题目内容
The other day I was offered two tickets to a special preview of the latest movie for free. I wasn't interested, _______I knew my two boys would be.
That evening, we were a bit _______ for time. So instead of having dinner at home, we had fast food near the movie theater Oscar. There went the _______ of eight movie tickets.
Then I met up with a friend and we sat around _______ for a while, and another movie ticket went into a cup of coffee. After that, we figured we might as well _________ around until the movie ended to pick up the boys. To help _______ the time, I bought snacks. However, the _______ went for an hour longer than expected. To watch the free movie, we always have to _______ an hour of ads.
Oh, did I _______ parking and fighting my way through the ________ to get to the right theater? I could have sent the __________to a movie theater in walking distance and had enough ________ left over to watch ten more movies!
Next time I'm offered something free, I’ll ________ refuse it.
I should have known better. ________ in 2004, I built my own business. One of my marketing strategies is that I often offer free gifts. I said “probably” because "free" is just the most irresistible __________ in your marketing language. And it always ________.
If you don’t believe me, next time when you do a promotion, ________ this test: one with and one without the free ________. You will be amazed by how many people will ________ hundreds of dollars to get something for _________
1.A. for B. or C. so D. but
2.A. grateful B. prepared C. rushed D. thankful
3.A. time B. price C. chance D. length
4.A. singing B. judging C. bargaining D. chatting
5.A. wander B. turn C. look D. gather
6.A. save B. waste C. record D. kill
7.A. meeting B. movie C. walk D. coffee
8.A. break down B. sit through C. cut down D. look through
9.A. forget B. continue C. mention D. stop
10.A. race B. park C. gate D. traffic
11.A. employees B. customers C. boys D. friends
12.A. food B. patience C. room D. money
13.A. probably B. angrily C. definitely D. repeatedly
14.A. Ending B. Writing C. Reporting D. Starting
15.A. word B. reason C. letter D. desire
16.A. fails B. cheats C. works D. loses
17.A. try B. study C. face D. attend
18.A. help B. gift C. advice D. market
19.A. gain B. bank C. receive D. pay
20.A. something B. everything C. nothing D. anything
Nowhere is the place you never want to go. It’s not on any departure board, and though some people like to travel so far off the motherland that it looks like Nowhere, most wanderers ultimately long to get somewhere. Yet every now and then—if there’s nowhere else you can be and all other options have gone—going nowhere can prove the best adventure around.
Nowhere is entirely uncharted; you’ve never read a guidebook entry on it or followed others’ suggestions on a train ride through its suburbs. Few YouTube videos exist of it. Moreover, it’s free from the most dangerous kind of luggage, expectation. Knowing nothing of a place in advance opens us up to a high energy we seldom encounter while walking around Paris or Kyoto with a list of the 10 things we want—or, in embarrassing truth, feel we need—to see.
I’ll never forget a bright January morning when I landed in San Francisco from Santa Barbara, just in time to see my connecting flight to Osaka take off. I hurried to the nearest airline counter to ask for help, and was told that I would have to wait 24 hours, at my own expense, for the next day’s flight. An unanticipated delay is exactly what nobody wants on his schedule. The airline didn’t answer for fog-related delays, a gate agent declared, and no alternative flights were available.
Millbrae, California, the drive-through town that encircles San Francisco’s airport, was a mystery to me. With one of the world’s most beautiful cities only 40 minutes to the north, and the unofficial center of the world, Silicon Valley, 27 miles to the south, Millbrae is known mostly as a place to fly away from, at high speed.
It was a cloudless, warm afternoon as a shuttle bus deposited me in Millbrae. Locals were taking their dogs for walks along the bay while couples wandered hand in hand beside an expanse of blue that, in San Francisco, would have been crowded with people and official “attractions.” I checked in to my hotel and registered.
Suddenly I was enjoying a luxury I never allow myself, even on vacation: a whole day free. And as I made my way back to my hotel, lights began to come on in the hills of Millbrae, and I realized I had never seen a sight half so lovely in glamorous, industrial Osaka. Its neighbor Kyoto is attractive, but it attracts 50 million visitors a year.
Who knows if I’ll ever visit Millbrae again? But I’m confident that Nowhere will slip into my schedule many times more. No place, after all, is uninteresting to the interested eye. Nowhere is so far off the map that its smallest beauties are a discovery.
The Unexpected Joys of a Trip to Nowhere | |
Passage outline | Supporting details |
Introduction to Nowhere | ●Although many choose to travel beyond the 1., they actually hope to get somewhere. ●Getting nowhere can be the best adventure when we are2. out of options. |
3. of Nowhere | ●You don’t have to be 4. on a guidebook entry or others’ advice. ●With limited information of a place and little expectation, we will encounter a 5. high energy that doesn’t exist when visiting Paris or Kyoto. |
The author’s experience of getting nowhere | ●The airline wasn’t 6. for unexpected delays and there were no alternative flights available. ●He decided to visit the mysterious Millbrae,7. between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. ●He 8. to enjoy such a luxurious and free time in big cities before. |
Conclusion | ●Though 9. about whether to visit Millbrae again, Nowhere will be included in his schedule. ●Nowhere is entirely uncharted with its beauties to be 10.. |