My fiance (未婚夫) and I were excited about shopping for our first home. But our funds were , and none of the houses in our price range seemed satisfactory.
One agent a house in particular. Although her description sounded wonderful, the price was our range, so we declined. But she kept urging us to have a look .
We finally did and it was at first sight. It was Our Home, small and charming, overlooking a quiet lake. Walking through the rooms and talking with the owners, a nice elderly couple, we felt the warmth and of the marriage within that home. As perfect as it was, the price remained too high for us. But every day, we would sit by the lake, looking at the house and dreaming of it would be like to live there.
Days later, we made a(n) —far below the asking price. Surprisingly, they didn’t us. They renewed their offer . It was also much more than we could afford, but far than the original asking price.
The next day, we got a message that another buyer had offered a much higher price. Even so, we decided to talk with the directly. We made our final offer, which was thousands of dollars less than the other buyer’s bid. We knew it, we had to try.
“Sold!” said the owner. Then he : He’d seen us sitting by the lake all those times; he knew how much we loved the place and that we’d the years of work they had put into their home; he realized he would take a by selling it to us, but it was worthwhile; we were the people they wanted to live there. He told us to consider the in the price “an early wedding present.”
That’s how we found our home and how I learned that when people are they are not strangers, only friends we haven’t yet met.
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完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分,满分30分）阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1—20题各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最
佳选项。
Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to __1__ in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the __2_ ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too __3_ for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of 4__.
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I sat down beside her. “Mom, I have a question to ask you. Is there __5__ between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice. She didn’t answer immediately. She 6_ her head and continued to sew the quilt.
I was very worried because I thought I had _7_ her. I was _8__ and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:
“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread．Sometimes it __9_, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt _10__. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread．It can hardly be seen __11, but it’s really there. Love is _12_.”
I listened carefully but I __13_ her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly __14 seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked __15_. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness. After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father _16__ on the country road．
“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.
“Susan, don’t __17 me.” he said gently. “To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom.”__18_ his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and 19__. But from this experience, I understand that love is just __20__ in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.
1．A．keep fit B．rise early C．earn money D．collect money
2．A．magic B．romantic C．fantastic D．attractive
3．A．simple B．easy C．relaxing D．luxurious
4．A．the question B．question C．reach D．control
5．A．feeling B．love C．quarrel D．smile
6．A．raised B．shook C．nodded D．bowed
7．A．hurt B．injured C．wounded D．harmed
8．A．in great surprise B．in a great embarrassment
C．with deep depression D．at extreme sorrow
9．A．happens B．comes about C．appears D．occurs
10．A．warm and soft B．hot and hard C．thin and cool D．strong and durable
11．A．somewhere and sometime B．anywhere or anytime
C．more or less D．here and there
12．A．inside B．outside C．faraway D．nearby
13．A．could believe B．couldn’t understand
C．wouldn’t recognize D．might know
14．A．got sick B．got stuck C．threw up D．became disabled
15．A．quite healthy B．very pale C．fairly red D．much surprised
16．A．jump high B．go hurriedly C．run fast D．walk slowly
17．A．think about B．talk with C．worry about D．laugh at
18．A．Reading B．Seeing C．Saying D．Writing
19．A．fresh roses B．gold ring C．sweet kisses D．beautiful jewelry
20．A．a thread B．a needle C．the cloth D．the cotton
完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分,满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1—20题各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
He was 11 years old and went fishing every chance he got from the dock at his family’s cabin on an island in the middle of a New Hampshire lake. On the day __1__ the bass (鲈鱼) seasonopened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening, __2__ sunfish with worms. Then he tied on a small lure (鱼饵) and practiced casting. When his pole __3__, he knew something huge was __4_. His father watched __5__ as the boy skilfully worked the fish alongside the dock. Finally, he very carefully lifted the __6__ fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, __7__ it was a bass. It was 10 P.M.-- two hours before the season opened. The father looked at the fish, then at the boy.
“You’ll have to __8__, son,” he said.
“Dad!” cried the boy.
“There will be other fish,” said his father.
“Not as big as this one,” cried the boy.
