A mother and daughter living in my neighborhood were the most unfriendly people I had ever come across in my life. They mixed with   1  . As they drove past neighbors they made no sign of acknowledgement. They   2   went to the local police station to report music played too   3  , dogs barking more than once a day and any other   4   things.

On moving into this   5  , I was warned about them but decided I would make up my own mind. This proved quite a （n）   6  to me as more than once either the mother or the daughter would knock on my door and   7 . however, I always answered politely and made sure I  8  as they went past my place and made an effort now and then to make a   9   remark about their garden or pets.

Time passed and I   10   the 29 – Day Giving Challenge （奉献挑战）. In October, as part of the kindness rock give （送爱心石头活动）, I decided to place a kindness rock on their property （房子）. Their   11   remained unchanged, however, and I continued to be as   12   as possible. During the Easter  13  give （复活节礼物奉送） to senior citizens, I decided to add these two days later they stopped at my  14  and jokingly said they were   15  hanging their Christmas stocking on their gate. I said I would try that too. I didn’t want them to   16   I had placed the kindness rock. The bigger  17   was that they brought me a bunch of flowers!

So, do not   18   your random （普普通通的） gifts of kindness! You may never know just what this   19   to others, nor how many broken or hard hearted people you may just   20   with a simple act of kindness.

1．A．everybody             B．nobody                C．somebody           D．anybody

2．A．nearly                   B．ever                    C．never                  D．often

3．A．sweetly                 B．slow                   C．loud                    D．impressively

4．A．little                      B．fantastic              C．good                   D．difficult

5．A．neighborhood        B．relationship          C．station                 D．family

6．A．agreement             B．challenge             C．favor                  D．trade

7．A．chat                      B．explain                C．complain             D．apologize

8．A．concluded             B．insisted                C．argued                D．waved

9．A．casual                   B．personal              C．kind                    D．bad

10．A．discovered           B．joined                  C．organized            D．fought

11．A．wealth                 B．attitude                C．location               D．status

12．A．friendly               B．cold                    C．calm                   D．selfish

13．A．enemies               B．relatives               C．friends                D．ladies

14．A．table                   B．floor                   C．gate                    D．roof

15．A．considering          B．avoiding              C．regretting            D．practicing

16．A．know                  B．remember            C．mention               D．forget

17．A．celebration           B．surprise               C．problem              D．difference

18．A．add up                B．hold on                C．hand out              D．give up

19．A．occurs                B．introduces           C．means                 D．advises

20．A．decorate              B．judge                   C．feed                    D．change

I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year - round sun．You may think People ,n such an attractive, fun - filled place are happier than others．If so you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness．
Many intelligent people still think fun equals happiness．The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common．Fun is what we experience during an act．Happiness is what we experience after an act．It is a deep, long-lasting emotion．
Going to an amusement park or a ball game, watching a movie or television are fun activities that help us relax, temporally forget our problems and maybe even laugh．But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends．
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun．They have constant access to exciting parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells "happiness" But in memoir（回忆录） after memoir, they expose Ac unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages and loneliness．
Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying．If he is honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment．For commitment is in fact quite painful．The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement．Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features．
Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness．They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they want．Couples with babies are lucky to get a whole night' s sleep．I don't know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children．
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to．It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can truly increase our happiness．It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless．And it frees us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and famous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all．
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?

II. 完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
It was the last day of the final examination in a large eastern university. On the steps of one building, a group of students were talking about the exam that was going to begin in a few   36   . On their faces was confidence. This was their 37   exam—then onto graduation and jobs.
Some talked of jobs they already had, others talked of jobs they   38   get. With the certainty of four years of college, they felt 39   and able to take control of the world.
The coming exam, they knew, would be a(n)  40   task , as the professor had said they could bring   41  books or notes they wanted , requesting（要求）only that they did not   42  each other during the test .
43   they entered the classroom. The professor passed out the papers. And smiles   44   on the students’ faces as they found there were only five questions.
Three hours had passed   45   the professor began to collect papers. The students no longer looked confident. On their faces was a frightened expression. Papers in hand, no one spoke as the professor faced the class.
He looked at the  46   faces before him, and then asked,” How many completed all five questions?”   47  a hand was raised.
“How many answered four?” Still no hand.
“Three? Two?” The students moved restlessly（不安宁的）in their seats.
“One, then? Certainly somebody finished   48 .”But the class remained silent.
The professor put down the papers.” That is exactly what I   49 ,” he said. “I just want you to know that, although you have completed four years of study, there are   50   many things about the   51   you don’t know. These questions you could not   52   are relatively common in everyday practice.” Then, smiling, he added, “You will all   53  this course, but remember—even though you are now college graduates, your education had just  54  .”
The years have weakened the name of the professor, but not the   55   he taught.
36. A. seconds          B. minutes        C. hours           D. days
37. A. only            B. first          C. very             D. last
38. A. would          B. must          C. had to    D. used to
39. A. uncertain      B. ready            C. sorry            D. well
40 A. interesting        B. necessary       C. easy             D. difficult
41. A. no             B. either         C. any              D. some
42. A. listen to         B. look at        C. care for          D. talk to
43. A. Hardly         B. Happily       C. Sadly             D. Carefully
44. A. appeared        B. changed       C. failed            D. stopped
45. A. then            B. as            C. before    D. after
46. A. pleased         B. worried       C. content            D. moved
47. A. Not            B. Once         C. Only             D. Even
48. A. all             B. none         C. one             D. it
49. A. wondered     B. enjoyed       C. hated        D. expected
50. A. even          B. already       C. so               D. still
51. A. exam          B. subject       C. question    D. college
52. A. write          B. ask            C. answer           D. work
53. A. pass           B. fail           C. take             D. start
54. A. begun           B. completed     C. failed           D. succeeded
55. A. subject          B. people        C. sentences    D. lesson

On the Iraq­Syria border，a pack of wild dogs circled American soldiers for food．The leader of the pack was a gray­and­white dog．The soldiers called him Nubs．Nubs was shaking and __36__ able to stand．Marine major Brian Dennis looked closer and saw that there was a knife wound __37__ his chest．
Dennis couldn’t stand seeing the dog __38__．He and his men immediately treated the wound，and gave Nubs medicine．Nubs__39__but was still in pain．The next day，the team had to__40__．Ten days later，Dennis’s unit was back，and so was Nubs．He was still___41__，but the men fed him and played with him．
Before long the unit once again__42__an outpost (前哨) 70 miles away．Nubs，slowly but determinedly，__43__them far into the trackless wasteland until the men lost__44__of him．Two days later，beyond Dennis’s__45__，he saw Nubs just outside the outpost．The dog had tracked him across 70 miles of frozen desert to__46__with the friend who had saved his life．From then on Nubs and the men slept in the same place，and ran around in the same ruins．
Until an order came down from above that they were not__47__to have pets，Dennis__48__to make sure the dog would continue to live the__49__life．So he quickly raised $4,000 from his family and friends to fly Nubs to__50__．
A month later，when Dennis and the dog were__51__in California，at first Nubs didn’t recognize the guy．__52__within minutes，the dog jumped into Dennis’s arms，jumping up again and again to__53__ his friend’s face．
A little__54__and concern in the middle of war will not save a violent world．But small stories，like the story of a soldier and a dog，hold a promise of a(n) __55__world．