I would like to tell you a story about my uncle Theo. He is my oldest uncle, a tall, thin, grey-haired man whose thoughts are always on learning and nothing else. He is quiet, gentle and absent-minded and with about as much sense as a child where money is concerned. Well, he applied a post in Camford University. It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates who applied for it, and about fifteen, including Theo, were asked to be interviewed.
Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and it was so full that they had to put many of the candidates two in a room. Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel. But he was a clever fellow all the same and had a good post in Iscaiot College, Narkover. Well, the Dean, who was the head of the department of the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview, the number of the candidates was reduced to two, Uncle Theo and Adams. The committee couldn’t decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each of the candidates had given a public lecture in the college lecture-hall. The subject they had to speak on was “The Civilization of the Ancient Summerians”; and the lecture had to be given in three days’ time.
Well, for these three days Uncle Theo never left his room. He worked day and night at that lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, almost without eating or sleeping. Adams didn’t seem to do any preparation at all. You could hear his voice and his laughter where he had a crowd of people around him. He came to his room late at night, asked Uncle Theo how he was getting on with his lecture, and then told him how he had spent the evening playing bridge, or at the music hall. He ate like a horse and slept like a log; and Uncle Theo sat up working at his lecture.
The day of the lecture arrived. They all went into the lecture hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform. And then, Theo discovered, to his horror,  that typewritten copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said they would call on the candidates on the alphabetical order, Adams first; and the despair in his heart, Theo watched Adams calmly take the stolen speech out of pocket and read it to the professors who were gathered to hear it. And how well he read it! Even Uncle Theo had to admit he couldn’t have read it nearly so eloquently himself, and when Adams finished there was a great burst of applause. Adams bowed and smiled, and sat down.
Now, it was Theo’s turn. But what could he do? He had put everything he knew into the lecture. His mind was too much upset to put the same thoughts in another way. With a burning face he could only repeat, word for word, in a low, dull voice, the lecture that Adams had spoken so eloquently. There was hardly any applause when he sat down.
The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be. Adams leaned across to Theo and patted him on the back and said, smilingly, “Hard luck, old fellow, but after all, only one of us could win”
Then the Dean and the committee came back, “Gentlemen”, the Dean said, “the candidate we have chosen is Mr. Hobdell.” Uncle Theo had won! The audience were completely taken by surprise, and the Dean continued, “ I think I ought to tell you how we arrived at the decision. We were all filled with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr. Adams. I was greatly impressed. But, you will remember, Mr. Adams read his lecture to us. When Mr. Hobdell’s turn came, he repeated that speech, word by word from memory, though, of course, he couldn’t have seen a line of it before. Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post; and what a memory Mr. Hobdell must have! This is why we decided that Mr. Hobdell was exactly the man we wanted! ”
As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Uncle Theo, who was so confused but so happy that he hardly knew whether he was standing on his head or heels; and as he shook Theo’s hand he said, “Congratulations, Mr. Hobdell! But, my fellow, when you are on our staff, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!”
【小题1】. Which of the followings best describes Uncle Theo?

A．The applicants had to sit for an examination.

B．There was much competition for the post.

C．The post requires a lot of teaching experience.

D．The post offered quite high salary.

A．he had a better memory than Adams.
B．he was more experienced than Adams.	C．the committee knew he was exactly the man they wanted.
D．the committee knew Adams had copied Theo’s speech.

I became a gardener when I was twelve. My early   36  of gardening may not have originated from my love for nature. It was to   37  my parents.

At that time, we had a big yard in which a beautiful maple tree stood. But my mother often looked with  38  at this work of natural art. Those golden leaves seemed like tons of rubbish to her, “something else to   39  !”Seeing the neighbors busy with gardening, my father even thought it a waste of time.

At that age, I always did something   40   to whatever my parents did!If gardening were something they found  41  , I would plant a garden!

I planted some lily(百合花)seeds in the yard. But they failed to   42 . I continued to plant sunflower seeds and roses. Wild  43 joy, I found the first rose bloom(开花). One by one, the flowers bloomed their heads off. 44  , I was touched by this land of wonder.

