I was sitting in the surgical waiting area at the hospital waiting for word of my wife's operation. The small room was filled with other families and friends, who were ___36___ waiting to hear how their loved ones were doing.

There was a young boy sitting quietly in the ___37___ . He held a small box of ___38___ in one hand and a tablet(写字板) in the other. Every so often he'd place the tablet on his lap and draw something. As the hours passed I began to see the room almost ___39___ . And there was a strange silence.

"Daddy, when is Mommy going home?" the young boy asked, breaking the ___40___.

"Tomorrow." his father replied. The boy picked up his crayons and ___41___ something on the tablet.

I ___42___ him as he moved his feet back and forth, looking up at the ceiling and then toward the sunshine-filled window. "When's ___43___, Daddy?" he asked. His father ___44___ him over to sit by him. "Come, ___45___ here next to me," he said with a gentle tone in his voice.

___46___ his things, the little boy walked slowly to his father's side from the corner.The man ___47___ out and held his son by his shoulder.

"There are three days in life. Yesterday, today and tomorrow. One is over and done, one we live in, the other we ___48___ . We can't live in yesterday, but if we are happy enough today, we will be even happier tomorrow," he said in an attempt to ___49___ the boy.

The little boy looked at him for a moment and said, "If Mommy is going home tomorrow, I'll be ___50___. So, I want it to be tomorrow already, Daddy."

Now hanging on every word of this ___51___ , I leaned forward to hear his response. It was ___52___.

"Son, the one great thing about today is once it ___53___, it is already almost tomorrow."

I thought about how ___54___ it was. Even in my adult life, I still live waiting for what tomorrow may ___55___. Now I know that it is already "almost tomorrow".

1.                A．eagerly         B．patiently        C．happily   D．curiously

2.                A．chair           B．corner         C．distance  D．shadow

3.                A．gifts           B．toys            C．chalks    D．crayons

4.                A．dark           B．full            C．empty    D．clean

5.                A．promise        B．rule            C．record   D．silence

6.                A．wrote          B．drew           C．printed   D．carved

7.                A．followed        B．found          C．watched  D．caught

8.                A．today          B．yesterday       C．future    D．tomorrow

9.                A．knocked        B．ordered        C．called    D．pulled

10.               A．stand          B．sit             C．lie   D．sleep

11.               A．gathering       B．forgetting       C．saving D．choosing

12.               A．got            B．took           C．set   D．reached

13.               A．spend          B．waste          C．kill   D．expect

14.               A．frighten        B．satisfy          C．persuade  D．warn

15.               A．happier        B．calmer         C．smarter   D．sadder

16.               A．story          B．argument       C．conversation   D．discussion

17.               A．humorous      B．silly            C．positive   D．perfect

18.               A．ends           B．starts          C．passes D．lasts

19.               A．meaningful      B．important       C．interesting D．fantastic

20.               A．happen        B．come          C．bring D．need

I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store. A nicely dressed little girl was looking through the teddy bears beside her father     38   she saw a little boy walk in and stop in front of the Pokémon toys. His jacket was obviously too small. He had money in his hand.     39  , it looked no more than five dollars at most. He was with his father as well, and     40   picking up the Pokémon video games. Each time he showed one to his father, his father      41  his head, “No”.
Rather    42   , the boy gave up the video games and chose a book of stickers     43  . After they walked away, the little girl ran over to the Pokémon video games. She excitedly picked up one     44  on top of the others, and hurried down toward the check-out. I picked up my purchases(购买物) and     45  the girl and her father.
Then, much to the little girl’s     46  , the little boy and his father got in line behind her and me. After the video was paid for and bagged, the little girl     47  it back to the cashier(收银员) and     48   something to her. The cashier smiled and put the     49 under the counter(柜台). I was putting things in my bag when the little boy came up to the cashier. The cashier said, “Congratulations. You’re my hundredth customer today, and you win a prize!” and she handed the boy the Pokémon game. The boy could only    50  in disbelief. It was, he said, exactly what he had wanted! The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway, and I saw the biggest and prettiest smile on that little girl I have ever seen in my life.
I suddenly understood that the world is not     51  into the strong who care and the     52  who are cared for. We must each in turn care and be cared.

I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store. A nicely dressed little girl was  36   the teddy bears beside her father  37  she saw a little boy walk in and stop in front of the Pokémon toys. His jacket was obviously too small. He had money in his hand.   38  , it looked no more than five dollars at most. He was with his father as well, and  39  picking up the Pokémon video games. Each time he showed one to his father, his father  40   his head, “No”.

Rather  41  , the boy gave up the video games and chose a book of stickers  42  . After they walked away, the little girl ran over to the Pokémon video games. She excitedly picked up one  43   on top of the others, and ran toward the check-out. I picked up my purchases(购买物) and  44  the girl and her father.

Then, much to the little girl’s  45  , the little boy and his father got in line  46  her and me. After the video was paid for and bagged, the little girl  47  it back to the cashier(收银员) and  48   something to her. The cashier smiled and put the  49  under the counter(柜台). I was putting things in my bag when the little boy came up to the cashier. The cashier said, “  50  , you’re my hundredth customer today, and you win a prize!” and she handed the boy the Pokémon game. The boy could only   51   in disbelief. It was, he said,   52  what he had wanted! The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway, and I saw the biggest and  53  smile on that little girl I have ever seen in my life.

