A couple of years ago, I went to a lady's house to buy some vitamins. Upon entering the house, I   16  that there was an electronic keyboard on a stand, leaning   17  the wall. Being a piano music lover and   18  , I asked if the woman played. She nodded and added that she had been   19  lessons--at age 54! I told her that it was very   20  that she was pursuing (追求) her   21  to play the piano.

Then she asked me the same question.

"I have been playing for 8 years now," I answered.

"Then you must play a song for me before you leave," she requested.

I   22   she was kidding and I simply smiled. At the end of the   23  of the vitamins, she 24  me of our musical "  25 ". She then showed me to an old upright piano in the living room and asked me to play a song for her. I thought   26   and decided to play David Lanz's "Return to the Heart", since she had so much passion for    27  , and it was my soul-searching song.

I played the song to the best of my  28 , and with my emotions pouring into it as possible. She loved it.  29 I was about to step out of the door, I heard a weak voice calling out, "Young man!"

I turned around. And there was an old lady   30 one little step at a time with the help of another woman. "I wanted to come out to   31 you for the beautiful song that you played. I have been very sick, and it's very hard for me to  32  my bed, but I really wanted to thank you for the song. It made me feel good..." she said. With that, she turned around and walked   33  back to her room.

I was deeply touched by her  34  and felt a deeper understanding for the song. It served its purpose beautifully, returning to one's   35  for peace and joy.

1.                A．observed       B．watched        C．noticed   D．caught

2.                A．on            B．at             C．over D．against

3.                A．player          B．learner         C．composer D．starter

4.                A．giving          B．attending       C．teaching  D．learning

5.                A．interesting      B．exciting         C．aggressive D．impressive

6.                A．passion         B．interest         C．hobbies  D．emotions

7.                A．found          B．felt            C．hoped    D．thought

8.                A．charge         B．purchase        C．bargain   D．obtaining

9.                A．warned         B．required        C．asked    D．reminded

10.               A．deal           B．contract        C．discussion D．debate

11.                                A．for the moment  B．at the moment

C．for a moment                     D．at a moment

12.               A．music          B．me            C．the piano  D．vitamins

13.               A．knowledge      B．attitude        C．mind D．ability

14.               A．Since          B．As             C．While D．Because

15.               A．taking          B．making         C．having D．moving

16.               A．thank          B．praise          C．admire    D．respect

17.               A．get on         B．get up          C．get off D．get down

18.               A．quickly         B．calmly          C．happily    D．slowly

19.               A．approval        B．appreciation     C．joy   D．thanks

20.               A．heart          B．world          C．soul  D．dream

A king in Africa had a close friend with whom he had grown up. The friend had a habit of looking at every bad situation that occurred in his life and   1 , “This is good!”

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting   2 . The friend would   3   the guns for the king. But this time he had   4  done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.

Examining the   5  the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!” to which the king replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and   6  imprisoned his friend.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area where he should have known not to hunt. Cannibals(食人者)   __7 him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, set up a wooden post and   8  him to it. As they came close to set fire to burn the king, they   9  that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So  10  the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was   11  of the event that had taken his thumb and felt sorry for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the  12  to speak with his friend. “You were right,” he said, “it was good that my thumb was blown off.” Then he  13  to tell the friend all that had just happened.

“I feel  14  for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.”

“No,” his friend replied, “this is good!”

“What do you mean? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?”

“If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you, and I would have been ___15  !”

1.                A．joking          B．remarking       C．announcing    D．whispering

2.                A．expectation     B．experience      C．expedition D．experiment

3.                A．prepare        B．arrange         C．carry D．hold

4.                A．deliberately     B．apparently      C．naturally  D．specially

5.                A．thumb         B．king            C．gun  D．situation

6.                A．angrily         B．calmly          C．regretfully D．joyfully

7.                A．caught         B．warned         C．robbed   D．hunted

8.                A．connected      B．related         C．wrapped  D．fastened

9.                A．observed       B．understood      C．noticed   D．complained

10.               A．untying         B．forgiving        C．overlooking    D．beating

11.               A．recalled        B．accused        C．informed  D．reminded

12.               A．house          B．jail            C．village D．kingdom

13.               A．stopped        B．hesitated       C．continued D．refused

14.               A．fortunate       B．foolish         C．guilty D．painful

15.               A．burnt          B．cooked         C．fired  D．eaten

The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read beneath an old willow tree．Not __1____ with life, I was down．A young boy out of breath __2___me, all tired from play．He stood right before me with his head tilted（倾斜的）down, __3__ with great excitement, “Look what I found!”

       In his hand was a flower, and what a __4__ sight, with its petals（花瓣） all worn－not enough rain, or too little light．__5__ him to take his dead flower and go off to play, I __6__ a small smile and then shifted away．But instead of __7_ he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his nose and declared with __8_, “It sure smells pretty and it’s beautiful, too．That’s why I __9__ it; here, it’s for you．”

       The flower before me was dying or dead．But I knew I __10__ take it, or he might never leave．So I reached for the flower, and __11__, “Just what I need．” But instead of placing the flower in my hand, he __12__it mid－air without reason．It was then that I __13__ for the very first time the boy was __14__．

       I heard my voice shake, tears shone like the sun __15__ I thanked him for picking the very best one．He smiled, and then ran off to play, __16__ of the effect he’d had on my day．

       I sat there and  _17_ how he managed to see a self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree．How did he know of my self-indulged（放纵的） _18_ ? Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true __19_．

       __20__ the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see, the problem was not with the world; the problem was me．And for all of those times I myself had been blind, I vowed to see beauty, and appreciate every second that's mine．

1．A．excited                  B．inspired               C．content               D．disappointed

2．A．approached           B．overlooked           C．understood          D．recognized

3．A．telling                   B．saying                 C．informing            D．talking

4．A．unique                  B．rough                  C．bothering             D．pitiful

5．A．Wanting                B．Demanding          C．Persuading          D．Inviting

6．A．presented              B．adjusted               C．forced                 D．delivered

7．A．declining               B．accepting             C．panicking            D．quitting

8．A．surprise                B．embarrassment     C．sympathy            D．sorrow

9．A．took                     B．pulled                  C．attained               D．picked

10．A．should                 B．can                     C．may                    D．must

11．A．announced           B．replied                 C．declared              D．whispered

12．A．grasped               B．held                    C．caught                D．seized

13．A．observed             B．confirmed            C．noticed                D．concluded

14．A．strange                B．blind                   C．deaf                    D．unimaginable

15．A．once                   B．after                    C．as                       D．since

16．A．unaware              B．unbelievable         C．regretful              D．regardless

17．A．doubted               B．felt                      C．found                  D．wondered

18．A．embarrassment    B．depression           C．hopelessness        D．effort

19．A．sense                  B．hearing                C．sight                   D．ability

20．A．In                       B．From                  C．Before                 D．Through