完形填空 (共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分)

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

Every year on my birthday, a white gardenia (栀子花) was     1     to my house. But no card or note came with it. Calls to the flower shop were always     2     -- it was a cash purchase. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s identity and just     3     in the beauty and heady perfume of that one magical, perfect white flower lying in soft pink paper.

But I never stopped     4     who the giver might be. My mother     5      to these imaginations. She asked me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing     6     . I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy I fell in love with or one who had     7     me even though I didn’t know him.

One month before my high-school graduation, my father died. My feelings      8      from sorrow to fear and     9    : my dad was missing some of the most important events in my life. I became completely     10     in my coming graduation, the senior-class play and the ball. But my mother would not hear of my losing any of those things. Mother and I had gone shopping and found an impressive dress, but it was the     11     size. When my father died, I forgot about the dress.

The day before my ball, I found that dress-- in the right size—hanging over the living room sofa. It was     12      to me so lovingly. I didn’t     13     if I had a new dress or not. But my mother did. She wanted her children to feel     14    , filled with a sense that there was a beauty even in the face of     15   .

My mother died ten days after I was married. The following year the gardenia stopped coming.

1. A. given         B. delivered            C. taken            D. brought

2. A. useful            B. helpful          C. in vain      D. hopeful

3. A. delighted     B. pleasant         C. pleasing     D. satisfied

4. A. considering       B. remembering      C. imagining        D. recalling

5. A. referred      B. led              C. preferred        D. contributed

6. A. appreciation  B. honor            C. grateful     D. respect

7. A. observed      B. watched          C. noticed      D. hated

8. A. ranged            B. differed         C. suffered     D. judged

9. A. shock         B. happiness            C. depressing   D. anger

10. A. uninterested B. interested           C. unhappy      D. disappointing

11. A. wrong            B. false                C. proper       D. right

12. A. provided     B. presented            C. introduced   D. awarded

13. A. doubt            B. wonder           C. desire       D. care

14. A. loving           B. loved                C. respected        D. honored

15. A. trouble      B. despair          C. problem      D. sorrow

Last Christmas was a very difficult time for me. My family and all of my close friends were back home in Florida, and I was all alone in a rather cold California. I was working too many hours and became very sick.
I was working a double shift at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, it was about 9:00 PM on Christmas Eve, and I was feeling really miserable inside. There were a few of us working and very few customers waiting to be helped. When it was time for me to call the next person to the counter, I looked out to see the sweetest-looking old man standing with a cane. He walked very slowly over to the counter and in the faintest voice told me that he had to go to New Orleans. I tried to explain to him that there were no more flights that night and that he would have to go in the morning. He looked so confused and very worried. I tried to find out more information by asking if he had a reservation or if he remembered when he was supposed to travel, but he seemed to become more confused with each question. He just kept saying, “She said I have to go to New Orleans.”
After much time, I was able to at least find out that this old man had been dropped off at the curb on Christmas Eve by his sister-in-law and told to go to New Orleans, where he had family. She had given him some cash and told him just to go inside and buy a ticket. When I asked if he could come back tomorrow, he said that she was gone and that he had no place to stay. He then said he would wait at the airport until tomorrow. Naturally, I felt a little ashamed. Here I was feeling very sorry for myself about being alone on Christmas, when this angel named Clarence MacDonald was sent to me to remind me of what being alone really meant. It broke my heart.
Immediately, I told him we would get it all straightened out, and our Customer Service agent helped to book him a seat for the earliest flight the next morning. We gave him the senior citizen’s fare, which gave him some extra money for travelling. About this time he started to look very tired, and when I stepped around the counter to ask him if he was all right, I saw that his leg was wrapped in a bandage. He had been standing on it that whole time, holding a plastic bag full of clothes.
I called for a wheelchair. When the wheelchair came, we all stepped around to help him in, and I noticed a small amount of blood on his bandage. I asked how he hurt his leg, and he said that he had just had bypass surgery and an artery was taken from his leg. Can you imagine? This man had had heart surgery, and then shortly afterward, was dropped off at the curb to buy a ticket with no reservation to fly to New Orleans, alone!
I never really had a situation like this, and I wasn’t sure what I could do. I went back to ask my supervisors if we could find a place for him to stay. They both said yes, and they obtained a hotel voucher for Mr. MacDonald for one night and a meal ticket for dinner and breakfast. When I came back out, we got his plastic bag of clothes and cane together and gave the porter a tip to take him downstairs to wait for the airport shuttle. I bent down to explain the hotel, food and itinerary (行程) again to Mr. MacDonald, and then patted him on the arm and told him everything would be just fine.
As he left he said, “Thank you,” bent his head and started to cry. I cried too. When I went back to thank my supervisor, she just smiled and said, “I love stories like that. He is your Christmas Man.”
【小题1】Last Christmas the writer had a miserable time because ______.

