I grew up poor – living with six brothers, my father and a wonderful mother. We had   36  money and few worldly goods, but plenty of love and attention. I was   37   and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, they could   38   afford a dream.

My dream was to be a   39  . When I was sixteen, I could crush a baseball, throw a ninety – mile – per – hour fastball. I was also   40  : my high – school coach was Ollie Jarvis, who   41  me the difference between having a dream and showing strong belief. One particular   42  with him changed my life forever.

It was a summer and a friend recommended me for a summer   43  . This meant a chance for my first income – cash for a new bike and new clothes, and the   44  of savings for a house for my mother. The opportunity was attracting, and I wanted to   45   at it.

Then I realized I would have to   46   summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing. I was   47   about this.

When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as   48  as I expected him to be. “You have your whole life to work,” he said. “Your   49  days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.”

I stood before him with my head   50  , trying to think of how to explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth   51   his disappointment in me.

“How much are you going to make at this job?” he demanded.

“$ 3.25 an hour,” I replied.

“Well, is $ 3.25 an hour the price of a   52  ?” he asked.

That   53  laid bare for me the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I devoted myself to   54   that summer, and within the year I was offered a $ 20,000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1984 for $ 1.7 million, and bought my mother the   55  of my dreams.

1.A．some            B．little         C．no                  D．much

2.A．happy       B．lovely C．Angry      D．noisy

3.A．only     B．ever         C．still                D．almost

4.A．teacher    B．coach     C．doctor      D．sportsman

5.A．lucky     B．satisfied       C．hopeful            D．surprised

6.A．taught      B．asked        C．told              D．trained

7.A．match       B．Story    C．moment      D．incident

8.A．job       B．camp        C．holiday               D．course

9.A．cause           B．start         C．need             D．amount

10.A．stand            B．call          C．look               D．jump

11.A．take out B．cut off          C．put on               D．give up

12.A．excited  B．curious        C．anxious             D．disappointed

13.A．mad            B．puzzled         C．regretful          D．discouraged

14.A．working B．playing         C．learning            D．shining

15.A．shaking  B．hanging       C．holding           D．nodding

16.A．feeling   B．suffering     C．facing    D．expressing

17.A．dream    B．game      C．chance             D．life

18.A．offer             B．price       C．question          D．order

19.A．study          B．sports  C．homework     D．business

20.A．clothes  B．bike        C．house     D．goods

完形填空（共20题，每题1.5分，共30分）

 An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money left. When she heard her daddy say to her  31  mother with whispered desperation（绝望）, “  32  a miracle（奇迹） can save him now”, the little girl went to her bedroom and took out her piggy bank. She   33  all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Then she   34  her way six blocks to the local drugstore（药店）.

“And what do you want?” asked the chemist.

“It’s   35  my little brother,”  the girl answered back. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a   36   . His name is Andrew and he has something  37  growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him.”

“We don’t   38   miracles here, child．I’m sorry,” the chemist said, smiling   39  at the little girl.

In the shop was a   40  customer. He stooped (弯腰) down and asked the little girl, “What kind of miracle does your brother   41   ?”

“I don’t know,” she replied．“He’s really sick and mommy says he needs   42   . But my daddy can’t pay for it, so I have brought my  43   .”

“How much do you have?” asked the man.

“One dollar and eleven cents,   44  I can try and get some more,”  she answered quietly.

“Well, what a coincidence（巧合）,”  smiled the man.  “A dollar and eleven cents — the   45  price of a miracle for little brothers.  46  me to where you live. I want to see your brother and   47  your parents.”

That well dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon（外科医生）. The operation was completed without  48  and it wasn’t long before Andrew was   49  again and doing well.

The little girl was happy. She knew exactly how much the miracle cost ... one dollar and eleven cents ... plus the   50  of a little child.

A．tearful   B．hopeful     C．helpless    D．kind

A．Simply  B．Just   C．Only D．More than

A．drew      B．pulled       C．put    D．poured

A．followed       B．made C．took  D．found

A．to   B．as      C．for    D．on

A．hope      B．doctor      C．favor D．miracle

A．bad B．small C．extra D．impossible

A．have      B．offer C．sell    D．store

A．gently    B．sadly C．strangely   D．coldly

A．well dressedB．kind hearted  C．well behaved      D．good looking

A．have     B．need  C．care   D．like

A．a doctor     B．a surgeon  C．an operation     D．a kindness

A．savings      B．wishes      C．ideas D．suggestions

A．since    B．as      C．after  D．but

A．same    B．exact C．proper      D．necessary

A．Show   B．Help  C．Take  D．Follow

A．help     B．encourage C．persuade   D．meet

A．difficulty     B．delay C．charge      D．result

A．happy  B．well  C．strong       D．home

A．cleverness    B．faith  C．courage    D．devotion

I grew up poor---living in the housing projects (住房) with six brothers, three sisters, a varying assortment (各式各样东西的混合) of foster kids (养子), my father, and a wonderful mother, Scarlette Hunley. We had little money and few worldly goods, but plenty of love and attention. I was  36  and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still  37  a dream.

My dream was  38 . By the time I was sixteen, I could crush a baseball, and hit anything that moved on the baseball field. I was also  39 : My high school coach Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but taught me how to believe in myself. He  40  me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction (信念). One particular incident with Coach Jarvis changed my life forever.