__9__ no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the fish, the boy could __10__ by his father’s firm voice that the decision was __11__. He slowly worked the hook out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it into _12__. The creature moved its powerful body and __13__. The boy thought that he would never again see such a great fish.
That was 34 years ago. Today, the boy is a successful architect in New York City. And he was __14__. He has never again caught such a magnificent fish as the one he __15__ that night long ago. But he does see __16__ fish again and again every time he comes up against a question ofprinciples. As his father taught him, principles are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of principles__17__ difficult. Do we __18__ when no one is looking?
We would if we __19__ to put the fish back when we were young. For we would have learned the truth. The decision to do right lives __20__ in our memory. It is a story we will proudly tell our friends and grandchildren.
1．A．until B．when C．after D．before
2．A．providing B．catching C．feeding D．supplying
3．A．bent over B．came up C．turned over D．broke down
4．A．on the other end B．on the other hand C．on one hand D．at the either side
5．A．with anxiety B．in surprise C．with admiration D．for fear
6．A．delighted B．frustrated C．frightened D．exhausted
7．A．and B．but C．however D．yet
8．A．bring it home B．put it aside C．put it back D．pick it up
9．A．Even though B．Now that C．Ever since D．In case
10．A．tell B．say C．speak D．talk
11．A．passed B．changed C．fixed D．refused
12．A．the wide container B．the broad sea
C．the black water D．the small river
13．A．fled B．disappeared C．floated D．swam
14．A．wrong B．right C．satisfactory D．pleased
15．A．landed B．saw C．cast D．threw
16．A．a different B．many big C．even bigger D．the same
17．A．which is B．it is C．that is D．this is
18．A．do wrong B．do right C．do harm D．do good
19．A．were taught B．told C．were let D．ordered
20．A．freshly B．fresh C．clearly D．strongly
I was 15 when I walked into McCarley’s Bookstore in Ashland. As I was looking at ___1___ on the shelves, the man behind the counter, ___2___, asked if I’d like ___3___. I needed to start ___4___ for college, so I said yes. I ___5___ after school and during summers for the lowest wages and the job helped pay for my freshman year of college. I would work many other jobs; I made coffee in the Students Union during college, I was a hotel maid and even made maps for the U. S. Forest Service. But selling books was one of the most ___6___. One day a woman asked me for books on cancer. She seemed fearful. I showed her almost ___7___ we had at that time ___8___ and found other books we could order. She left the store less ___9___. I’ve always remembered the ___10___ I felt in having helped her.
Years later, as a ___11___ in Los Angeles, I heard about an immigrant child who was born with his fingers connected, webline. His family could not ___12___ a corrective operation, and the boy lived in ___13___, hiding his hand in his pocket.
I ___14___ my boss to let me do the story. After my story was broadcast, a doctor and a nurse called, offering to perform the ___15___ for free.
I visited the boy in the recovery room soon after the operation. The first thing he did was to hold up his ___16___ hand and say, “Thank you.” I felt a sense of ___17___.
In the past, while I was ___18___, I always sense I was working for the customers, not the store. Today it’s the same. NBC News pays my salary, ___19___ I feel as if I work for the ___20___, helping them make sense of the world.
1. A. maps B. titles C. articles D. reports
2. A. the reader B. the college student C. the shop owner D. the customer
3. A. a book B. a job C. some tea D. any help
4. A. planning B. saving C. preparing D. studying
5. A. read B. studied C. cooked D. worked
6. A. boring B. surprising C. satisfying D. disappointing
7. A. anything B. something C. nothing D. everything
8. A. in need B. in all C. in order D. in store
9. A. worried B. satisfied C. excited D. puzzled
10. A. pride B. failure C. regret D. surprise
11. A. doctor B. store owner C. bookseller D. TV reporter
12. A. pay B. cost C. afford D. spend
13. A. shame B. honour C. horror D. danger
14. A. advised B. forced C. persuaded D. permitted
15. A. action B. program C. treatment D. operation
16. A. repaired B. connected C. injured D. improved
17 A. pleasure B. sadness C. interest D. disappointment
18. A. at the TV station B. in the Students Union
C. at the U. S. Forest Service D. at McCarley’s Bookstore
19. A. so B. and C. but D. because
20. A. readers B. viewers C. customers D. passengers
完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1—20题各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
While attending a conference, I returned to my hotel room late one evening. The overhead light outside my door was burned out and I had 1 finding the keyhole. When I 2 to open the door, I 3 around the wall for a light switch. I found a plate where a switch was 4 installed... but no switch!
