I can never remember feeling good about myself. From the time I was a little child I always felt nobody ___1_____ me—not my parents, my brothers, my sisters, nobody. I never had any friends, anyone I could tell everything to. I liked to ____2_____ friends, but nobody seemed to care for me. I also had a lot of problems with my _____3_______. Until grade nine I was a head taller than everybody else. My classmates always called me names like Pole or Long-Legs. I felt the others were ____4_____ me.

  Things weren't much better at home. The only way I could _____5_____ my problems when I was a little child was to cry a lot. My mother didn't quite ____6____ my feelings and the _____7_____ annoyed(使生气)her and made her nervous.

  Nobody in the family ever made an effort to understand me or even to talk to me. My family isn't exactly what you'd call warm. There's never any expression of _____8______. I'm sixteen and I can't remember my mother or father ever kissing us.

  Things started getting really bad in high school. I changed schools. In the old school ______9______ I didn't have any friends, I still had classmates to go out with; in the new school I had no one. At that age everybody's in groups. I felt out of it. I tried, but I couldn't _____10______ with the others. I didn't like them. I thought something was wrong with me. They thought I was strange.

1.A. talked      B. liked       C. spoke to     D. told

2.A. have      B. make       C. find       D. meet

3.A. weight     B. name       C. height      D. study

4.A. shouting to   B. playing with     C. agreeing with    D. laughing at

5.A. look at     B. deal with        C. work out     D. meet with

6.A. understand   B. hear             C. learn         D. like

7.A. shouting    B. laughing     C. talking      D. crying

8.A. smile     B. voice      C. anger      D. love

9.A. even though   B. since      C. because     D. as though

10.A. study     B. speak      C. walk       D. get on

My mind went blank when I saw the gun pointing against the car window as we pulled out of the garage. This can’t be happening to me. Then I felt the gun, cold, against my head, and I heard my friend Jeremy saying, “What do you want? Take my wallet,” but at the time I thought of nothing.

I remember being a little annoyed when the gunman pulled me from the car by the hair. I remember the walk to the house --- Jeremy, me, the two men with two guns. I remember the fear and anger in the gunmen’s voices because Jeremy was being slow, and I remember wondering why he was being slow. I did not realize that Jeremy had thrown the keys into the bush. But I remember that sound of the gun hitting Jeremy’s head and the feeling as the man who had hold of my hair released me. And I remember the split second when I realized he was looking at Jeremy, and I remember wondering how far I could run before he pulled the trigger. But I was already running, and upon reaching the car across the street, I didn’t crouch(蹲伏) behind it but screamed instead.

I remember thinking there was something ridiculous and illogical about screaming “Help, help!” at eight o’clock on a Tuesday evening in December and changing my plea(恳求) to the more specific “Help, let me in, please let me in!” But the houses were cold, closed, unfriendly, and I ran on until I heard Jeremy’s screams behind me announcing that our attackers had fled.

The neighbors who had not opened their doors to us came out with baseball bats and helped Jeremy find his glasses and keys. In a group they were very brave. We waited for the police to come until someone said to someone else that the noodles were getting cold, and I said politely, “Please go and eat. We’re OK.”

I was happy to see them go. They had been talking of stricter sentences for criminals, of bringing back the death penalty(处罚) and how the President is going to clean up the country. I was thinking, they could be saying all of this over my dead body, and I still feel that stiffer sentences wouldn’t change a thing. In a rush all the anger I should have felt for my attackers was directed against these contented people standing in front of their warm, comfortable homes talking about all the guns they were going to buy. What good would guns have been to Jeremy and me?

People all over the neighborhood had called to report our screams, and the police turned out in force twenty minutes later. They were ill-tempered about what was, to them, much trouble about nothing. After all, Jeremy was hardly hurt, and we were hopeless when it came to describing the gunmen. “Typical,” said one policeman when we couldn’t even agree on how tall the men were. Both of us were able to describe the guns in horrifying detail, but the two policemen who stayed to make the report didn’t think that would be much help.

The policemen were matter-of-fact about the whole thing. The thin one said, “That was a stupid thing to do, throwing away the keys. When a man has a gun against your head you do what you’re told.” Jeremy looked properly embarrassed.

Then the fat policeman came up and the thin one went to look around the outside of the house. “That was the best thing you could have done, throwing away the keys,” he said. “If you had gone into the house with them…” His voice became weaker. “They would have hurt her” --- he twisted his head toward me --- “and killed you both.” Jeremy looked happier. “Look,” said the fat policeman kindly, “there’s no right or wrong in the situation. There’s just luck.”

All that sleepless night I replayed the moment those black gloves came up to the car window. How long did the whole thing last? Three minutes, five, eight? No matter how many hours of my life I may spend reliving it, I know there is no way to prepare for the next time --- no intelligent response to a gun. The fat cop was right. There’s only luck. The next time I might end up dead.

