完形填空

　　The western world has always been divided into two types of people——the cool and the uncool. It is a division that __1__ in school. The cool kids are good at __2__. They are __3__ with the opposite sex. They are good-looking and people want to __4__ their style. They can do their homework but they don't make a big effort. That would __5__ be cool.

　　The uncool kids are in the other corner of the playground. They are very bright, but they don't have great. __6__ skills and they are __7__ at sports. When they are not programming computers or doing calculus（微积分）in their heads, they are reading comic books and watching shows like the“X Files”. They are __8__ as the geeks.

　　Here's the news. The geeks are __9__. Make friends with them now or they will put virus in your computer and __10__ your maths homework to ruin. Geeks might not be popular at school, yet they do pass their examinations, and they might not be too popular at university, but __11__ good degrees.

　　The most important __12__ of the 21st century, computers and IT, has been at least partly created by geeks. Geek heroes like Bill Gates __13__ others to follow their example. Being a geek is a way of earning good money. And the creation of the Internet gave them a __14__ of their own to work and play in, making them a global __15__. Besides, the effect of the geeks __16__ popular culture has started a new trend（趋势）. It is now cool to be __17__. Geek culture is becoming an important part of general popular culture, in which what you know is more important than __18__ you look like.

　　But there are also __19__. Geeks were often bullied or laughed at in school. Now a geek may be your boss. Perhaps it is time for __20__.

　 Maybe ten?year?old Elizabeth put it best when she said to her father，“But，Dad，you can’t be healthy if you’re dead.”

　 Dad，in a hurry to get home before dark so he could go for a run，had forgotten to wear his safety belt—a mistake 75% of US population make every day.The big question is why.

　 There have been many myths about safety belts ever since their first appearance in cars some forty years ago.The following are three of the most common.

　 Myth Number One: It’s best to be “thrown clear” of a serious accident.

　 Truth: Sorry，but any accident serious enough to “throw you clear” is going to be serious enough to give you a very bad landing.And chances are you’ll have traveled through a windshield (挡风玻璃)or door to do it.Studies show that chances of dying after a car accident are twenty?five times in cases where people are “thrown clear”.

　 Myth Number Two: Safety?belts “trap” people in cars that are burning or sinking in water.

　 Truth: Sorry again，but studies show that people knocked unconscious (昏迷) due to not wearing safety belts have a greater chance of dying in these accidents.People wearing safety belts are usually protected to the point of having a clear head to free themselves from such dangerous situation，not to be trapped in them.

　 Myth Number Three: Safety belts aren’t needed at speeds of less than 30 miles per hour (mph).

　 Truth: When two cars traveling at 30 mph hit each other，an unbelted driver would meet the windshield with a force equal to diving head first into the ground from a height of 10 metres.

1.Why did Elizabeth say to her father，“But，Dad，you can’t be healthy if you’re dead”？

　 A.He was driving at great speed.

　 B.He was running across the street.

　 C.He didn’t have his safety belt on.

　 D.He didn’t take his medicine on time.

2.The reason father was in a hurry to get home was that he 　　　　.

　 A.wasn’t feeling very well　　　　　 B.hated to drive in the dark

　 C.wanted to take some exercise　　　　　 D.didn’t want to be caught by the police

3.According to the text，to be “thrown clear” of a serious accident is very dangerous because

　 you 　　　.

　 A.may be knocked down by other cars

　 B.may get serious hurt thrown out of the car

　 C.may find it impossible to get away from the seat

　 D.may get caught in the car door

4.Some people prefer to drive without wearing a safety belt because they believe 　　　　.

　 A.the belt prevents them from escaping in an accident

　 B.they will be unable to think clearly in an accident

　 C.they will be caught when help comes

　 D.cars catch fire easily

5.What is the advice given in the test?

　 A.Never drive faster than 30 miles an hour.

　 B.Try your best to save yourself in a car accident.

　 C.Never forget to wear the safety belt while driving.

　 D.Drive slowly while you’re not wearing a safety belt.

