A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great star, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．

Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．She was 48．This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world．

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music world．From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists．She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．

Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Ha-oe Nothing , and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．

       But by the end of her career, there was a shocking fall for this superstar．Houston had been addicted to drugs．Her album sales declined and the hits stopped coming and her once beautiful voice became hoarse （嘶哑的）, unable to hit the high notes as she used to．

In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts．But hoarse voice, canceled concerts, and continuous illness-Houston's comeback trail wasn't smooth at all．In an interview with Oprah Winfreyin2009, Houston admitted: "It （show business） is too much for me and I wanted out．"

       Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos, may she rest in peace．

64．Whitney Houston died ______．

       A．shortly before the Grammy this year     B．earlier last Sunday

       C．a year ago                        D．at the annual pre-Grammy party

65．The underlined word "peerless" in Paragraph 3 most probably means ______．

       A．having great power                   B．having no equal

       C．requiring no effort                   D．leaving no impression

66．The cause of the fall of Whitney Houston was that _____ ．

       A．her album sales declined

       B．show business was too much for her

       C．her once beautiful voice became hoarse

       D．she had been addicted to drugs

67．Whitney Houston's achievements include the following except that     .

       A．She made countless hits such as I Have Nothing

       B．She influenced a generation of younger singers

       C．She became the focus before the Grammy this year

       D．She staged a successful comeback in 2009

A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great star, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．

Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．She was 48．This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world．

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music world．From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists．She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．

Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing , and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．

But by the end of her career, there was a shocking fall for this superstar．Houston had been addicted to drugs．Her album sales declined and the hits stopped coming and her once beautiful voice became hoarse （嘶哑的）, unable to hit the high notes as she used to．

In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts．But hoarse voice, canceled concerts, and continuous illness—Houston's comeback trail wasn't smooth at all．In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, Houston admitted: "It （show business） is too much for me and I wanted out．"

Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos, may she rest in peace．

63．Whitney Houston died        ．

       A．shortly before the Grammy this year         B．earlier last Sunday

       C．a year ago                              D．at the annual pre-Grammy party

64．The underlined word "peerless" in Paragraph 3 most probably means ______．

       A．having great power                       B．having no equal

       C．requiring no effort                       D．leaving no impression

65．The cause of the fall of Whitney Houston was that _____ ．

       A．her album sales declined

       B．show business was too much for her

       C．her once beautiful voice became hoarse

       D．she had been addicted to drugs

66．Whitney Houston's achievements include the following except that        ．

       A．She made countless hits such as I Have Nothing

       B．She influenced a generation of younger singers

       C．She became the focus before the Grammy this year

       D．She staged a successful comeback in 2009

In a class I teach for adults, I recently did the “unpardonable．” I gave the class homework!

The assignment （任务） was to “go to someone you love   36   the next week and tell them you love them．It   37   to be someone you have never   38   those words to before or at least haven’t shared those words with for a long time．” That doesn’t   39   like a very tough assignment,   40   you stop to realize that most of the men  were over 35 and were   41   in the generation of men that were taught that expressing emotions is not “macho （男子汉气概的）．” Showing feelings or crying （heaven forbid!） was just not done   42  this was a very threatening assignment for some．

At the   43   of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to   44   what happened when they told someone they loved them．I fully expected one of the   45   to volunteer, as was usually the   46  , but on this evening one of the men raised his hand．He appeared quite moved and a bit   47  ．As he unfolded out of his chair, he began by saying, “Dennis．I was quite   48   with you last week when you gave us the assignment．I didn’t think that I had   49  to say those words to and   50  , who were you to tell me to do something that personal? But as I began driving home my conscience （良知） started talking to me．It was telling me that I   51   exactly who I needed to say I love you to．You see, five years ago, my father and I had a heated   52   and really never resolved it since that one．We   53   seeing each other unless we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings．But   54   then, we hardly spoke to each other．So last．Tuesday   55   I got home, I had convinced myself．I was going to tell my father I loved him．”

A．after          B．before          C．for             D．within

A．has to        B．ought to        C．had better     D．can

A．told           B．said           C．talked           D．spoken

A．look          B．hear          C．listen           D．sound

A．when         B．until            C．that             D．unless

A．born          B．grown          C．raised           D．risen

A．And           B．But             C．So             D．For

A．beginning      B．end           C．middle          D．stating

A．announce      B．share           C．answer          D．ask

A．men           B．adults           C．students         D．women

A．case           B．thing           C．story            D．experience

A．afraid        B．shaken          C．terrible         D．worried

A．happy        B．pleased         C．angry           D．satisfied

A．everybody     B．nobody          C．someone       D．anyone

A．else           B．except          C．beside           D．besides

A．thought      B．considered       C．knew         D．guessed

A．disagreement B．encouragement C．disappointment D．discouragement

A．imagined       B．risked           C．avoided         D．escaped

A．still               B．even            C．just           D．only

A．by the time    B．at the time       C．for the time      D．during the time

In a class I teach for adults, I recently did the “unpardonable.” I gave the class homework!

