Love Is Just a Thread

Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the  ?　36　? tuition for my brother and me. They don't ?　37　? in the romantic ways that I read in books or  I see on TV. My father has a bad temper; it's easy for him to lose his temper.?

One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I ?　38　? sat down beside her and looked at her.

“Is there any ?　39　? between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice.

My mother stopped her work and raised her head with ?　40　? in her eyes. She didn't answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.

?　41　? at last I heard my mother say the following words:?

“Susan,” she said ?　42　?.“Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable(耐用的).If life is a

?　43　?,then love should be a thread. It can ?　44　? be seen anywhere or ?anytime, but it's really there. Love is ?　45　?.”?

I listened carefully but I couldn't understand her until the next ?　46　?.At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. After they were ?　47　?,every day in the morning and dusk(黄昏),my mother helped my father walk ?　48　? on the country road. My father had never been so ?　49　?.Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently shone through the leaves. All of these ?　50　? the most beautiful picture in the world. The doctor had said my father would ?　51　? in two months. But after two months he still couldn't walk alone. We were all worried.?

“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.?

“Susan,”he said gently.“To tell you the truth, I just like ?　52　? with your mom. I like this kind of life.” ?　53　? from his eyes, I knew he loved my mother deeply.

Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this ?　54　?,I understand that love is just a ?　55　? in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.

36. A. expensive    B. low     C. cheap  D. high

37. A. play     B. talk     C. act      D. perform

38. A. silently B. carefully    C. certainly     D. happily

39. A. money  B. love    C. time    D. distance

40. A. surprise       B. pride   C. disappointment  D. satisfaction

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

42. A. sadly    B. excitedly    C. regretfully  D. thoughtfully

43. A. trouble B. pleasure     C. quilt   D. cloth

44. A. hardly  B. often   C. always       D. ever?

45. A. valuable      B. inside  C. true    D. priceless

46. A. winter  B. autumn      C. summer      D. spring

47. A. free      B. back   C. fine    D. ready?

48. A. continuously       B. worriedly   C. constantly   D. slowly?

49. A. gently  B. perfect       C. pleased       D. thankful

50. A. put up  B. took up      C. made up     D. set up?

51. A. run      B. recover      C. Stand  D. work

52. A. walking       B. living  C. sitting D. chatting?

53. A. Examining   B. Seeing       C. Noticing     D. Reading

54. A. practice       B. observation C. experience  D. activity?

55. A. thread  B. thing   C. jewel  D. light

第三节完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
　    When I was 6 years old, my parents got me a used __21____ for Christmas.
A year or so later, I badly wanted a Sting-Ray, a tricked-out bike that was __22__in the 1960s. So my father took my old bike, slapped a new coat of paint on it, and _23____ it with a banana seat, monkey handlebars and a sissy bar（保护杠）. ___24___didn't matter to me that some friends had new Sting-Rays straight from the Schwinn factory. Or even that my dad put the sissy bar on backward, _25____ exposed me to some teasing（嘲笑） before we _26____ it. I loved that bike.
　　So it was for my __27___. We weren't poor. But we always had modest Christmases. And I _28____ to do the same when I got married 27 years ago.
　　My wife, Clarissa, had different _29____. She, too, had some __30___Christmases growing up. She vividly remembers when she was 14 or 15 years old and her father lost his __31__in the construction industry. She overheard her __32___ talking about how _33___ they were.
　　So when her parents asked her what she wanted that year, she said, 'Nothing.' When her mother insisted she had to get ___34__, Clarissa asked for socks. 'I felt very good about myself afterward,' she recalls.
　　But as her family's finances _35_____, Christmas went back to being a __36__ bigger production. By the time I arrived on the scene, the __37__ family -- more than 20 people -- would gather at her grandmother's house in Mexicali, Mexico, on Christmas Eve. Around 10 p.m., Santa (my future brother-in-law in a costume) showed up with an enormous bag of _38____ and stepped into a roomful of children crying with __39____
　　'It was all about the children,' says Clarissa, who thought the experience was _40___ .And she has spent hundreds of dollars on presents every year to duplicate(重温 )it.
21．A．car             B．bike          C．book           D．coat
22．A．popular        B．common       C．ordinary        D．regular
23．A．add         B．equipped      C．placed         D．supplied
24．A．That           B．This          C．It           D．What
25．A．so            B．thus          C．Which         D．it
26．A．bought         B．placed         C．fixed          D．changed
27．A．childhood      B．life           C．children        D．youth
28．A．imagined      B．expected       C．suggested      D．supposed
29．A．ideas          B．life           C．childhood      D．Christmas
30．A．unforgettable   B．modest         C．happy         D．wonderful
31．A．life          B．job            C．interest        D．present
32．A．friends        B．mother        C．father         D．parents
33．A．broke         B．rich           C．wealthy        D．well-off
34．A．nothing        B．something     C．everything       D．anything
35．A．improved     B．caught         C．reduced       D．decreased
36．A．very          B．more          C．less           D．much
37．A．all         B．big            C．small         D．entire
38．A．bikes         B．food          C．presents        D．books
39．A．surprise       B．joy           C．fear           D．satisfaction
40．A．wasteful       B．valueless      C．priceless    D．useful

