According to legend, a young man while wandering the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet, he   21  his leather container so he could bring some   22  to a tribal elder who had been his teacher.

After a four-day journey he   23  the water to the old man who took a deep drink,   24  warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy   25 .

Later, the teacher let another student   26  the water. He spat it   27 , saying it was awful. It   28  had been no longer fresh and   29  unpleasant to drink because of the old leather container.

The student challenged his teacher: “Master, the water was smelly. Why did you   30  to like it?”

The teacher replied, “You only tasted the water. I tasted the   31 . The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be   32 .”

I think we understand this lesson best when we receive   33  gifts of love from young children.   34  it’s a tray or a bracelet, the   35  and proper response is   36  and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.

Gratitude doesn’t always come naturally.   37 , most children and many adults value only the thing given   38  the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and   39  our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude.   40 , gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

1.                A．packed         B．filled           C．took D．carried

2.                A．in             B．away           C．back D．up

3.                A．presented      B．mailed          C．delivered D．showed

4.                A．said           B．laughed         C．smiled    D．nodded

5.                A．heart          B．mind           C．moment  D．occasion

6.                A．smell          B．watch          C．taste D．feel

7.                A．away           B．out            C．off  D．on

8.                A．apparently      B．still            C．sadly D．quickly

9.                A．however        B．instead         C．nevertheless   D．therefore

10.               A．change         B．pretend        C．determine D．agree

11.               A．sweat          B．sense          C．promise   D．gift

12.               A．clearer         B．fresher         C．sweeter   D．purer

13.               A．simple         B．innocent        C．worthless  D．meaningless

14.               A．Whether       B．If             C．Whatever  D．Whichever

15.               A．pretended      B．lovely          C．abnormal D．natural

16.               A．devotion       B．comfort        C．imagination     D．appreciation

17.               A．Unfortunately    B．Frankly         C．Strangely  D．Possibly

18.               A．other than      B．rather than      C．better than     D．more than

19.               A．persuade       B．teach          C．improve   D．advise

20.               A．In a word       B．Otherwise      C．Thus  D．After all

I cry easily. I cried when a boy in the film suffered from an incurable disease. I cried when an athlete broke a world record.
One night my wife and I were going to dinner at a friend ' s．As we went towards the house, I noticed a car pulling out from the sidewalk．Just ahead, another car was waiting to back into the parking space．But before he could do so a yellow car came up from behind and sneaked into the space．
While my wife went ahead into our friend' s house, I stepped into the street．
“Hey,” I said, “this parking space belongs to that guy．” I gestured towards the man ahead, who was looking back angrily．At that moment I was feeling pretty manly．
“ Mind your own business!” the driver told me．
“No,” I said．“You don' t understand．That fellow was waiting to back into this space．”
Things quickly heated up, until finally he jumped out of the car．My God, he was extremely large．He grabbed me and shook his rock of a fist at me．I tasted blood．I was terrified．
Almost in a panic, I ran to my friend ' s front door．As a former Marine （海军） , as a man, I felt absolutely embarrassed as my wife and friends asked me what had happened．All I could say was that I had had an argument about a parking space．They were sensitive and let it go at that．
Perhaps half an hour later, the doorbell rang．For some reason I was sure that the huge man had returned for me．My blood ran cold．My hostess got up to answer it, but I stopped her．I knew I had to face up to my fear．
I opened the door．There he stood．“I came back to apologize,” he said in a low voice．“I am ashamed of myself．The Brooklyn Navy Yard where I've worked for ten years is closing．Today I got laid off．I' m not myself．I hope you’ ll accept my apology．”
I remembered that after I closed the door, I stood there for a few minutes alone with tears in my eyes．
【小题1】What did the author do when a yellow car drove into the parking space?

It was Thanksgiving morning and in the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags(破旧衣服) huddling together inside the storm door on the top step.
"Any old papers, lady? " asked one of them.
I was busy. I wanted to say "no" until I looked down at their feet. They were wearing thin little sandals(凉鞋), wet with heavy snow.
“Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa.”
They walked over and sat down at the table. Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor. I served them cocoa and bread with jam to fight against the cold outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget.
The silence in the front room struck me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady, are you rich? "
"Am I rich? no!"
I looked at my shabby slipcovers(旧家具套). The girl put her cup back in its saucer (茶托;浅碟)carefully and said, "Your cups match your saucers." Her voice was hungry with a need that no amount of food could supply. They left after that, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn't said "Thank you." They didn't need to. They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful.
Plain blue china(瓷的) cups and saucers were only worth five pence. But they matched.
I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup. Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job--these matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my floor. Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am.
1. Why did the writer let the children in?
A. She showed great pity on them.
B. She wanted to sell old papers.
C. She knew them and wanted to make them a cup of cocoa.
D. She wanted to invite them to her Thanksgiving party.
2. The girl thought the writer was rich perhaps because_________
A. she saw that the lady's room was comfortable
B. she saw the cups matched the saucers
C. the writer's slipcovers were very new
D. the woman had expensive clothes
3.What was the weather probably like when the story happened?
A. cloudy     B. sunny      C. windy      D. snowy
4. From the passage, we can infer that whether you are rich depends on_______
A. how much money you have had    B. how you feel about your life
C. how you have helped others       D. what job you are doing

According to legend, a young man while wandering the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet, he   21  his leather container so he could bring some   22  to a tribal elder who had been his teacher.
After a four-day journey he   23  the water to the old man who took a deep drink,   24  warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy   25 .
Later, the teacher let another student   26  the water. He spat it   27 , saying it was awful. It   28  had been no longer fresh and   29  unpleasant to drink because of the old leather container.
The student challenged his teacher: “Master, the water was smelly. Why did you   30  to like it?”
The teacher replied, “You only tasted the water. I tasted the   31 . The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be   32 .”
I think we understand this lesson best when we receive   33  gifts of love from young children.   34  it’s a tray or a bracelet, the   35  and proper response is   36  and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.
Gratitude doesn’t always come naturally.   37 , most children and many adults value only the thing given   38  the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and   39  our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude.   40 , gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write my own books．Half the students sneered（冷笑）, the（36）nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. “Don’t be silly, （37）geniuses（天才）can become writers,” the English teacher said ， “And you are getting a D this term,” I was so （38）that I burst into tears.

That night I wrote a short（39）poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the newspaper. To my（40）, they published it and sent me two dollars. I was a published and（41）writer. I showed my teacher and fellow students. They （42）. “Just plain dumb luck,” the teacher said. I tasted （43）. I’d sold the first thing I’d ever written. That was more than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was （44） with me.

During the next two years I sold dozens of （45）, letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I （46） from high school, with a C minus average, I had scrapbooks filled with my published work. I （47） mentioned my writing to my teachers, friends or my family again. They were dream killers and （48） people must choose between their friends and their dreams, they must always choose their （49）.

I had four children at the time, and the oldest was only four. I wrote what I felt. It （50） nine months, just like a pregnant woman. I mailed it without a sell addressed stamped （51） and without making a copy of the manuscript.

A month later I received a（n）（52）, and a request to start working on another book. The worst year I earned two dollars. In my best year I earned 36,000 dollars. （53）years I earned between five thousand and ten thousand. No, it isn’t enough to live （54）, but it’s still more than I’d make working part time. People ask what college I（55）, what degrees I had and what qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is: “None.” I just write. I’m not a genius.