  45 , my parents showed no interest in my garden. My father even   46  at me because he found it was  47  to move around my garden to the driveway. To my mother’s   48  , I put in her vase my real roses which, in her eyes, were simply weeds 49  flowers.

Regardless of their   50  , I kept on planting my garden and  51 to enjoy the pleasure of gardening. Plants make such good companions: they breathe, they bloom, they   52  to care and love.

It has been many years since I made my first garden out of my desire to  53  my parents. Today I become known as Mrs. Greenthumbs, teaching gardening and hosting a gardening show, which makes my parents feel very   54  . And now I could say it is my affection for  55   that makes me a real gardener.

1.                A．memory        B． dream         C． intention     D． design

2.                A．please         B． change        C． help D． annoy

3.                A．doubt          B． appreciation    C． surprise D． excitement

4.                A．collect up       B． care about      C． clean up D． come in

5.                A．equal          B．similar          C． superior D． opposite

6.                A．painful         B． valuable       C． upsetting D． interesting

7.                A．come up        B．break out       C． hold on  D． get through

8.                A．to             B． with           C． in  D． by

9.                A．Luckily         B．Cheerfully       C． Regularly D． Eventually

10.               A．Instead         B． However       C． Therefore D． Besides

11.               A． shouted       B． laughed       C． glanced  D． jumped

12.               A．convenient      B． troublesome    C． enjoyable D． dangerous

13.               A．sadness        B． displeasure     C． delight   D． relief

14.               A．other than      B． more than      C． rather than    D． less than

15.               A．dislike          B． encouragement C． threat    D． suggestion

16.               A．decided        B． stopped       C． continued D． struggled

17.               A．devote         B． turn          C． respond D． lead

18.               A．defeat         B． satisfy         C． respect   D． challenge

19.               A．proud          B． comfortable    C． strange   D． disappointed

20.               A．freedom        B． life           C． growth   D． nature

Life became hard when I was 14. My mother and I moved to New York to 36 my father, who’d moved there to find  37  work when I was three years old. He had a job at a restaurant and only visited us  38  every couple of years.

Before I moved, I knew that people in the US spoke English. But honestly, I didn’t stop to analyze the  39  when I was  40  to leave. Just like I assumed I could easily become a doctor or a lawyer. I assumed that I had the skills to learn English in a few weeks. 

When I  41  in the US and started 8^th grade at Ditmas Middle School in Brooklyn, everyone was speaking a(n)  42  language I couldn’t understand. I  43  that life had subtitles, like in foreign movies. School was such a serious place here. Sometimes I felt like I was in a geek（呆子） class. The teachers were always  44  my moves so I couldn’t even throw a paper ball at a classmate’s head. And the worst thing was having to read  45

46  after almost seven months of complaining about everything, I realized that complaining didn’t change things.  47  just made my life worse. If I was going to  48  in this new concrete jungle, I had to  49  . I began to learn English by reading newspapers on my own  50 school. After about four months, I started enjoying reading the crime and sports stories. After six months of studying, my teachers  51  my improvement and moved me into a more  52  English class. I could go to the store and ask for things that I wanted to buy without  53  frustration. For the first time I felt like I was living on earth again  54   I didn’t hear foreign talk. I  55  understand people.

1.                A．find           B．join            C．see  D．help

2.                A．good-looking    B．well-dressed     C．better-paying  D．highly-thought

3.                A．once           B．other          C．each D．only

4.                A．case           B．condition       C．situation  D．state

5.                A．packing         B．trying          C．managing D．arranging

6.                A．reached        B．entered        C．got  D．arrived

7.                A．strange         B．unusual         C．standard  D．foreign

8.                A．hoped         B．wished         C．expected D．demanded

9.                A．staring         B．looking         C．checking  D．watching

10.               A．texts           B．newspapers     C．English    D．poems

11.               A．Although       B．Even if         C．But   D．Since

12.               A．It             B．They           C．I D．Things

13.               A．live            B．study          C．survive    D．continue

14.               A．adapt          B．adopt          C．adore D．admire

15.               A．for            B．in             C．after  D．at

16.               A．made          B．noticed         C．concerned D．remember

17.               A．modern        B．advanced       C．difficult   D．convenient

18.               A．even          B．ever           C．some D．any

19.               A．if             B．though         C．ever  D．because

20.               A．could          B．should         C．would D．might

Life became hard when I was 14. My mother and I moved to New York to 36 my father, who’d moved there to find  37  work when I was three years old. He had a job at a restaurant and only visited us  38  every couple of years.

