阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从方框中选出能填入文中空白处的最合适的单词，并将该单词填写在答题卡对应题号的横线上，注意单词的适当形式。

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从方框中选出能填入文中空白处的最合适的单词，并将该单词填写在答题卡对应题号的横线上，注意单词的适当形式。

Susan and I loved jazz and we   1.  of becoming musicians. We decided to form a band so that we could   2.  some extra money by playing and singing in a pub(酒吧). The regulars(常客) there were very kind to us. They   3.  we go to record our songs in a studio. We wondered if they were playing a   4.  on us as they were often very humorous to each other.

 5. , to our great surprise, everything was   6.  and we made our record. Imagine our excitement when we heard it   7.  on the radio for the first time! It was almost as   8.  as later when we became millionaires. Now whenever we go to the pub, we play our songs and   9. drinks for the regulars. Although we are   10. , we still like to play in the familiar places.

Two weeks before Christmas，Mother told me we were going to my grandmother's house for the holiday.Grandma and Uncle Henry lived on a farm some 15 miles out of town.They had no electricity or running water and__1__what I considered the “good things” in life.They__2__made no plans for Christmas.When Christmas Eve arrived，Mom told me in her “I-mean-it” voice to__3__all the decorations(装饰物)from our tree.She packed those up，__4__all the trimmings(配料)for a __5__turkey dinner.

Christmas morning__6__perfectly，with the sun shining brightly across a fresh blanket of snow.__7__I sulked(生气)silently in the backseat of the car as we made our__8__to grandma's.This was going to be the __9__Christmas ever!

Grandma was__10__to see us as we walked up to her door.“What on earth are you doing here？”she stammered.“We weren't expecting__11__.It's Christmas，and I don't even have a turkey to cook for you.”“I knew__12__.”Mom said as we set boxes of goodies on the kitchen table.“That's__13__we brought one with us.”“We__14__have a tree，”Mom insisted.“__15__，what will we do with all these decorations？”

Uncle Henry quickly caught Mom's spirit.He called me to join him，and we found a perfect Christmas tree in the woods.Soon the house __16__fresh and piney as we decorated the tree，and the day__17__a festive air.The turkey dinner was very good，too.I was actually beginning to enjoy this unusual Christmas day!

Dessert was forgotten__18__Mom came out with the final surprise—a flaming(燃烧的)pudding! “Merry Christmas，Mother，”Mom said.“Dear me！” Grandma gasped.“I haven't seen a flaming pudding since I left England before I was married.”Tears of__19__filled her eyes.

I could not keep the tears__20__my eyes，either.I knew then that Mom had also given me the best Christmas present ever—she had taught me what a beautiful thing it is to give.