And I’m sure there will be a next time. It can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone. Security is an illusion(幻觉); there is no safety in locks or in guns. Guns make some people feel safe and some people feel strong, but they’re fooling themselves.

1.When the writer saw the gun pointing against the car window, ________.

A. she felt very annoyed  

B. she lost consciousness

C. she felt very much nervous  

D. she lost the power of thinking

2.What most possibly drove the two gunmen away?

A. Jeremy’s fighting                                                  B. The author’s screaming   

C. Their neighbour’s brave action                             D. The police’s arrival

3. When the author called for help, the neighbors didn’t come out immediately because ________.

A. they were much too frightened

B. they were busy preparing dinners

C. they needed time to find baseball bats

D. they thought someone was playing a trick

4.The author was happy to see the neighbors go because ________.

A. she hated to listen to their empty talk

B. she did not want to become an object of pity

C. she was angered by their being late to come to her help

D. she wanted to be left alone with Jeremy to get over the shock

5.The police were rather angry because ________.

A. the author was not hurt and gave a false alarm

B. they thought it was a case of little importance

C. the author and Jeremy could not tell the police anything

D. the gunmen had already fled when they arrived on the scene

6.What the author wants to tell us is that ________.

A. neighbors are not helpful in moments of difficulty

B. the police are not reliable when one is in trouble

C. security is impossible as long as people can have guns

D. preventing robbers entering your house is the best choice

 

One day while shopping in a small town in southern California, it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk.He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase.I bought nothing, and marched angrily out of the store.

On the outside was a dark-skinned young man in his early twenties.His expressive brown eyes met and held mine, and in the next instant a beautiful, bright smile covered his face.I gave in immediately.The power of that broad smile dissolved all bitterness within me, and I felt the muscles in my own face happily responding.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" I remarked, passing.Then I turned back."I really owe you a debt of thanks," I said softly.

His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer.A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby.The woman stepped forward and volunteered, "Sir, but he doesn't speak English.Do you want me to tell him something?" In that moment I felt transformed.The young man's smile had made a big person of me.My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stand ten feet tall.

“Yes,” my reply was enthusiastic and sincere, “tell him I said, ‘Thank you!’”

“Thank you?” The woman seemed slightly puzzled.

I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave."Just tell him that," I insisted."He'll understand.I am sure!"

Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning.From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art diligently anywhere and everywhere, with everybody.

1.Why did the author leave the store angrily?

A.He couldn't buy what he wanted.

B.The clerk treated him unkindly.

C.The clerk didn't speak English.

D.The store's goods were too dear.

2.By saying "I felt the muscles in my own face happily responding"(in Para. 2), the author means _       __________..

A.he smiled back at the young man           B.he did not want to smile

C.he would thank the young man             D.he was still in a bad mood

3.The author asked the woman to say "Thank you!" to the young man because the young man        .

A.had helped the author before

B.taught the author how to smile

C.taught the author a valuable lesson

D.was a kind employee of the store

4.In the passage, the author seems to suggest that we should __  ___.

A.be generous to strangers                 B.practice smiling every day

C.help people in trouble                   D.smile at other people

 

Having written a book on rock music and a book on jazz music, and now writing a book __31__ the classical music of the 20th century, I felt the __32__ to put somewhere the music that does not quite fit __33__ of these kinds of music. I also felt that I needed to research the beginning of the popular music in Western Europe and the USA in order to __34__ understand the change of the jazz and rock music. I also felt that ethnic music has become so __35__ that one should research the development from Western European and USA music. This book aims at __36__ all these gaps (差异). I did my best to give it a systematic feeling, although it is clear that musicians from such different parts of the world had very __37__ in common. Only after the joining together of the 1907s can we __38__ of a worldwide history of popular music. This book is about the __39__ of that formation (形成).

It was not very difficult to decide how to __40__ jazz music from pop music. It was much more __41__ to decide how to separate rock music __42__ the rest of popular music, because rock music has taken in just about everything. Pieces of this book were firstly written for my 2003 books on rock music. __43__ that happened after the 1960s will be in the book on rock music. The __44__ is that you should read this book first, then the __45__ of jazz music and the history of rock music.

1.

A.in

B.on

C.to

D.for

 

2.

A.need

B.change

C.music

D.book

 

3.

A.neither

B.both

C.either

D.all

 

4.

A.good

B.well

C.worse

D.better

 

5.

A.good

B.bad

C.popular

D.nice

 

6.

A.filling

B.breaking

C.forming

D.making

 

7.

A.few

B.little

C.large

D.much

 

8.

A.talk

B.find

C.tell

D.say

 

9.

A.reason

B.middle

C.ending

D.beginning

 

10.

A.separate

B.divide

C.cut

D.take

 

11.

A.difficult

B.wonderful

C.important

D.necessary

 

12.

A.between

B.from

C.to

D.into

 

13.

A.Thing

B.Nothing

C.Anything

D.Something

 

14.

A.situation

B.question

C.problem

D.idea

 

15.

A.story

B.history

C.beginning

D.difference

 

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