．in the snow      D．closely
44．A．watched    B．expected   C．predicted  D．feared
45．A．block       B．mass  C．dot    D．string
46．A．skated on  B．landed on  C．fell down to     D．broke into
47．A．threatened B．attacked    C．surrounded       D．killed
48．A．the ice      B．their feather     C．the river   D．the shore
49．A．one after another     B．side by side      C．now and then   D．again and again
50．A．washing    B．protecting C．moving     D．warming
51．A．enlarged   B．spread      C．lifted D．threw
52．A．started      B．carried on C．repeated    D．stopped
53．A．Behind     B．In front of       C．Along with      D．Including
54．A．after  B．although   C．unless       D．until
55．A．write about      B．keep  C．think of    D．retell