I used to work in an office, which had a Iocust tree growing outside the window. It had grown into a tall tree and must have been there for a long time. The tree blocked the view and made the office seem dull. Unfortunately, this happened to be the room assigned to me, and l was depressed by it for quite some time.

When the first spring came, everything was green except the locust tree.I felt very happy because I had thought it had died!

One morning, when I opened the window for some fresh air, I unexpectedly smelt a familiar sweet scent floating into my office which I could not name. Suddenly,I realized it was the locust tree!The tree that I thought dead was in full bloom!

From then on, I usually came to the office very early to see dew forming on the locust tree blossoms, and was eager to see spring again every year.

During summer, the green leaves provided shade protecting me from the harsh sunlight, but allowing enough light in to make it pleasant. In autumn, the leaves turned many different colors. Its beauty touched my soul. Many times, I thought to take photos but never did. Then, I had to leave in a hurry. Later in life, it became a great regret that I had not done so.

Actually, many times in our lives we think we own something and thus do not value it. We don't feel regretful until we lose it one day! Moreover, sometimes, we have to accept the things we don't want and need to discover the hidden beauty to find unexpected joy!

The locust tree first attracted the author most by____.

A. the way it blocked the view     B. its height

C. the smell of its flowers         D. its green leaves

In which season do you think the author paid the least attention to the locust tree?

 A. Spring.    B. Summer    C. Autumn.    D. Winter.

Which of the following statements is true of the author according to the passage?

 A. He would have regretted if the locust tree had died as he had thought it had.

 B. The locust tree turned out to be a lovely memory for him.

 C. He felt unhappy as he had forgotten to take the photos with him.

 D. His work in the office changed with the seasons every year.

It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

 A. the locust tree died soon after the author left the office

 B. the author worked in the office for at least a few years

 C. it was summer when the author took his job in the office

 D. the weather was dry when the author first saw the tree

What advice does the author intend to give us?

 A. Treasure what we've owned.                B. Look before you leap.

 C. Treat everything calmly.                   D. Never forget the past.   

I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”

    At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket．

    I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth… ?

    She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room – if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”

    Then she turned to me, kissed me and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control. ” With that, she left the room．

    After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly．

We can infer from the passage that ________．

       A. the secretary didn’t care about the writer 

       B. the writer was bad-tempered

       C. the agent was not responsible for his own work

       D. the wife of the writer was not sensible

Why did the author shout at the telephone?

       A. He was angry with his agent．          

       B. He was mad at the telephone．

       C. He was impatient with the secretary．  

       D. He was anxious about his wife．

What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?

       A. She was speechless．         

       B. She threw the phone away．  

       C. She shouted at him．         

       D. She called the agent in person and scolded him．

What made the author laugh?

A． His changeable feelings． B. His wife’s suggestion．

   C． His own behavior．      D. His wife’s sweet kiss．

What does the underlined word “antics” refer to?

   A． Smart words      B. Anxious feelings

   C． Surprising looks   D． Unusual actions

完型填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

"Hey, Tahlia! How's the model?"

    I had just taken a bite of my hot dog __21__ I heard a familiar voice yelling at me from across the crowded school yard. I saw a group of popular girls who were all __22__.

"What kind of __23_ are you going to do? An ad for a Frankenstein movie?" More laughter. My stomach twisted into a tight knot. How could they humiliate (羞辱) me like this, __24__ the entire school? As I walked into the cafeteria, I __25__ the dark scars on my right hand.

At 9 months old, I knocked over a tea pot and dumped boiling water allover my hands and stomach. My parents __26__ me to the hospital, but I had to have skin graft (移植) operation. I was in so much pain! But what __27__ me most were the cruel things people said about how I looked, __28__ that day at lunch.

The girls were being supermean to me because they'd heard I was considering doing some modeling. A close friend had suggested that I shouldn't let my scars limit me and that I might __29__ a good model.

But after that __30__ at school, I was sure I'd made a huge mistake. Upon arriving home, I covered the mirror with a blanket, fell on my bed and sobbed.

    The next day, I __31__ myself to go to school. At lunch my best friend Jesse tried to encourage me: "You can't __32_ forever, Tahlia. So what if you have a few scars? Just go outside and show them that you're just as good as they are." Although I knew he was right, I couldn’t __33__ standing up for myself like that.

