When I was young, my father used to grow carnations (康乃馨).His carnations were red, pink and white. Everyone who saw them admired them for their beauty.

 He took care of them with so much love and     36     . Every day he came home from work, he went   straight    to see them. He  37  watching them every day. We the kids did too. But he used to tell us, “No one should touch my flowers.”

One day my younger sister, who loved my dad very much, had wanted to help him and she     38      the carnations from their stems (枝干) one by one and arranged them    39       . She believed that he would be very     40     to see them that way.

When mom and I realized what my sister had done, we became completely hopeless. However, my sister had no idea why no one showed her any appreciation. When my dad arrived he went,  41 , straight to see the flowers. When he saw his flowers    lying     on the floor like dead animals, he was  42  at first. He looked towards the street, to see if it was any of the    43     children who could have done it. Then he entered the living room and looked at mom in silence.

Finally mom, who always taught us to     44     no matter what, looked at dad and said: “We have no bad neighbors in our area”. Then with a nice tone she continued: “No outsider did this great job, only your lovely daughter Clémence.” My dad’s face   changed     into  45  and then he said: “Do I have a better     46      than my lovely daughter?” My younger sister smiled and    47     dad tightly.

A. devotion     B. spirits          C. gratitude       D. expectation

A. hated        B. approved       C. enjoyed        D. committed

A. divided      B. watered         C. cut            D. cleaned

A. by the window B. in the vase      C. on the desk      D. on the floor

A. surprised     B. pleased         C. disappointed     D. worried

A. as usual      B. at first          C. as well          D. at last

A. frightened    B. relieved         C. disappointed     D. shocked

A. enemies’     B. friends’         C. families’         D. neighbors’

A. say the truth  B. behave ourselves  C. follow the rules   D. keep secret

A. sadness     B. smiles          C. anger           D. depression

A. kid        B. flower          C. helper           D. gift

A. hugged     B. kissed          C. grasped         D. patted

Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own.My mom was one of those people.

My father died when I was nine months old,making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen.While I was growing up,we lived a very hard life.We had little money,but my mom gave me a lot of love.Each night,she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life,“Kemmons,you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”

At fourteen,I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again.Every day,my mother spoke to me in her gentle,loving voice,telling me that no matter what those doctors said,I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough.She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her.A year later,I returned to school—walking on my own!

When the Great Depression(大萧条)hit,my mom lost her job.Then I left school to support the both of us.At that moment,I was determined never to be poor again.

Over the years,I experienced various levels of business success.But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951.I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child.That was too expensive for the average American family.I told my wife that I was going to open a motel(汽车旅馆)for families that would never charge extra for children.There were plenty of doubters at that time.

Not surprisingly,mom was one of my strongest supporters.She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style.As in any business,we experienced a lot of challenges.But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul,I never doubted we would succeed.Fifteen years later,we had the largest hotel system in the world—Holiday Inn.In 1979 my company had 1759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $1 billion a year.

You may not have started out life in the best situations.But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself,nothing can stop you.

What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was_______.

A.caring                                                          B.moving

C.encouraging                                                  D.interesting

According to the author,who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?

A.Doctors.                    B.Nurses.                            C.Friends.                    D.Mom.

What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?

A.His terrible experience in the hotel.

B.His previous business success of various levels.

C.His mom’s support.

D.His wife’s suggestion.

Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?

A.Modest,helpful and hard-working.

B.Loving,supportive and strong-willed.

C.Careful,helpful and beautiful.

D.Strict,sensitive and supportive.

Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?

A.Self-confidence,hard work,higher-education and a poor family.

B.Mom’s encouragement,clear goals,self-confidence and hard work.

C.Clear goals,mom’s encouragement,a poor family and higher education.

D.Mom’s encouragement,a poor family,higher education and opportunities.

In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue   1 . One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet (小鹦鹉)on my finger, I wanted to show Perky what the sky looked like. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my horror , Perky flew off. The enormous, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue  2   and suddenly he had gone, clipped wings and all. 

I told Kathy about Perky's disappearance and I was anxious that she would blame me. But , unexpectedly, Kathy managed to   3  me. With fake optimism, she even tried to convince me that Perky would find a new    4   . But I was far too clever to   5   that such a thing was possible.

Decades later, I watched my own    6  growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the   7 of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the best of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed(宣称) to  8  the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog. Then Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and ___9___that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.

"The best thing about Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the  10   we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just  11   down and landed on my finger."

When I was finally able to  12 , we examined the amazing evidence. The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all  13 . It seems our two families had been  14  long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were  15 ! Perky lived!"

1.

A.lake

B.sky

C.parakeet

D.backyard

 

2.

A.pleasure

B.sadness

C.treasure

D.sense

 

3.

A.forgive

B.comfort

C.help

D.delight

 

4.

A.parent

B.home

C.nest

D.fellow

 

5.

A.imagine

B.suppose

C.doubt

D.believe

 

6.

A.birds

B.happiness

C.worries

D.children

 

7.

A.parents

B.birds

C.interests

D.games

 

8.

A.catch

B.find

C.buy

D.have

 

9.

A.announced

B.said

C.retold

D.hoped

 

10.

A.day

B.place

C.way

D.story

 

11.

A.floated

B.dived

C.settled

D.went

 

12.

A.think

B.speak

C.interrupt

D.explain

 

13.

A.came up

B.turned up

C.turned out

D.matched up

 

14.

A.known

B.fastened

C.connected

D.introduced

 

15.

A.right

B.wrong

C.silly

D.mad

 

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