第二节：语法填空（共10小题，每小题1.5分，满分15分）

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为31-40的相应位置上。

Few people would even think of beginning a new job at the age of 76, _31_____ one of America’s most famous artists did just that. Anna Mary Robertson, better known as “Grandma Moses”, turned to painting _32_____ she was too old to work on her farm.

Grandma Moses was crazy about painting soon after she picked it up and worked hard at it. She painted _33_____(care) and her works were nice. She first painted only to please _34_____, and then began to sell her works _35_____a little money. In 1993, a collector, Louis Caldor happened to see several of Grandma Moses’ works _36_____(hang) in a shop. He liked them, __37____(buy) them at once, and set out to look for _38_____. Caldor held __39____ show to introduce the works of Grandma Moses to other artists. Grandma Moses, _40_____ was world-famous, died on December 13, 1961, at the age of 101.

Wishing to encourage her young son to make more progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually found his way through a door marked “NO ADMITTANCE.” When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing.
Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. To her horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
At that moment, the great pianist made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a melody. Together, the old master and the young beginner transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was amazed and, as it finished, they cheered.
That’s the way it is in life. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren’t exactly graceful flowing music. But when we put our trust in the hands of a Greater Power, our life’s work can be truly beautiful. Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, “Don’t quit, and keep playing.”
【小题1】The reason why the boy went to the piano was that ________.

Paracutin was born in Mexico in February, 1943. At the end of one week Paracutin was 500 feet high, and it is now over 9, 000 feet high. Today Paracutin is asleep.
What is Paracutin? It was the first volcano(火山) in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day. On February 20, 1943, a peasant and his wife set out to work in their corn fields from the Mexican village of Paracutin. They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet. Suddenly they heard noises deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field. In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air. The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch. They saw the birth of a volcano.
Large quantities of stone and lava(岩浆) broke out and a little hill began to form. By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes(灰烬) were falling on the village. At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside. The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses. When the village was destroyed, its name was given to the volcano. The news quickly reached Mexico City, far to the east. Many people came to watch the scene. The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forest were destroyed. Then Paracutin went to sleep.
【小题1】Paracutin was once the name of ________.

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Ⅳ.阅读理解（30分）

Everyone knows that the French are romantic, the Italians are fashionable and the Germans are serious. Are these just stereotypes(陈规) or is there really such a thing as national character? And if there is, can it affect how a nation succeeds or fails?

At least one group of people is certain that it can. A recent survey of the top 500 entrepreneurs(实业家) in the UK found that 70 percent felt that their efforts were not appreciated by the British public. Britain is hostile to success, they said. It has a culture of jealousy(嫉妒). As a result, the survey said, entrepreneurs were “unloved, unwanted and misunderstood”. Jealousy is sometimes known as the “green-eyed monster(怪物)” and the UK is its home. Scientists at Warwich University in the UK recently tested this idea. They gathered a group of people and gave each an imaginary amount of money. Some were given a little, others a great deal. Those given a little money were given the chance to destroy the large amounts of money given to others—but at the cost of losing their own. Two thirds of the people tested agreed to do this.

This seems to prove the entrepreneurs were right to complain. But there is also conflicting evidence. The Organization for Econnomic Cooperation and Development(OECD) recently reported that the UK was now the world’s fourth largest economy. That is not bad for people who are supposed to hate success. People in the UK also work longer hours than anyone else in Europe. So the British people are not lazy, either.

“It’s not really success that the British dislike,” says Carey Cooper, a Professor of management at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. “It’s people using their success in a way that seems arrogant(傲慢) or unfair or which separates them from their roots.”

Perhaps it is the entrepreneurs who are the problem. They set out to do things in their way. They work long hours. By their own efforts they become millionaires. But instead of being happy they complain that nobody loves them. If they were more friendly, people would like them more. And more people want to be like them.

56. What does the underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refer to?

A. One group of people.            B. A great survey.

C. National character.              D. A nation.

57. Most of the British top entrepreneurs surveyed believe that ________.

A. they are not popular simply because they are successful

B. the British public are hardworking

C. love of success is Britain’s national character

D. they are considered as “green-eyed monsters”

58. What does the result of the Warwich University test show?

A. Two thirds of the people tested didn’t love money.

B. Most people would rather fail than see others succeed.

C. An imaginary amount of money does not attract people.

D. Most people are willing to enjoy success with others.

59. The writer of the passage seems to suggest that _______.

A. jealousy is Britain’s national character

B. British entrepreneurs are not fairly treated

C. the scientists at Warwich University did a successful test

D. the British dislike the entrepreneurs because they do not behave properly

As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods． “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse． If I went to a friends house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone（语气） of airy acceptance． It is similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk．” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while．

We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring（探索）． Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today． History seemed to be mostly about explorers． Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way． Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Indian burial mound．

Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were． If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees． There were four or five trees that we visited regularly—tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in．

It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end． By then some of us had reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）． In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring． We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree． Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria．

1.The author and his friends were often out in the woods to _______．

     A． spend their free time

         B． play golf and other sports

     C． avoid doing their schoolwork

         D． keep away from their parents

2.What can we infer from Paragraph 2 ?

     A． The activities in the woods were well planned．

     B． Human history is not the result of exploration．

     C． Exploration should be a systematic activity．

     D． The author explored in the woods aimlessly．

3.The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______．

               A． calm  B． doubtfu  C． serious  D． optimistic

4.How does the author feel about his childhood?

     A． Happy but short．  B． Lonely but memorable．

     C． Boring and meaningless  D． Long and unforgettable．