Everyone has experienced trying, but failing to master a difficult book that was begun with the hope of increasing one's understanding. When that happens, it is ?　36　?to think that it was a mistake to try to read it, but that was not the mistake. The mistake was in ?　37　? too much from the first reading of a(n) ?　38　? book. If you read it in the right way, no book written for the ?　39　?reader, no matter how difficult, need be a cause for despair(令人失望).

What is the right method? The ?　40　? is an important and helpful rule of reading that is either not ?　41　? or often forgotten. That rule is simply this: when reading a difficult book for the first time, read it through without ever ?　42　? to think about the things that you do not understand immediately.

Do not be stopped by what you ?　43　? understand. Read through the difficult ?　44　?,and you soon come to things that you do understand. Read these ?　45　?.You will have a much better chance of understanding all of the book when you read it again, but that ?　46　? you to have read the book through once ?　47　?.

What you understand by reading the book through to the ?　48　? will help you when you try later to read the places that you did not ?　49　? in your first reading. Or if you never re-read the book, understanding half of it is much better than understanding ?　50　? of it, which will happen ?　51　? you allow yourself to be stopped by the first difficult part of the book.?

Most of us were taught to ?　52　? the things that we do not understand. We were told to find the ?　53　? of unfamiliar words, and to try to find an explanation in another ?　54　? for anything that we did not understand in the book that we were reading. But when these things are done before the proper time, they only ?　55　? our reading, instead of helping it.

36. A. necessary     B. useful C. natural       D. effective?

37. A. learning       B. wanting      C. accepting    D. expecting?

38. A. easy     B. difficult     C. important   D. correct?

39. A. ordinary      B. young C. serious       D. sincere?

40. A. method B. question     C. answer       D. problem?

41. A. taught  B. known       C. sure    D. perfect?

42. A. starting B. hesitating   C. Stopping    D. repeating?

43. A. can't     B. won't  C. mustn't       D. wouldn't?

44. A. words   B. articles       C. parts   D. points?

45. A. quickly B. immediately      C. clearly       D. carefully?

46. A. requires       B. causes C. advises       D. allows?

47. A. later     B. after   C. before D. again?

48. A. top       B. end     C. bottom       D. cover?

49. A. see       B. turn    C. Notice D. understand?

50. A. anything      B. everything  C. nothing      D. something?

51. A. if B. so that C. whenever   D. as though?

52. A. put away     B. put down    C. think of      D. think about?

53. A. uses     B. Meanings   C. Spellings    D. troubles?

54. A. thinking      B. reading      C. Book  D. way?

55. A. harm    B. increase      C. Improve     D. prevent??

Angels

My friend Heather mentioned that she had never seen an Angel. Then I remembered the 36  I had with my sister Sandra earlier this week.

This will be Sandra’s first Christmas without her husband. This summer he died in her arms. On Thursday, she was in the store 　37　 for an ideal card for her two sons and daughter. Time passed by quickly as she 　38  the many choices. She wanted a card that sent something special to each of them, 　39  she knew they would have a(n) 　40  place in their heart this holiday season.

Finally! She found the one that expressed the 　41 feeling. The words expressed the feelings that she wished to share. However, a sharp pain pierced(穿透) her heart when she realized that the card was 　42 “mom and dad.” She stood there, 　43  it close for a long time, unable to move from the 　44  . Tears began to run down her cheeks.

“Is there something I can do for you?” a 　45  voice asked. She 　46  to face a stranger, a woman, who was looking at her with 　47  and concern. “Uh…oh...OH!” Sandra responded, “I can’t give this card to my children because…because my husband died and this is the 　48  card.”

Hearing this, the stranger’s face softened with sympathy(同情) and love. She reached out and　49  my sister into her arms, giving her unspoken permission to cry in the protection of her embrace(拥抱). She 　50  held my sister until her calmness　51  . “Thank you for listening to me cry on,” was what my sister said when all was better. “You are welcome, and I am so sorry for your 　52 ,” the stranger answered and said goodbye to her.

During her telling of this event I was feeling 　53  that I hadn’t been there. My sister needed me and a stranger had to do my 　54  .  “You know,” she went on, “a friend suggested that it was like meeting with an Angel.” My 　55  disappeared in an instant. My sister required an Angel, and I think that is exactly what she got.