It's a small gas station that has snacks, drinks, cigarettes, and candies. The young man behind the counter knows his __36__　 by name and what they normally want to buy. He treats children and adults with equal　 __37__. He reads science fiction behind the counter when business is　 __38__.

One day, three people rushed in and grabbed food off the shelves as fast as they could,　 __39__　 not intending to pay for it. He hit the “panic button” , then went over the counter and　 __40__　 the front door. It was obvious that they were homeless, and equally obvious that they weren't going　 __41__　 with their ill?gotten gains. They　 __42__　 the food and simply crowded together in panic—knowing the police were　 __43__　 the way.

Imagine what they must have felt like when they were told they didn't have to steal if they were that　 __44__. “We have food in the back, expired (到期)but still　 __45__　 to eat. If you need food, you　 __46__　 have some.”

They were told to　 __47__　 what they had dropped and put it back, and then asked to straighten out the mess. They were doing just that　 __48__　 the police arrived. The officers were told the situation was under control and the police were no longer　 __49__.

This wasn't what they had　 __50__. They were being treated as human beings who could right the wrong they'd done. Shocked, they quickly followed orders to take turns and use the restroom to clean up.

Soon three　 __51__　 people walked out with all the　 __52__　 their arms could hold. They were　 __53__　 that，if they needed to come back again, they were to ask and not just grab.

And then the young man went back to read until the next customer came in. He would be the　 __54__ person in the world to claim he was a hero. But he gave three people something they were in desperate need of—a　 __55__amount of self?respect and a little bit of hope.

36．A.friends　　 B．neighbors　C．customers 　 D．passengers

37．A.respect 　 B．pride 　C．wisdom　 　　 D．privilege

38．A.slow　 　 B．busy C．heavy 　 D．swift

39．A.bravely 　 B．reasonably C．hardly 　 D．obviously

40．A.opened 　 B．locked C．closed 　 D．broke

41．A.nowhere B．somewhere C．anywhere 　　 D．everywhere

42．A.hid B．lifted 　C．swallowed 　 D．dropped

43．A.in B．on C．off D．by

44．A.anxious B．cautious 　C．courageous 　 D．hungry

45．A.safe B．easy C．sweet 　 D．unique

46．A.must B．can 　C．should 　 D．need

47．A.hold up B．hand out 　C．pick up D．hand in

48．A.when　 　　 B．after 　C．before 　 D．since

49．A.popular 　 B．necessary C．reliable D．important

50．A.wanted　 B．desired C．expected 　　 D．admired

51．A.dirtier 　　 B．cleaner C．cleverer　 　　 D．quicker

52．A.money　　 　　　 B．cigarettes C．drinks 　 D．food

53．A.reminded B．warned C．ordered D．persuaded

54．A.first B．last 　C．best 　　 D．worst

55．A.large B．fair 　C．small 　　 D．full