I suddenly understood that the world is not  54  into the strong who care and the  55  who are cared for. We must each in turn care and be cared.

1.A. looking through               B. getting through  

   C. dressing up                   D. tidying up

2.A. while       B. when         C. after           D. once

3.A. Then         B. Therefore     C. However        D. Otherwise

4.A. stopped     B. continued     C. avoided         D. kept

5.A. shook       B. nodded       C. moved         D. held

6.A. anxious     B. disappointed   C. angry          D. curious

7.A. also        B. instead        C. lastly          D. indeed

8.A. laying     B. lying         C. to lie           D. lain

9.A. accompanied  B. helped        C. kept           D. followed

10.A. surprise      B. satisfactory    C. joy            D. regret

11.A. behind      B. before        C. between        D. beyond

12.A. put         B. handed       C. sent            D. carried

13.A. whispered   B. shouted       C. gave           D. showed

14.A. basket    B. bag           C. bear           D. gift

15.A. Sorry                         B. Excuse me    

   C. Congratulations                D. Pardon me

16.A. cry       B. stare          C. jump          D. pay

17.A. extremely   B. only      C. exactly D. wonderfully

18.A. widest  B. greatest        C. prettiest       D. dearest

19.A. divided    B. changed        C. included      D. cut

20.A. poor        B. ugly               C. unhappy      D. weak

The young boy saw me, or rather, he saw the car and quickly ran up to me, eager to sell his bunches of bananas and bags of peanuts. Though he appeared to be about twelve, he seemed to have already known the bitterness of life. “Bananas 300 naira. Peanuts 200 naira.” He said in a low voice. I bargained him down to 200 totals for the fruit and nuts. When he agreed, I handed him a 500 naira bill. He didn’t have change, so I told him not to worry. He said thanks and smiled a row of perfect teeth.

When, two weeks later, I saw the boy again, I was more aware of my position in a society where it’s not that uncommon to see a little boy who should be in school standing on the corner selling fruit in the burning sun. My parents had raised me to be aware of the advantage we had been afforded and the responsibility it brought to us.

I pulled over and rolled down my window. He had a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts ready. I waved them away. “What’s up?” I asked him.

“I…I don’t have money to buy books for school.” I reached into my pocket and handed him two fresh 500 naira bills. “Will this help?” I asked. He looked around nervously before taking the money. One thousand naira was a lot of money to someone whose family probably made about 5,000 naira or less each year. “Thank you, sir.” he said. “Thank you very much!”

When driving home, I wondered if my little friend actually used the money for schoolbooks. What if he’s a cheat? And then I wondered why I did it. Did I do it to make myself feel better? Was I using him? Later, I realized that I didn’t know his name or the least bit about him, nor did I think to ask.

Over the next six months, I was busy working in a news agency in northern Nigeria. Sometime after I returned, I went out for a drive. When I was about to pull over, the boy suddenly appeared by my window with a big smile ready on his face.

“Oh, gosh! Long time.”

“Are you in school now?” I asked.

He nodded.

“That’s good,” I said. A silence fell as we looked at each other, and then I realized what he wanted. “Here,” I held out a 500 naira bill. “Take this.” He shook his head and stepped back as if hurt. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “It’s a gift.”

He shook his head again and brought his hand from behind his back. His face shone with sweat. He dropped a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts in the front seat before he said, “I’ve been waiting to give these to you.”

1.What was the author’s first impression of the boy?

A. He seemed to be poor and greedy.

B. He seemed to have suffered a lot.

C. He seemed younger than his age.

D. He seemed good at bargaining.

2.The second time the author met the boy, the boy ______.

A. told him his purpose of selling fruit and nuts

B. wanted to express his thanks

C. asked him for money for his schoolbooks

D. tried to take advantage of him

3.Why did the author give his money to the boy?

A. Because he had enough money to do that.

B. Because he had learnt to help others since childhood.

C. Because he held a higher position in the society.

D. Because he had been asked by the news agency to do so.

4.Which of the following best describes the boy?

A. Brave and polite.           B. Kind and smart.

C. Honest and thankful.        D. Shy and nervous.

One day a heavy storm hit a village. Nothing was ____41____ but a rock fell from the nearby mountain. The rock rolled down from the mountain and __42_____ in the middle of the main oad in the village. It was very big and shaped more or less __43__ a ball. The villagers decided to move it away since it was blocking the street. Several of the ___44___ men came to try to lift it out of the road. No matter _____45____ they tried, they couldn’t move it.
All of this time a young boy was ___46_____ the men trying to move the rock.. “Excuse me,” he said, “but I think I could move it.” “You,” they shouted, “____47___ are you talking about? All of us have just tried and can’t ___48_____ move it a little.” They all ____49______ the boy.
The next ___50_____ some villagers came to the street. To their great __51____, the rock was gone. More people ran out to see for themselves. It was true the rock was not in the road any more. The little boy stood in the street, smiling, “ I told you I could move it. I did it last night.” ___52_____ he walked over to ___53____ the rock had been and ____54_____ some dirt with a shovel( 铲 ) “You see,” he said, “ I dug a hole __55____ the rock and it rolled down into the hole by itself. Then I covered it with dirt.”