1．A.prepared      B．lacked 

C．refused  D．desired

2．A.also      B．still 

C．never      D．hardly

3．A.replace        B．collect 

C．remove  D．show

4．A.instead of    B．by the side of

C．along with      D．in spite of

5．A.normal        B．complete 

C．fresh       D．separate

6．A.dawned       B．passed 

C．broke      D．happened

7．A.But      B．So 

C．And        D．Then

8．A.decision       B．way 

C．wish       D．plan

9．A.last      B．busiest 

C．best        D．worst

10．A.expected    B．eager 

C．surprised        D．ready

11．A.anyone       B．others 

C．someone        D．no one

12．A.you    B．it 

C．that         D．this

13．A.how  B．why 

C．where     D．when

14．A.may  B．will 

C．can         D．must

15．A.Meanwhile        B．Therefore

C．However        D．Otherwise

16．A.improved  B．smelled 

C．became  D．changed

17．A.showed up        B．carried on

18．A.until  B．after 

C．because  D．unless

19．A.sadness     B．joy 

C．regret      D．worry

20．A.inside        B．back 

C．into         D．from

“I was only thirteen when four of my team members and I were chosen by my swim coach to train with the Chinese National Team. The following piece shows how that experience has influenced me.”
The night before I left for China, my mother called me into her room. I entered not knowing what to expect. I sat down at the end of her very neatly-made bed, opposite the bedroom table on which she kept a Ming-style vase illustrated in great detail. She told me that my great-grandmother was still living in the surroundings of Beijing. Her name was Ren Li Ling and she was 97 years old. This was the first time I had ever heard of her.
The dragon on the vase snaked through the flowers and vines（藤蔓）as my mother said, “Pu Pu, look at me. You need to hear this so that when you go to China you will understand. You must keep this knowledge in your heart.”
She told me a story about my grandfather, Ren Li Ling's son, who left Beijing to go to college in Taiwan. She told me how the Chinese civil war kept him away from his mother for fifty years, so neither of them even knew that the other was alive. No one from Taiwan could visit, write, or call anyone in mainland. All lines of communication were cut off.
She told me of my grandfather's devotion to his own children, and how difficult it was for him to send his daughter to America for her education, fearing that same separation. He gave my mother all that he could give — nineteen years of love and fifty years of savings. I learned how my mother, through means only available in this country, would finally be able to unite my great-grandmother with my grandfather again. The dragon curled around the vase, connecting the separate vines. For a fleeting second, I felt it was present in my mother's room. It was all very strange, yet very clear. I began to understand that this trip to China was not just for me; it was for my mother, and her father, and his mother. Now, I had not only a future, but more significantly, a past. I saw the world with new eyes.
And so I went to China and met my great-grandmother. My great-aunt picked me up at the training center, and we rode in a taxi through the crowded city. The noise of the taxi and the city united into a deep roar. We finally stopped in front of a narrow street lined on either side with small one-level houses. As we made our way to a house like all the others, I drew the stares of many people in the street. My great-aunt led me through a rotting（朽烂的）doorway into a room with a furnace（炉子）, table, and a rocking chair where an old woman wearing gloves sat facing the doorway, covered with a worn brown blanket. I walked over and immediately embraced this frail woman as if I had known her all my life. My limited, broken Chinese wasn't up to expressing my complicated feelings. And even though I couldn't completely understand what she was saying in her thick Beijing accent, I knew — the same way I knew what my mother had been trying to tell me before I left. Her joy shone through her toothless smile. She wouldn't let go of my hand. I haltingly（结结巴巴地）asked her how she had managed to live such a long life. She answered in words I will never forget, “Hope has kept me alive. I have lived this long because I wanted to see my son before I died.”
My fellow team members must have wondered how two people separated by three generations could be so close. Before this trip, I would have wondered the same thing. And even now, I can't quite explain it. We were as different as two people can be; some 85 years and 8,000 miles apart. We came from two entirely different cultures; yet we were connected by a common heritage(传统).
I stayed for dinner which was cooked in a black iron wok（锅）over the furnace. The meal was lavish（过分丰盛的）, prepared in my honor. As I began to eat, with my great-grandmother beside me, I felt the dragon was present. But this time, the feeling didn't pass; the dragon had become a part of me.
My great-grandmother passed away last year at the age of 100. With her highest hopes and wildest dreams fulfilled, I know she died happy.
【小题1】 The writer’s mother called him into her room to ___________________.

In 1982, I was a young marketing person in a company in Mumbai. I had a very senior colleague named Paul, who taught me how to  36   marketing effectively and how to deal with life  37  .
It was one of those  38   days…management, sales calls, planning my travel schedule, booking hotels, arranging appointments and the   39   was endless. By the end of the day, I was not only exhausted but was getting  40  . It was at this time that Paul invited me to his house to have a rest.
We made our way to Paul’s house. Although  41   after a day’s hard work, I was excited to chat with Paul and  42  his rich experience in marketing. As we entered his house  43  the main door, Paul started singing his favourite song, I have a dream. I was in no  44  to listen to his song. I only wanted to hear about how he handled  45   sales calls.
As I leaned over Paul’s shoulder to tell him that, two young girls walked up to Paul and hugged him. They couldn’t walk steadily, and neither could they talk  　46 　 , but their faces were full of  47   and they also sang a song: No mummy’s kisses only daddy’s smiles; nobody wants us, and daddy hugs us tonight.
I was watching what was going on, totally  48   in the beautiful singing, when Paul tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to sit down.  49  to know, I asked Paul who these girls were. To my  50  , Paul told me they were his daughters and they were born as “  51　 children” (mentally disabled). His wife died and he was both Mother and Father to them.
I was moved to tears. In the office, no one knew what Paul was   52  in his personal life. He never looked for   53  from his friends and colleagues. On the contrary, he always helped us at the office. And being head of the Department, he always  54  us to move forward in life.
Paul’s life has been a great  55  to me. If a man can smile through these troubles, nothing can prevent him from achieving success in work or life.