I met Jane Black in university, and soon we became friends．The first time I went to her home I found her family quite different from my own．
In my family, it was always important to place   1 when anything bad happened．
"Who did this? "my mother would scream about a dirty kitchen．
" This is all your  2 , Katharine, " my father would insist when the cat got out or the dishwasher  3 .
From the time we were little, my sister, brothers and I told on each other．We set a place for blame at the dinner table．
4 ,the Whites didn't worry about who had done what．They picked up the pieces and 5 with their lives．The beauty of this was driven home to me the summer Jane died．
In July, the White sisters and I decided to take a car  6 from their home in Florida to New York．The two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, were college students, and the youngest, Amy, had recently  7 sixteen．Proud of having a new driver' s license, Amy was excited about practicing her driving on the trip．She  8 her license to everyone she met．
The big sisters  9 the driving of Sarah' s new car during the first part of the trip, but when they reached _10_ crowded areas, they let Amy  11 ．Somewhere in South Carolina, we pulled off the highway to eat．After lunch, Amy got behind the wheel．She came to a crossroads with a stop sign．Whether she was nervous or just didn't see the sign no one would  12 know, but Amy continued into the crossroads without stopping．The driver of a large truck, unable to stop in time, ran into our car．
Jane was killed immediately．I was only  13 injured．The most difficult thing that I’ve ever done was to call the Whites to tell them about the accident and that Jane had died．Painful __14_ it was for me to lose a good friend, I knew that it was far worse for them to lose a child．
When Mr．and Mrs．White arrived at the hospital, they found their two daughters sharing a room．Sarah had a few cuts on the head and Amy' s leg was broken．They hugged us all and cried tears of   15 and of joy at seeing their daughters．They  16 away the girls' tears and made a few jokes at Amy as she learned to use her crutches （拐仗）.
To both of their daughters, and especially to Amy, over and over they simply said, "We' re so glad that you' re alive．"
I was  17 ．No blame．No accusations．
Later, I asked the Whites why they never talked about the fact that Amy was driving and had run a stop sign．
Mrs. White said, "Jane' s gone, and we miss her  18 ．Nothing we say or do will ever bring her back．But Amy has her whole life ahead of her．How can she _19____ a full and happy life if she feels we blame her for her sister' s death?"
They were right．Amy graduated from the University of California and got married several years ago．She works   20  a teacher of learning-disabled students．She' s also a mother of two little girls of her own, the oldest named Jane．

When I was a child, I had an old neighbour named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any other doctor I’ve ever known. He never  11__ at us for playing in his yard. I remembered him as a kind and  _12_ person

   When Dr. Gibbs didn’t work, he planted trees. His house covered an area of ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it _ 13_ .

   He had some interesting _ 14 _ concerning planting. He belonged to the “No pains, no gains”  __15  of plant growing. He never watered his new trees. Once I asked  _16__, he said, “Watering plants will spoil them, and if you water them, each successive tree_ 17_ will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things 18__for them and weed out the weak ones.” So he never watered his trees. He would _19__a pine, and instead of _20__it every morning, he beat it with a rolled-up newspaper. I __21__ him why he did so, and he said it was to get the tree’s _22__.

   I planted a couple of trees a few _23__ ago. I carried water to them for a solid summer, sprayed them and prayed over them. Two years of careful tending has _24__ in trees that expect to be _25__ to hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows in, they tremble their branches.

   Dr. Gibbs passed away a _26__of years after I left home. Now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees. They’re _27__ now, big and healthy.

   Funny things about Dr. Gibbs’ trees. Hardship and difficulty seemed to benefit them _28__

comfort and ease never could.

   Life is tough, whether we want 29_ to be or not. Too many times we pray for ease, but that’s a prayer seldom met. What we need to do is to pray for 30_ that reach deep into the earth, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be swept away.

1.A. shouted       B. shot             C. aimed            D. pointed

2. A. cruel             B. greedy           C. pleasant         D. disciplined

3.A. museum         B. park             C. playground       D. forest

4. A. features          B. theories         C. characters       D. instructions

5.A. class              B. college          C. school           D. university

6.A. what          B. when             C. how             D. why

7. A. image             B. product          C. generation       D. species

8.A. cheap         B. easy             C. expensive        D. rough

9. A. paint             B. plant            C. uproot           D. establish

10.A. starving          B. beating          C. watering         D. feeding

11.A. asked             B. told             C. informed        D. demanded

12.A. approval          B. attention        C. pain             D. communication

13. A. weeks            B. months           C. years            D. days

14.A. resulted          B. produced         C. believed         D. spent

15.A. treated           B. tended           C. supported        D. attended

16.A. number            B. couple           C. row             D. period

17.A. trembling         B. dying            C. strong          D. intelligent

18.A. while             B. though           C. as               D. and

19. A. them             B. that             C. it               D. this

20.A. trunks           B. roots            C. branches          D. Leaves

One day, when I was in high school, I saw a kid named Kyle from my class walking home from school with all his books, I thought to myself, “__36__ would anyone bring home all his books for the weekend? He must really be 　37__.”As I was walking, I saw several kids running toward him. They ran at him, 　38 all his books out of his arms and he fell down in the dirt, His glasses went 　39　 and landed in the grass.

