完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that thankfulness is indeed a virtue.

—William Bennett

Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class a fun __36__ to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful.

Most of the class might be considered economically __37__, but still many would __38__ the holidays with turkeys and other traditional goodies of the season. These, the teacher thought, would be the __39__ of most of her students’ art. And they were.

__40__, Douglas made a different kind of picture. Douglas was a special kind of boy. He was the teacher’s true child of misery, __41__ and unhappy. As other children played at break, Douglas was likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess the pain Douglas felt __42__ those sad eyes.

Yes, his picture was different. When __43__ to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful, he drew a hand. Nothing else. Just a(n) __44__ hand.

His abstract image captured the __45__ of his classmates, whose hand could it be? One child guessed it was the hand of a farmer, because farmers __46__ turkeys. Another suggested a police officer, because the police protect and __47__ people. And so the discussion went ---- until the teacher __48__ forgot the young artist himself.

When the children had gone on to other tasks, she __49__ at Douglas’ desk, bent down, and asked him whose hand it was. The little boy looked away and __50__, “It’s yours, teacher.”

She __51__ the times she had taken his hand and walked with him here and there, __52__ she had other student. How often had she said, “Take your hand, Douglas, we’ll go outside.” Or, “Let me show you how to hold your pencil.” Or, “Let’s do this together.” Douglas was most thankful for his teacher’s hand.

Brushing __53__ a tear, she went on with her work.　　

The story speaks of __54__ thankfulness. It says something about teachers teaching and parents parenting and friends showing friendship, and how much it means to the Douglases of the world. They might not always say thanks, but they'll remember the hand that __55__.

The   16   picked up the thermos and poured some hot water into the tea-cup and placed it on the small table in front of his  17   , who were a father and daughter, and put the lid on the cup with a clink．Apparently  18  of something, he hurried into the inner room, leaving the  19  on the table．His two guests heard a chest of drawers opening and a rustling （飒飒响声）．

       They  20  sitting in the living-room, the 10-year-old daughter, looking at the flowers outside the window．The father was just about to take his cup when the  21  came, right there in the living-room．Something was hopelessly broken．

       It was the thermos, which had fallen to the floor．The girl looked  22  her shoulder at once, startled （吓一跳）,  23  ．It was  24   neither of them had touched it, not even a little bit．

       The sound caused the host to rush back from the inner room．He looked at the  25  floor and blurted out, “It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter!”

       The father started to say something．Then he muttered, “Sorry, I  26  it and it fell．”

       “ It doesn’t matter,” the host said．

       Later, when they left the house, the daughter said, “ Daddy, I saw your  27  in the windowpane （窗玻璃）．You were sitting perfectly  28  ．Why did you say…．”

The father  29  , “What then would you  30  as the cause of its fall?”

       “ It fell by itself．The floor is uneven （不平）．It wasn’t steady when Mr．Li put it there．”

       “It won’t  31  , girl．It sounds more  32   when I say I knocked it down．There are things people accept less the more you  33   them．The truer your story is, the less true it sounds．”

The daughter was  34  in silence for a while．Then she said, “ Can you  35   it only this way?”

       “Only this way,” the father said．

16．A．owner         B．host             C．guest            D．master

17．A．friends         B．neighbours         C．children           D．guests

18．A．knowing       B．remembering             C．hearing           D．thinking

19．A．thermos       B．cup               C．lid              D．tea

20．A．enjoyed       B．remained         C．imagined         D．hated

21．A．stranger        B．host             C．crash            D．noise

22．A．around         B．at               C．behind           D．over

23．A．staring        B．watching         C．shouting           D．crying

24．A．helpless       B．exciting          C．strange           D．terrible

25．A．broken        B．steaming         C．dirty             D．flooded

26．A．touched       B．used              C．hit              D．moved

27．A．face           B．shadow          C．reflection                D．action

28．A．calm          B．still             C．silent            D．straight

29．A．shouted        B．whispered        C．laughed           D．repeated

30．A．tell                 B．make            C．accept           D．give

31．A．do             B．suit               C．go              D．fit

32．A．comfortable    B．friendly          C．acceptable        D．agreeable

33．A．defend        B．support          C．discuss            D．argue

34．A．kept          B．shut             C．worried            D．lost

35．A．do             B．explain            C．make              D．manage