阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36~55各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该项标号涂黑。

An old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table   36    his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to   37    him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read that book just like you do,   38    I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I   39    as soon as I close the book. What   40    does reading the book do?”

The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of   41   .”

The boy did as he was told, but all the water   42    before he got back to the house.

The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little more   43    next time.” Then he sent the boy back to the river with the basket to try   44   . This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was   45    before he returned home.

   46   , he told his grandfather that it was   47    to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket   48   .

The old man said, “I don’t want a   49    of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.”   50    he went out of the door to watch the boy try again.

The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran as hard as he could, but when he

  51    his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See, Grandpa, it’s useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” the old man said, “Look at the basket.”

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was   52   . Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was   53   , inside and out.

“Son, that’s what   54    when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be   55   , inside and out.”

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。

The story goes that some time ago, a man had a very lovely little daughter．One day the man   1his 3-year-old daughter for    2a roll of gold wrapping paper．Money was tight and he became   3when the child tried to decorate a   4to put under the Christmas tree．   5, the little girl brought the gift to her   6the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy．"

The man was    7by his earlier   8, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was   9．He yelled at her, stating, "Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is   10to be something inside?" The little girl looked   11at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty   12．I blew kisses into the box．They are all for you, Daddy．"

The father was crushed. He  13his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her   14．Only a short time later, an  15took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many   16and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an  17kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there．In a very real sense, each one of us, as human beings, has been given a gold container  18unconditional love and kisses．．．from our children, family members, friends and God. There is simply no other  19, anyone could hold, more  20than this．

1.A．asked                  B．praised             C．begged              D．punished

2.A．wasting              B．stealing             C．selling                 D．holding

3.A．glad                  B．angry            C．sad                D．upset

4.A．room                 B．hall               C．box                D．ball

5.A．Nevertheless           B．But             C．Therefore      D．And

6.A．father                 B．mother                                         C．teacher            D．sister

7.A．puzzled                B．surprised         C．scared            D．embarrassed

8.A．overwork              B．overreaction      C．overcoat           D．overpass

9.A．empty                  B．heavy             C．full             D．wet

10.A．happened           B．seemed          C．supposed        D．used

11.A．down               B．back                C．up                  D．forward

12.A．at all                 B．after all             C．above all       D．in all

13.A．put                  B．turned             C．handed          D．gave

14.A．kindness             B．forgiveness        C．sadness             D．carelessness

15.A．overcoat            B．incident             C．accident           D．action

16.A．days                    B．months           C．nights              D．years

17.A．imaginary            B．kind               C ．gentle             D．warm

18.A．filled with      B．pleased with           C．crowded with     D．equipped with

19.A．world          B．feeling                  C．possession          D．love

20.A．expensive             B．precious            C．comfortable        D．interesting

New York, the city that never sleeps, fell silent last week—schools were closed; bus and subway services were stopped; flights were canceled, and even the stock market closed for the first time since 1985. All the disorder was caused by one thing, the arrival of hurricane Sandy.
This big storm landed on Oct 29 on the US east coast and brought damaging winds, flooding, blackouts (停电) and heavy snow.
Sandy is one of the largest storms that have ever hit the US, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By the afternoon of Nov1 (Beijing time), about 140 deaths were caused by the storm as it traveled across the Caribbean islands and into the US.
Unlike most hurricanes that happen during summer, Sandy was strengthened not only by warm ocean water, but also by the cold air coming from the northwest. Sandy’s power grew because of the difference in masses between the warm and wet air and cool and dry air. It became a kind of “super-storm”, the Guardian reported.
The flooding was particularly severe. Scientists said it was because Sandy’s arrival happened together with a full moon, which normally means higher-than-usual tides (潮水).
“The most worrying aspect of Sandy is the high tides,” Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee told Reuters before the storm arrived. “With the full moon on Monday, with Sandy coming up the bay, we’re very concerned about flooding in our low-lying coastal areas.”
Apart from the power of Sandy itself, another reason why her arrival has caused so much damage is that its target area is crowded with big cities such as New York and Philadelphia. These urban areas are home to tens of millions of people. The flood, the snow and the blackout have brought the country’s financial and political centers to a stop. 
“The size of this alone, affecting a heavily populated area, is history making.” Said Jeff Masters, a hurricane specialist.
【小题1】The author mentioned the disorder in New York city at the beginning of the article to _______.

New York, the city that never sleeps, fell silent last week—schools were closed; bus and subway services were stopped; flights were canceled, and even the stock market closed for the first time since 1985. All the disorder was caused by one thing, the arrival of hurricane Sandy.

This big storm landed on Oct 29 on the US east coast and brought damaging winds, flooding, blackouts (停电) and heavy snow.

Sandy is one of the largest storms that have ever hit the US, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By the afternoon of Nov1 (Beijing time), about 140 deaths were caused by the storm as it traveled across the Caribbean islands and into the US.

Unlike most hurricanes that happen during summer, Sandy was strengthened not only by warm ocean water, but also by the cold air coming from the northwest. Sandy’s power grew because of the difference in masses between the warm and wet air and cool and dry air. It became a kind of “super-storm”, the Guardian reported.

The flooding was particularly severe. Scientists said it was because Sandy’s arrival happened together with a full moon, which normally means higher-than-usual tides (潮水).

“The most worrying aspect of Sandy is the high tides,” Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee told Reuters before the storm arrived. “With the full moon on Monday, with Sandy coming up the bay, we’re very concerned about flooding in our low-lying coastal areas.”

Apart from the power of Sandy itself, another reason why her arrival has caused so much damage is that its target area is crowded with big cities such as New York and Philadelphia. These urban areas are home to tens of millions of people. The flood, the snow and the blackout have brought the country’s financial and political centers to a stop. 

“The size of this alone, affecting a heavily populated area, is history making.” Said Jeff Masters, a hurricane specialist.

1.The author mentioned the disorder in New York city at the beginning of the article to _______.

A．remind us of the problems people might face when disaster strikes

B．introduce the disastrous influence of hurricane Sandy

C．criticize the poor management of the city by the New York government

D．prove New York suffered most from hurricane Sandy

2.According to the text, hurricane Sandy _______.

A．only got its power from the warm ocean water

B．grew stronger than other hurricanes because of the full moon

C．led to flooding in many cities around the US

D．brought with it strong winds, high tides, blackouts and heavy snowfall

3.From the article, we learn that areas hurricane Sandy targeted _______.

A．were mostly high land

B．were mostly near the sea

C．were far away from important cities

D．were empty as people were evacuated (疏散)

4.What is the main point of the article?

A．To show how a super-storm comes into being.

B．To explain why hurricane Sandy was so destructive.

C．To show that big cities in the US are easily affected by huge hurricanes.

D．To explore the best ways to avoid loss when a hurricane hits.