The assignment (任务) was to “go to someone you love 　36 the next week and tell them you love them. It 　37 to be someone you have never 　38 those words to before or at least haven’t shared those words with for a long time.” That doesn’t 　39 like a very tough assignment, 　40 you stop to realize that most of the men were over 35 and were 　41 in the generation of men that were taught that expressing emotions is not “macho (男子汉气概的).” Showing feelings or crying (heaven forbid!) was just not done 　42 this was a very threatening assignment for some.

At the 　43 of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to 　44 what happened when they told someone they loved them. I fully expected one of the 　45 to volunteer, as was usually the 　46 , but on this evening one of the men raised his hand. He appeared quite moved and a bit 　47 . As he unfolded out of his chair, he began by saying, “Dennis. I was quite 　48 with you last week when you gave us the assignment. I didn’t feel that I had 　49 to say those words to and 　50 , who were you to tell me to do something that personal? But as I began driving home my conscience (良知) started talking to me. It was telling me that I 　51 exactly who I needed to say I love you to. You see, five years ago, my father and I had a heated 　52 and really never resolved it since that one. We 　53 seeing each other unless we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings. But 　54 then, we hardly spoke to each other. So last. Tuesday 　55 I got home, I had convinced myself. I was going to tell my father I loved him.”

36．A．after　　　　　　　　　 B．before　　　　　　　　 C．for　　　　　　　　　　 D．within

37．A．has to　　　　　　　　 B．ought to　　　　　　 C．had better　　　　　 D．can

38．A．told　　　　　　　　　　 B．said　　　　　　　　　　 C．talked　　　　　　　　 D．spoken

39．A．look　　　　　　　　　 B．hear　　　　　　　　　 C．listen　　　　　　　　　 D．sound

40．A．when　　　　　　　　 B．until　　　　　　　　　 C．that　　　　　　　　　　 D．unless

41．A．born　　　　　　　　　 B．grown　　　　　　　　 C．raised　　　　　　　　 D．risen

42．A．And　　　　　　　　　 B．But　　　　　　　　　　 C．So　　　　　　　　　　 D．For

43．A．beginning　　　　　 B．end　　　　　　　　　　 C．middle　　　　　　　　 D．stating

44．A．announce　　　　　 B．share　　　　　　　　　 C．answer　　　　　　　 D．ask

45．A．men　　　　　　　　　 B．adults　　　　　　　　 C．students　　　　　　 D．women

46．A．case　　　　　　　　　 B．thing　　　　　　　　　 C．story　　　　　　　　　 D．experience

47．A．afraid　　　　　　　　 B．shaken　　　　　　　 C．terrible　　　　　　　 D．worried

48．A．happy　　　　　　　　 B．pleased　　　　　　　 C．angry　　　　　　　　 D．satisfied

49．A．everybody　　　　　 B．nobody　　　　　　　 C．someone　　　　　　 D．anyone

50．A．else　　　　　　　　　　 B．except　　　　　　　　 C．beside　　　　　　　　 D．besides

51．A．thought　　　　　　　 B．considered　　　　　 C．knew　　　　　　　　 D．guessed

52．A．disagreement　　　 B．encouragement　　 C．disappointment　　 D．discouragement

53．A．imagined　　　　　　 B．risked　　　　　　　　 C．avoided　　　　　　　 D．escaped

54．A．still　　　　　　　　　　 B．even　　　　　　　　　 C．just　　　　　　　　　　 D．only

55．A．by the time　　　　 B．at the time　　　　　 C．for the time　　　　 D．during the time

There is a story about a school teacher named Mrs. Thompson. Standing in front of her   36   grade class on the first day of school, she told the children a lie. She said she   37  them all. But that was   38 , because there was a little boy called Teddy, whom she didn’t like at all.
Mrs. Thompson was    39  that he didn’t play well with other children, that his clothes were   40  and that he always needed a bath.   41   ,  when she received his records, she got a real   42 .
Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a smart child with ready laugh.  He does his work neatly and has good manners.” 
His second grade   43    wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a deadly illness and life at home   44  be a struggle.”
His third teacher wrote, “ His mother’s death has been  45 to him.”
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was 46     herself. She felt even worse when students   47    her beautiful Christmas presents, except for Teddy’s ---- a   48  that was one quarter full perfume（香水）.
After the children left she   49 for at least an hour.
Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the   50    children in the class. Six years went by when she got a letter from Teddy,   51  that he had finished high school.
There followed another letter years later. Teddy   52     Mrs. Thompson to attend his wedding and asked   53  she could sit in the place usually kept for the   54  of the groom.
Teddy  55  in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back saying “Teddy, you are wrong. In fact, I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
【小题1】.