Driving to a store after a busy day at work, I saw a man standing near the store holding a sign that said, “Will work for food.” I knew at that moment that I was going into the store and   36  him something to eat.
As I   37  the car park, I saw in my car mirror a lady come out from a hairdresser’s and 38  the man. I thought she must be going to give him some   39  or something to help him out. In the store I was   40   to get the things I needed and also the chicken dinner and a soda that I wanted to give the man outside. I hurried out to my car and   41  that I was going to be able to hopefully help this man.
When I drove out of the car park, I couldn’t see the   42 . As I turned the corner I saw the man sitting in a   43  area away from the hairdresser’s and still   44  up the sign. I immediately   45  over and gave the man the dinner and soda and said, “  46  this will get you through today.” He looked at me and said, “Thank you so much!”
As I got back into my car, I looked in the   47  and saw the man swallowing the dinner as if he hadn’t eaten for days.
I was so   48  that I was able to help him and at the same time I was so sad that the woman from the hairdresser’s,   49 , had asked the man to   50  from her shop. It’s sad to say that   51  I live in a small city where homeless is not as   52  as in larger cities, people are uncomfortable with these people in   53 . All they need to do is lend a helping hand  54  and it could make a huge   55  in their lives.

Tattoos and body piercings（穿孔）have moved up on the trend list in recent years. Around Western schools lots of teens are sporting new holes and “flesh ink”（纹身）. As with all other subjects, the Chinese will surely have to deal with this situation with respect to their children. To get a better view of what has happened in the West, 1et’s sit down and hear what they say.
Tiara from Indiana： 
I personally think body piercing is sickening. If there were supposed to be holes in your body，you would have been born with them. I do，however，think that ear piercing is not wrong. There is a difference between ear piercing and belly button piercing. Ear piercing is not nearly as dangerous. I would be sick if someone stuck a needle in my belly button.
Lee from Illinois:
Hi! I live in Illinois. I am 23. I have 12 tattoos and three piercings. I love my tattoos and consider myself an art collector. You would be surprised at who has given me the thumbs up on my art work. People on the street stop me to look at the tattoo on my leg. Most of them don’t know what it is. They just think the work itself is great.
Subotai from California:
I’m not forbidden of self-expression，but when I see high school students getting these piercings, I really wonder. In some cases, the drive is deeper and darker than mere fashion. A friend of mine tried piercing her own tongue with a safety pin. It got infected and she had a tongue the size of a cow’s.
Jackson from Ohio:
I don’t think it is wrong, but when people do it all over the place like their face and everything—I think that’s ridiculous. People who get the big “dragons that cover the whole body—I don’t think that’s necessary.” When I see naked chicks on guys, I think, “You have no respect for women.”
【小题1】Who doesn’t think tattoos and piercings except ear piercing are beautiful？

完形填空 (共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分)

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I live in Albuquerque and I used to give much money to the homeless around, feeling sorry for their misfortune. But later I became a single mom with no home, a huge   36   and hardly any income.   37  , I stopped giving and became very bitter.

Several years later, things started to   38  . I became   39   enough to have a home, and   40   a backyard, and I started to pull myself out of debt. One day we saw a homeless person with the   41  , “Will work for food.” I   42  . My daughter asked why I no longer helped the people in   43  . I replied, “Honey, they just use that money for   44   or other bad things.” She didn’t respond. But when I said that, it didn’t feel right.

Three days later, I was   45   to pick up my daughter from school. A man was standing on the corner and something deep inside   46   me to help him. So I stopped my car, and he ran over with enthusiasm. He said, “God bless you, I only need 77 cents.” I   47   into my ashtray and   48   enough, there sat three quarters and two pennies.

Greatly shocked by this   49  , I gave him all the money in the ashtray. He   50   with joy and tears in his eyes, “You just made it   51   for me to see my mom for Christmas! The bus offering this great sale is   52   right away!” It was a moment I’ll never forget. I think that man won’t forget it either, but I was the one who got the best __53__ in life – giving. It also   54   me that nothing is a coincidence,   55   everything has meaning.

1. A. debt          B. responsibility       C. shadow       D. pressure

2. A. In fact           B. In other words       C. As a result      D. All in all

3. A. develop           B. worsen           C. vary         D. change

4. A. fortunate     B. wealthy          C. generous     D. successful

5.A. even           B. still                C. yet          D. only

6.A. decoration     B. expression           C. sign         D. announcement

7. A. got by            B. pulled out           C. passed away  D. passed by

8. A. emergency     B. danger               C. need         D. panic

9. A. food          B. alcohol          C. medicine     D. entertainment

10. A. driving          B. jogging          C. wandering        D. cycling

11. A. directed         B. challenged           C. permitted        D. drove

12.A. reached           B. turned               C. broke            D. searched

13. A. amusingly        B. strangely            C. awkwardly        D. naturally

14. A. incident         B. condition            C. coincidence      D. circumstance

15.A. poured out        B. turned out           C. broke out        D. burst out

16. A. necessary        B. difficult            C. possible     D. suitable

17.A. queuing           B. leaving          C. settling     D. operating

18.A. gift          B. time             C. favor            D. honor

19. A. impresses        B. informs          C. persuades        D. reminds

20. A. or               B. and              C. so           D. however

下列每个句子均有一个错误，请找出并改正。（注意：每句只有一个错误。）

1. There are a pen and two books on the desk.

2.Two third of the people were badly injured during the earthquake.

3.At last, the Mekong enters into the South China Sea.

4.Amy is the only one of the girls who come from France.

5.By the end of last year, we have learnt 3,000 words.

6.You won’t find difficult to solve the problems.

7.You can borrow so many books as you want.

8.Mice ran out of the fields looked for places to hide.

9. I prefer to watch TV rather than reading a boring book.

10.I’m eighteen years old and I live in small village.

I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives（观点）by creating worlds we could step into, take part in and live in.

With this unshakable belief, I, at fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.

Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction. As a law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter — the volume（量）of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.

1.What can be inferred about the author as a child?

2.The underlined word “voice” in the second paragraph most probably means _________.

3.What effect does reading have on the author?

4.Which of the following can be the best title of this text?