However, that night as I sat on the bed, my friend's words replayed in my mind. I'm __34__ hiding from myself, I thought. How stupid! Slowly, I stood up, walked over to the __35__, and tossed the blanket aside. There, in the mirror I saw a slim, dark-haired, blue-eyed girl, looking just fine, __36__ with a few scars.

The next day I wore a comfortable T-shirt to school. What's more, I had lunch outside the cafeteria, __37__ beside those mean girls. They were shocked that I should dare to walk into their territory. I felt __38_ too—free and happy.

Sometimes people still look at me strangely. They __39_ and stare, but I don't let it get to me. I have applied to several modeling companies, and at least one company is considering me for jobs. Maybe I'll never __40_ posing on the runway, but I do know one thing: I'm done.

A. as             B. when             C. while            D. before

A. applauding      B. cheering         C. laughing         D. quarreling

A. modeling       B. writing     C. drilling         D. acting

A. in spite of        B. in view of       C. in terms of      D. in front of

A. looked into         B. searched for     C. wondered about   D. glanced at

A. presented       B. sent             C. rushed           D. handed

A. hurt          B. beat             C. disappointed     D. puzzled

A. for            B. like             C. on           D. after

A. impress         B. make             C. consult      D. defeat

A. effect          B. phenomenon   C. challenge      D. scene

A. forced             B. expected         C. reminded         D. preferred

A. apologize      B. beg          C. hide             D. complain

A. consider        B. imagine      C. appreciate       D. resist

A. hardly             B. ever             C. even             D. gradually

A. blanket        B. bed          C. chair            D. mirror

A. while          B. though       C. but          D. because

A. right          B. still            C. therefore        D. anyhow

A. sensitive       B. uncomfortable    C. different        D. tense

A. compare         B. associate        C. wave             D. whisper

A. give up         B. end up       C. put up       D. set up

I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.

The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.

And it did. On arriving at the beach cottage, I kissed Evelyn meeting me at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love.

There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.

“What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “ I don’t?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”

It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing.

“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”

From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ______.

A. with his family     B. with Evelyn    C. alone      D. with his children

During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ______.

A. he was determined to be a good husband

B. he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm

C. she looked lovely in her new clothes

D. the doctor said his wife was seriously ill

The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What does “one thing” refer to?

A. He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.

B. She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.

C. He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her.

D. He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.

By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that ______.

A. he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life

B. he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband

C. he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change

D. he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before

完形填空(共20小题;每小题1.5分，满分30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。

　　Summer is the best time on the Island of the Blue Dolphins (海豚). The sun is warm then and the winds blow out of the west,   16   out of the south.

    It was   17   these days that the ship might return and now I   18  most of my time on the rock,   19   out from the headland（水中凸起的陆地） into the east, towards the country   20   my people had gone, across the   21   that was never-ending.

    Once   22   I watched, I saw a small object which I took to be the ship, but a stream of water   23   from it and I knew that it was whale (鲸鱼)spouting (喷水). During those summer days I saw nothing   24  .

    The first storm of winter   25   my hopes. If the white men's ship were   26      for me it would have come during the time of good   27  . Now I would have to wait   28   winter was gone, maybe longer.

The thought of being   29   on the island while so many suns rose   30   the sea and went   31  back into the sea   32   my heart with loneliness. I had not felt so   33  before because I was sure   34   the ship would return as Matasaip had said   35   would. Now my hopes were dead.

A. totally           B. already          C. entirely      D. sometimes

A. during           B. for              C. after         D. between

A. spent            B. shared           C. paid          D. devoted

A. look             B. to look           C. looking       D. looked

A. when            B. where            C. which         D. until

A. island            B. sea              C. lake          D. ocean

A. since             B. though           C. while         D. till

A. rose              B. raised           C. grew          D. set

A. different          B. ordinary          C. else           D. valuable

A. encouraged        B. ended            C. spared        D. limited

A. leading           B. moving           C. coming        D. following

A. weather           B. pattern           C. rain           D. fog

A. after              B. as               C. until          D. while

A. quiet              B. alone             C. calm          D. alive

A. of                B. in               C. to            D. from

A. rapidly            B. quickly           C. slowly         D. fully

A. pumped          B. set               C. filled          D. full

A. lonely            B. strict             C. boring         D. empty

A. whether           B. and              C. that           D. when

A. it                B. he               C. that            D. this