31. -- If you don’t bring a birthday present to Lucy, you may    .

-- Thank you for reminding me. Surely I’ll buy her one this evening.

When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby, many families were left completely destroyed. Afterward all the local newspapers carried many human-interest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.
One Sunday, a particular picture especially touched me. A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered mobile home, a depressed expression twisting her features. A young boy, seven or eight years old, stood at her side, eyes downcast. Clutching  (紧握)  at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera, eyes wide with confusion and fear.
The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member. With growing interest, I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours. This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves. I taped the picture of the young family to our refrigerator, explaining their difficulty to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and to three- year-old Meghan.
“ We have so much. And these poor people now have nothing,” I said.“We’ll share what we have with them.”
I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously, as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods.
While I sorted through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up discarded toys and games.
“I’ll help you find something for the little girl when I’m done with this,” I said.
The boys placed the toys they had chosen to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third box with clothes. Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, faded, much-loved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest. She paused in front of the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy’s flat, painted-on-face, gave her a final kiss, then laid her gently on top of the other toys.
“Oh, Honey,” I said.“You don’t have to give Lucy. You love her so much.”
Meghan nodded seriously, eyes glistening with held-back tears. ‘”Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she’ll make that other little girl happy, too．”
Swallowing hard, I stared at Meghan for a long moment, wondering how I could teach the boys the lesson she had just taught me. For I suddenly realized that anyone can give their cast-offs away. True generosity is giving that which you value most.
Honest benevolence  (善行)  is a three-year-old offering a valuable, though shabby, doll to a little girl she doesn’t know with the hope that it will bring this child as much pleasure as it brought her. I, who had wanted to teach, had been taught.
The boys had watched, open-mouthed, as their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box. Without a word, Brad rose and went to his room. He came back carrying one of his favorite action figures. He hesitated briefly, clutching the toy, then looked over at Meghan and placed it in the box next to Lucy.
A slow smile spread across Brett’s face. Then he jumped up, eyes twinkling as he ran to fetch some of his prized Matchbox cars.
Astonished, I realized that the boys had also recognized what little Meghan’s gesture meant. Swallowing back tears, I pulled all three of them into my arms.
Taking the cue from my little one, I removed my old jacket from the box of clothes. I replaced it with the new hunter green jacket that I had found on sale last week. I hoped the young woman in the picture would love it as much as I did.
It’s easy to give that which we don’t want any more, but harder to let go of things we cherish, isn’t it? However, the true spirit of giving is to give with your heart..
【小题1】Why does the author give a detailed description of a particular picture in the Sunday newspaper?

—Lucy, you clean the room today, _______?

   —But I cleaned it yesterday. It’s Lily’s turn.

A. don’t you   B. do you              C. will you              D. didn’t you

When an earthquake hit a small town，many houses fell down.After the earthquake，all the newspapers reported many stories about some of the families who were in trouble.

One Sunday，when I was reading a newspaper，a special picture touched me.It gave the clothing sizes of each family member.I thought that this would be a good chance to teach my children to help those who were less lucky than themselves.I said to my seven?year?old twins，Brad and Brett，and three?year?old Meghan，“We have so much，and these poor people now have nothing.We’ll share what we have with them.”

I filled a box with foods and clothes.While I was doing this，I encouraged the boys to choose their toys and donate some of their less favourite things.Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and games and put them together.Then she walked away.A few minutes later she came back with Lucy，her much?loved doll.She put the doll on top of the other toys.“Oh，dear，”I said.“You don’t have to give Lucy.You love her so much.”Meghan said，“Lucy makes me happy，Mommy.Maybe she’ll make another little girl happy, too.”

I looked at Meghan for a long moment.She taught me a lesson.It’s easy to give something that we don’t want any more，but hard to give what we cherish(珍爱)，isn’t it?

1．The writer has ________ children.

A．one 　　　　　 B．two 　　　　　　C．three 　　　　　 D．four

2．The underlined word “donate” probably means “________”．

A．捐赠 　　　　　B．丢掉 　　　　　C．展出 　　　　　D．放好

3．Lucy is the name of ________.

A．a girl　　　　 　B．a game　　　　　 C．a doll 　　　　 D．an earthquake

4．Which of the following is true?

A．An earthquake happened in the writer’s hometown.

B．The writer let Meghan give her much?loved doll.

C．The writer decided to buy some clothes for those people in trouble.

D．The writer thinks it is more difficult to give what we love a lot.

。

5．What’s the best title of this passage?

A．A Family Story　　　　　　　　　　 B．The Spirit of Giving

C．The Way of Helping Others　　　　　 D．A Sad Experience

One Sunday, a picture in the newspaper touched me. A young woman stood in front of a totally destroyed home. A little boy stood beside her with his head   36 . Holding her skirt tightly was a tiny girl, eyes wide with   37  and fear.

With growing   38  I noticed that their sizes of each family member closely   39  ours. This would be a good opportunity to   40  my children, so I explained their difficult  41  to my seven-year-old twins and three-year-old Meghan.

“We have so much, but these poor people now have nothing,” I said, “we’ll   42  what we have with them.”

I brought three large boxes and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously   43  the boys and I filled one box with canned food.

While I   44__ our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and   45  some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched   46  as the boys piled up useless toys in the box.

“I’ll help you find something for the little girl,” I said to her.

The boys placed the toys they had   47  to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third box with clothes. Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, faded, much-loved doll  48  tightly to her chest. She   49  in front of the box, pressed her little face into Lucy’s face, gave her a   50  kiss, then, laid her gently on top of the other toys.

“Oh, honey,” I said. “You   51  to give away Lucy. You love her so much.”

Meghan nodded, eyes shining with tears. “Lucy makes me happy, Mommy.   52  she’ll make that little girl happy, too.”

I stared at Meghan for a long moment,   53  how I could teach the boys the lesson she had just taught me.

It’s easy to give what we don’t want any more, but   54  to let go of things we cherish, isn’t it?   55 , the true spirit of giving is to give with your heart.

1.                A．off            B．up             C．down D．round

2.                A．smile          B．confusion       C．joy  D．anger

3.                A．happiness       B．friendship       C．puzzle    D．interest

4.                A．matched        B．equaled        C．compared D．suited

5.                A．help           B．complain        C．change   D．teach

6.                A．experience      B．problem        C．situation  D．process

7.                A．give           B．share          C．send D．spare

8.                A．as             B．since           C．though   D．because

9.                A．came through    B．broke through    C．sorted through D．got through

10.               A．donate         B．leave          C．keep D．sell

11.               A．hopefully       B．anxiously       C．depressingly    D．quietly

12.               A．separated       B．chosen         C．bought    D．confirmed

13.               A．hugged         B．tied           C．grasped   D．caught

14.               A．settled         B．regretted       C．paused    D．cried

15.               A．precious        B．final           C．hearty    D．lovely

16.               A．wouldn’t like   B．ought not       C．had better not  D．don’t have

17.               A．Also           B．Yet            C．Maybe    D．Though

18.               A．knowing        B．wondering      C．realizing   D．expecting

19.               A．available        B．necessary       C．important  D．hard

20.               A．However       B．Therefore       C．Otherwise D．Moreover