Lexi Peters, a 14-year-old girl in New York, loves hockey. She’s not only good at playing on her after-school team, but also at playing hockey video games. But when Peters played the popular NHL (National Hockey League) games made by Electronic Arts, something really bothered her. The virtual (虚拟的) character in the game could only be a boy — not a girl.
She didn’t think that was reasonable. There must be many girls playing hockey in the US. So she wrote a letter to Electronic Arts.
“Being represented by a man is unfair to women and girl hockey players,” Peters wrote. “Women’s hockey is a fast-growing sport. I am confident that I’m not the only woman interested in the opportunity to create herself in the game.”
Several weeks later, Peters received an unexpected e-mail from the senior producer for EA Sports’ NHL games, David Littman. “Hi, Lexi,” the e-mail began. “We agree with you!”
Electronic Arts said it would create a female player in the game. “I was thinking you could be the model,” Littman wrote. Peters almost couldn’t believe it. Later, she sent photos of herself taken at all different angles (角度).
And so, when Electronic Arts released the newest version of their game, NHL 12, this fall, Peters was the face of the female player. She can now skate with the NHL’s great players. “It’s strange at first, but you get used to it,” said Peters. “It’s really funny and cool.”
For Peters, there is also an important lesson that she will take with her the rest of her life. “If you have something to say, and you think it’s important, go for it!” she said.
【小题1】What bothered Peters when playing NHL games?

Interview with a president

While many teenagers may dream of meeting with pop star Jay Chou or NBA hero Yao Ming, Li Jing had a far more powerful person on her mind. The Senior 2 from Beijing No.35 High School dreamt of meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After more than a year of hard work and with a little good luck,Li fulfilled her dream.On October 11,2004,the 16-year-old girl joined a team of Chinese journalists who went to Kremlin,in Moscow,to interview Putin.

Li felt nervous before talking to Putin. “But his greeting and warm smile put me at ease,” she said.

Li admired Putin very much,because of his strong will and style of leadership. “He looks very cool,” Li said.During her interview,Li asked Putin whether he plans     to educate his two daughters to be officials in the future.Putin smiled and answered       he hopes they can do whatever job suits their interests and personalities.

Although li would only have several minutes,she started working on her interview questions last August after applying for the opportunity. “Journalists” work is by no means easy.You need to do lots of homework on your “interviewee,”she said.She read many books about Putin and Russia in her spare time.

Li’s parents encouraged her to be a student journalist. “We fully supported her,as long as it does not affects her studies,” said her father.Previously in her job for a student magazine, Chinese Young Journalists, she wrote a letter to President Hu Jintao during the SARS epidemic.

Li has learnt a lot from her experience.She said learning to manage her time and develop the confidence to speak with important people were not things she could learn in class.

1.The underlined word “interviewee”in the fifth paragragh probably means_____.

2.Which of the following best descibes Li Jing’s parents’attitude towards her being a student journalist?

3.Li Jing is different from those students of her age in that______.