— How long has your brother been working in this factory?
— 　　　 he graduated from college.

--- Has your brother returned from America yet?

--- Yes, but he ______ here for only three days before his company sent him to Africa.

II. 语言知识及应用（共两节，满分35分）

第一节：完形填空（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21-35各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C 和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

You need to know when the events of a text take place. This will help you to see the __21__ of the text — the reason things happen in a certain order. Some texts   22   a period of many years, like Wuthering Heights. Others go through a __23__ period of time — many poems try to capture one moment in time. Narrators (讲述者) can be immediate eyewitness, or they may be __24     the past. Some texts present two views of events: an eyewitness version, and a second version, __25__ on the same events much later. This happens in Great Expectations, where the narrator, Pip, sometimes speaks and acts like a __26__, and sometimes like a mature adult. Look out for the __27__ that the events fit together, and how they are caused. This is called the plot—the story of the text. Action in a text is either__28__, or happens by chance. Take notes on how the action is described, eg. if the tone is angry or __29__ . Try to work out how the language of the passage is being used to create the tone, the characters and the descriptions. You should also ask why the text has been written in the way it has — your notes on who, what, when, where and how will help you to    30    your own conclusions.

21. A. structure                    B. content                     C. character                  D. substance

22. A. contain               B. discover                C. cover                         D. hold

23. A. hard                         B. difficult                   C. long                        D. short

24. A. looking forward to      B. looking out for     C. looking back on       D. looking after

25. A. relaying                    B. including             C. writing                  D. reflecting

26. A. boy                         B. child                     C. girl                         D. student

27. A. way                          B. time                        C. place                   D. action

28. A. accurate                    B. considerate              C. desperate             D. deliberate

29. A. wonderful                  B. joyful                      C. thankful                   D. painful

30. A. hit                     B. come                   C. draw                 D. find

In our life, we will have a lot of time to feel low. If there’s one thing that ruins us, which   48  us from doing what we’re   49  capable of and prevents us from achieving our dreams, it is fear of   50 .
Many of us go through our lives never knowing what we could have done and what has often been heard is that if only we hadn’t given up our   51 .
What if you had given up on   52  to talk, walk, read, ride a bike, or any other achievements before you were even five years old? How   53  would your life have turned out if you’d given up instead of    54  with them?
Now, how different has your life been because of the goals you gave up? Because you were afraid that you would fail, how many experiences and opportunities have you   55  out on because you couldn’t get past that invisible barrier of fear!?

 —Has your brother found an apartment yet?

—No, he's still living in a room downtown, but I ________ him look.

A. help  B. have helped  C. am helping  D. helped