Before I moved, I knew that people in the US spoke English. But honestly, I didn’t stop to analyze the  39  when I was  40  to leave. Just like I assumed I could easily become a doctor or a lawyer. I assumed that I had the skills to learn English in a few weeks. 

When I  41  in the US and started 8^th grade at Ditmas Middle School in Brooklyn, everyone was speaking a(n)  42  language I couldn’t understand. I  43  that life had subtitles, like in foreign movies. School was such a serious place here. Sometimes I felt like I was in a geek（呆子） class. The teachers were always  44  my moves so I couldn’t even throw a paper ball at a classmate’s head. And the worst thing was having to read  45

46  after almost seven months of complaining about everything, I realized that complaining didn’t change things.  47  just made my life worse. If I was going to  48   in this new concrete jungle, I had to  49  . I began to learn English by reading newspapers on my own  50  school. After about four months, I started enjoying reading the crime and sports stories. After six months of studying, my teachers  51  my improvement and moved me into a more  52  English class. I could go to the store and ask for things that I wanted to buy without  53  frustration. For the first time I felt like I was living on earth again  54  .I didn’t hear foreign talk. I  55  understand people.

Life became hard when I was 14. My mother and I moved to New York to 36 my father, who’d moved there to find  37  work when I was three years old. He had a job at a restaurant and only visited us  38  every couple of years.

Before I moved, I knew that people in the US spoke English. But honestly, I didn’t stop to analyze the  39  when I was  40  to leave. Just like I assumed I could easily become a doctor or a lawyer. I assumed that I had the skills to learn English in a few weeks. 

When I  41  in the US and started 8^th grade at Ditmas Middle School in Brooklyn, everyone was speaking a(n)  42  language I couldn’t understand. I  43  that life had subtitles, like in foreign movies. School was such a serious place here. Sometimes I felt like I was in a geek（呆子） class. The teachers were always  44  my moves so I couldn’t even throw a paper ball at a classmate’s head. And the worst thing was having to read  45

46  after almost seven months of complaining about everything, I realized that complaining didn’t change things.  47  just made my life worse. If I was going to  48  in this new concrete jungle, I had to  49  . I began to learn English by reading newspapers on my own  50 school. After about four months, I started enjoying reading the crime and sports stories. After six months of studying, my teachers  51  my improvement and moved me into a more  52  English class. I could go to the store and ask for things that I wanted to buy without  53  frustration. For the first time I felt like I was living on earth again  54  .I didn’t hear foreign talk. I  55  understand people.

1.                A．find           B．join            C．see  D．help

2.                A．good-looking    B．well-dressed     C．better-paying  D．highly-thought

3.                A．once           B．other          C．each D．only

4.                A．case           B．condition       C．situation  D．state

5.                A．packing         B．trying          C．managing D．arranging

6.                A．reached        B．entered        C．got  D．arrived

7.                A．strange         B．unusual         C．standard  D．foreign

8.                A．hoped         B．wished         C．expected D．demanded

9.                A．staring         B．looking         C．checking  D．watching

10.               A．texts           B．newspapers     C．English    D．poems

11.               A．Although       B．Even if         C．But   D．Since

12.               A．It             B．They           C．I D．Things

13.               A．live            B．study          C．survive    D．continue

14.               A．adapt          B．adopt          C．adore D．admire

15.               A．for            B．in             C．after  D．at

16.               A．made          B．noticed         C．concerned D．remember

17.               A．modern        B．advanced       C．difficult   D．convenient

18.               A．even          B．ever           C．some D．any

19.               A．if             B．though         C．ever  D．because

20.               A．could          B．should         C．would D．might