It was the summer between my junior and senior years, and a friend  41  me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket—cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a  42  for my mother. The prospect of a summer job was attractive and interesting, and I wanted to jump at the opportunity. Then I realized I would have to  43  summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing.

When I told Coach Jarvis, he was  44  as I expected him to be. “You have your whole life to work，” he said. “Your  45  days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.”

I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his  46  to me.

“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” He demanded. “3.5 dollars an hour.” I replied. “Well,” he asked, “Is $3.5 an hour the price of a dream?”

That question, the plainness of it, laid bare for me the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I dedicated myself to sports that summer and with the year I was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was  47  a $20,000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1998 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother the house of my dreams.

1.A. happy         B. polite    C. shy              D. honest

2.A. live           B. afford           C. make             D. need

3.A. athletics      B. music        C. business         D. money

4.A. right          B. popular          C. lucky        D. confident

5.A. persuaded      B. taught       C. brought          D. asked

6.A. sent           B. advised      C. gave     D. recommended

7.A. ticket         B. car          C. house                D. job

8.A. give in            B. give up      C. give away            D. give off

9.A. disappointed   B. mad          C. frightened           D. shameful

10.A. living            B. playing      C. working          D. learning

11.A. sadness       B. regret           C. hopelessness D.disappointment

12.A. paid          B. got          C. offered          D. presented

Last year college students in America spent an estimated $700 on textbooks on average. The National Association of College Stores reported more than five billion dollars in sales of textbooks and course materials.

The association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now just make up 2%～3% of sales. But he says that is expected to reach 10%～15% by 2012.

Online versions(版本) are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. An e­textbook can cost half the price of a new print textbook. But students usually lose access to them after the end of the term. And the books cannot be placed on more than one device(设备)，so they are not easy to share.

So what do students think of e­textbooks？Administrators at Northwest Missouri State University wanted to find it out. Earlier this year they tested them with 500 students in 20 classes.

The university is unusual. It provides laptop computers for all 7,000 of its full­time students. It does not require students to buy their textbooks either. They rent them to save money. The school aims to save even more by moving to e­textbooks.

The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter backpacks. And 56% said they were better able to find information.

But most found that using e­textbooks did not change their study habits. And 60% felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all，almost half the students said they still liked physical textbooks better.

But the survey found that cost could be a big influence.55% said they would choose e­textbooks if using them meant their textbook rental fee would not increase.

Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at Northwest Missouri State University. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the e­textbooks now available because the majority are not interactive(交互式的)．

He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video，activities，games and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving. But for now，most of the books are just words on a screen.

1.E­textbooks are not better than paper books in that________.

A．they cost more money

B．they’re difficult to carry

C．they’re not convenient to share

D．they can’t be downloaded from the Internet

2.How many surveyed students think paper books make better reading?

A．60%.   B．56%.                    C．55%.             D．50%.

3.It can be inferred from the text that in the future________.

A．digital books will be more popular    

B．the digital books available need improvement

C．free digital books are available online     

D．digital books will replace print textbooks

Nothing says love like a dozen long – stemmed roses on Valentine’s Day. More than a million roses will be sold during this festival for lovers, the biggest day of the year for the nation’s rose industry. It’s going to remain the most popular flower because love never goes out of style.

Yes, a rose is a rose is a rose. But selling them is no longer a beautiful experience for traditional flower shops. Supermarkets now offer convenience to the busy and discount rose shops help those hopelessly in love save money. Roses only is a good example of a discount rose retailer that was transformed from a traditional shop to answer the challenge in the’ 90s.

Inside this store on Sixth Avenue near 40 th Street, contemporary white furniture and wall – to – wall mirrors give it an expensive look. Customers move about freely among the counters, looking eagerly at the roses in more than 50 colors from shelf to shelf. Some customers say it’s the high quality of the roses that attracts them there. “I spent $ 20 but the flowers looked like I paid 60 or 70 dollars,” says one customer.

Studies show more people are buying roses in ones, two and threes these days. In fact, more than half of all roses are sold in bunches of fewer than a dozen. But Roses Only's low prices encourage people to spend. Even on Valentine's Day, when the price of a dozen roses and delivery can soar as high as $150, 12 of Roses Only's most expensive flowers sell for just $35. The company's key to success is to hold prices down by controlling every link in the rose chain. It grows its own roses in the sunshine of the Andes Mountains. In addition, the company also sells other items such as ballons and stuffed animals.    

       While discount rose retailers are witnessing their business bloom, U.S. rose growers aren’t able to compete with the fierce foreign competition. More than 57% of roses sold in the USA are grown in other countries. The biggest foreign producers are Colombia and Ecuador, which accounted for almost 90% of the total imported last year. The trend has hurt domestic rose growers such as Johnson Flowers of California, considered to be this country's leading producer.

Now, instead of fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. "We have a few big fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. “We may also widen our business to include the service area and be a representative for overseas flower producers.”

       As a result of severe competition, those in the rose business long for the good old days, whereas ordinary people benefit from the low price.

60．What is the central theme of this text?

A．The US rose business is going from bad to worse in spite of the efforts made.

B．The rose will remain the most popular flower as love never goes out of date.

C．The rose business is trying to meet the challenges in the market to succeed.

D．The rose industry plays an important role in American economy.

61．How does Roses Only obtain success in the discount rose retailing field?

       A．By setting up more chain stores across the country.

B．By selling roses in supermarkets.

C．By selling high quality roses at a low price.

D．By selling roses by the dozen.