My 　40 went out to him. So, I ran over to him. 41 I handed him his glasses, he looked at me and said, “Hey, thanks!” I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it 　42　 , he lived near me. We talked all the way home. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

Kyle was the 43 student of our class, one of those guys that really found themselves during high school. Therefore he had the 　44 to prepare a 45 speech. On the graduation day, I could see that he was 46　 .So, I patted him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be 　47 !” He looked at me and smiled.

He cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to　 48 those who helped you make it through those　 49 years. Your parents, your teachers… but mostly your friends, I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best 　50　 you can give him.”

I just looked at my friend with 　51 as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to 52 himself over the weekend and was carrying his books home. “Thankfully, nothing happened. My friend 　53 me from doing the unspeakable.”

　 Not until that moment did I realize that you should never underestimate(低估) the 　54 　　of your actions. With one small gesture you can　 55 a person’s life. For better or for worse.

【小题1】 A. How 　　　　　B. When 　　　　　　C. Why 　　　　　　 D . Where

【小题2】. A. stupid　 B. clever　　　　 　　C. wonderful　　　 　　D. Anxious

【小题3】. A. throwing 　 B. knocking 　C. taking　　　　 　　D. Snatching

【小题4】 A. lost 　 B. sending　　　 C. broken　　　 　　 　　D. Flying

【小题5】 A. heart 　B. head　　　　 　　 　　C. hands　　　 　　 D. thought

【小题6】 A. While　　　 　　　　　 B. As　　　　　 　　 C. Because　　　 　 D. Once

【小题7】 A. passed by 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. came up C. went on　　　 　　D. turned out

【小题8】 A. top 　 B. hardest　　　 　　 　　C. favorite　　　 　　 D. Luckiest

【小题9】 A. pride 　B. honor　　　 　　 C. pleasure　　　 　　　 D. Chance

【小题10】A. class　 　B. school　　　 　　　 C. graduation　　 　 D. College

【小题11】A. excited B. nervous　　　 　 　　C. proud　　　　 　　 D. Crazy

【小题12】A. great　 B. famous　　　 　　　　 C. praised　　 　　　D. Honored

【小题13】A. reward 　B. remember 　　　 C. thank 　 D. Congratulate

【小题14】A. happy 　 B. exciting　　　 　　　　 C. old　　　　　 　　 D. Hard

【小题15】A. chance　 　B. gift　　　　　 　　　　 C. help　　　　　 　　 D. Favor

【小题16】A. wonder 　　B. anxiety　　　　 C. disbelief　　 　　 D. Pride

【小题17】A. kill　　　　 　B. enjoy　　　　 　　 C. test　　　　　 　 D. Hurt

【小题18】A. protected B. freed 　　C. warned　　　　 　　　 D. Prevented

【小题19】A. price B. use　　　　　 　　C. power　　　　 　 D. Meaning

【小题20】A. destroy 　B. change 　 C. save　　　　　 　 D. understand

One day, when I was in high school, I saw a kid named Kyle from my class walking home from school with all his books, I thought to myself, “__21___ would anyone bring home all his books for the weekend? He must really be    22___.”As I was walking, I saw several kids running toward him. They ran at him,   23 all his books out of his arms and he fell down in the dirt, His glasses went   24 and landed in the grass.
My   25 went out to him. So, I ran over to him. 26 I handed him his glasses, he looked at me and said, “Hey, thanks!”
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it   27 , he lived near me. We talked all the way home. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
Kyle was the   28 student of our class, one of those guys that really found themselves during high school. Therefore he had the   29  to prepare a 30 speech. On the graduation day, I could see that he was 31 . So, I patted him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be  32!” He looked at me and smiled.
He cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to   33 those who helped you make it through those   34  years. Your parents, your teachers… but mostly your friends, I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best   35 you can give him.”
I just looked at my friend with   36 as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to 37 himself over the weekend and was carrying his books home. “Thankfully, nothing happened. My friend   38  me from doing the unspeakable.”
Not until that moment did I realize that you should never underestimate(低估) the   39 of your actions. With one small gesture you can   40 a person’s life. For better or for worse.

One day, when I was in high school, I saw a kid named Kyle from my class walking home from school with all his books, I thought to myself, “__1___ would anyone bring home all his books for the weekend? He must really be    2___.”As I was walking, I saw several kids running toward him. They ran at him,   3  all his books out of his arms and he fell down in the dirt, His glasses went   4   and landed in the grass.
I ran over to him.  5  I handed him his glasses, he looked at me and said, “Hey, thanks!”
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it   6    , he lived near me. We talked all the way home. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
Kyle was the top student of our class, one of those guys that really found themselves during high school. Therefore he had the   7  to prepare a graduation speech. On the graduation day, I could see that he was   8   .So, I patted him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be   9  !” He looked at me and smiled.
He cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to   10   those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers… but mostly your friends, I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best   11    you can give him.”
I just looked at my friend with   12    as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend and was carrying his books home. “Thankfully, nothing happened. My friend   13     me from doing the unspeakable.”
Not until that moment did I realize that you should never underestimate(低估) the   14    of your actions. With one small gesture you can   15   a person’s life. For better or for worse.