Not discouraged easily, I remembered 5 a lamp by the bed when I deposited my luggage 6 in the day. I found the bed in the 7 and then the lamp, but when I switched it on, nothing 8 ! I thought that perhaps if I opened the curtains I might be able to use whatever light comes in from the 9 to find another lamp. So I 10 my way slowly across the room to the curtains and... no drawstring! I finally stumbled（跌跌撞撞地走）around 11 I found a desk lamp which actually 12 !
That evening I discovered in a whole new way just how dark the world 13 be and how necessary light is! But even more necessary than 14 light is the light that shines from people --the light of 15 and faith. Because, for many people, the world is a dark and 16 place. For someone today just may be stumbling in discouragement or sadness or fear and in 17 of some light. So let your light shine. Whatever light you 18 may be a beacon of hope and encouragement. And if you feel that your light is 19 a candle in a forest remember -- there isn’t enough darkness in all the world to 20 the light of one small candle.
1. A. confidence B. respect C. adimiration D. difficulty
2. A. managed B. failed C. wished D. meant
3. A. touched B. felt C. sensed D. looked
4. A. already B. never C. still D. once
5. A. equiping B. producing C. spotting D. removing
6. A. later B. earlier C. lower D. upper
7. A. light B. dark C. room D. corner
8. A. happened B. operated C. fired D. developed
9. A. machine B. street C. room D. car
10. A. wound B. forced C. made D. lost
11. A. after B. until C. while D. since
12. A. helped B. affected C. worked D. inspired
13. A. can B. shall C. will D. must
14. A. mental B. psychological C. electrical D. physical
15. A. existence B. love C. truth D. wisdom
16. A. lonely B. colourful C. friendly D. complex
17. A. short B. favour C. face D. need
18. A. make B. offer C. take D. contribute
19. A. not more than B. other than C. no more than D. rather than
20. A. put out B. give out C. get over D. set up
You have waited 45 minutes for the valuable 10 minutes’ break between classes. But when the bell for the next class rings, you can’t 36 how quickly time has passed.
If you are familiar with this 37 , you’ll know how time flies when you are having fun and 38 when you are bored. Now scientists have 39 a reason why this is the case.
Scans have shown that patterns of activity in the brain 40 according to how we focus on a task. When we are 41 , we concentrate more on how time is passing. And this makes our brains 42 the clock is ticking more slowly.
In an experiment 43 by a French laboratory, 12 volunteers watched an image 44 researchers monitored their brain activity.
The volunteers were told to 45 concentrate on how long an image appeared for, then 46 the color of the image, and thirdly, study both duration and color. The results showed that 47 was more active when the volunteers paid 48 subjects.
It is thought that if the brain is 49 focusing on many aspects of a task, it has to 50 its resources, and pays less attention to the clock. 51 , time passes without us really 52 it, and seems to go quickly. If the brain is not so active, it concentrates its 53 energies on monitoring the passing of time. 54 , time seems to drag.
Next time you feel bored 55 , perhaps you should pay more attention to what the teacher is saying!
A．guess B．learn C．believe D．doubt
A．view B．point C．scene D．experience
A．drags B．stops C．backs D．gains
A．thought over B．made up C．suggested D．come up with
A．change B．develop C．grow D．slow
A．sleepy B．bored C．excited D．active
A．report B．think C．decide D．see
A．produced B．carried C．tried D．performed
A．so B．when C．while D．but
A．partly B．quickly C．how D．first
A．remember B．focus on C．forget D．tell apart
A．the researchers B．the experiment C．the clock D．the brain
A．much attention to B．more attention to C．attention to many D．attention to more
A．busy B．likely C．ready D．sure
A．focus B．gather C．reach D．spread
A．However B．Furthermore C．Therefore D．Finally
A．recognizing B．watching C．noticing D．counting
A．enough B．full C．right D．proper
A．In fact B．As a result C．For example D．Instead
A．in class B．with work C．in mind D．of lessons
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