St.Patrick's Day is Ireland's greatest national holiday as well as a holy(神圣的) day.Each year, millions of people world－wide celebrate this __1__on March 17, the date of St.Patrick's death.It is a happy holiday for the Irish living in Ireland and __2__.The day is celebrated with parades(游行), speeches, festival dinners, and dances.__3__ is the colour of the day, with thousands of little cloth shamrocks(三叶草) on.

   St.Patrick was born in Britain to __4__ parents near the end of the fourth century.At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders(入侵者)  __5__ his family's wealth.So he had to __6__ a shepherd, outdoors and away from people.__7__lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion(宗教) and became a Christian.

The first St.Patrick's Day parade  __8__ not in Ireland, but in the United States.Irish soldiers in the British army __9__ through New York City on March 17, 1762 with Irish music.Since then, St.Patrick's Day parades have become a way for Irish Americans to show their  __10__every year.In 1948, President Truman  __11__the New Year City's St.Patrick's Day parade, which was a __12__moment for many Irish people whose fathers and grandfathers had to fight against people who disliked them to find  __13__ in America.

It was in Boston where the Day was first celebrated in a public way. __14__ since 1762, the New York City's parade on St.Patrick's Day has __15___ more than one million people each year.

Meanwhile, the city of Chicago has __16__ a special tradition of colouring the river water green.It started in 1962 when 100 pounds of green paint was __17__ its rivers, enough to keep them green for a week.The __18__ has continued till today.Now, 40 pounds of a green food colouring keeps the rivers green for only a few hours.Historically, __19__the shamrocks and things green has become a __20__ symbol of declaring the Irish national and cultural identity(特性)．

1．A.holiday　　B．festival　　　C．honor　　　D．date

2．A.places    B．abroad       C．England    D．aboard

3．A.Green    B．Blue        C．Grass       D．Red

4．A.poor     B．cruel       C．unhealthy      D．wealthy

5．A.giving   B．stealing      C．attacking      D．processing

6．A.serve in  B．stand for     C．work as       D．act for

7．A.Feeling  B．Keeping     C．Remaining     D．performing

8．A.held up   B．took place  C．was occurred   D．happened

9．A.advanced  B．marched  C．processed  D．progressed

10．A.existence   B．anger  C．struggle  D．importance

11．A.led        B．attended  C．joining  D．acting

12．A.responsible  B．forgettable  C．proud  D．unthinkable

13．A.reception  B．acceptance  C．refusal  D．resistance

14．A.Celebrated          B．Completed

C．Held             D．Performed

15．A.attempted  B．drawn   C．driven   D．employed

16．A.developed  B．created   C．built   D．invented

17．A.added up  B．added up to  C．added to  D．risen to

18．A.custom   B．tradition   C．habit  D．practice

19．A.making up          B．dressing in

C．wearing           D．having

20．A.abstract  B．practical  C．false  D．powerful

 I live in Hollywood. You may think people in such an attractive, fun-filled place are _________ than others. If so, you have some ________ ideas about the nature of happiness.

　　Many intelligent people still equate(同等看待) happiness with ________. The _______ is that fun and happiness have ______ or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is ________ we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more lasting emotion.www.zxxk.com

Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun ______ that help us relax, ________ forget our problems and maybe even ________. But they do not bring happiness, because their _______ effects end when the fun ______.

    I have often thought that ______ Hollywood stars have a role to ________, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant _________ to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”.

    But celebrities reveal(揭露) the ________hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and profound loneliness.

    The way people stick to the _______ that a fun-filled, pain-free life equates happiness actually _____ their chances of ever obtaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equated with happiness, then pain ______ be equated with unhappiness. But, _______, the opposite is true: More times than not, things that lead to happiness _______ some pain.

    As a result, many people avoid the very efforts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, civic or charitable work, and self-improvement.www.zxxk.com

1.A. luckier               B. happier                 C. richer                             D. tougher

2.A. mistaken                    B. right                      C. desperate                     D. shallow

3.A. wealth                       B. fame             C. fun                        D. pleasure

4.A. state                                     B. belief                    C. tendency             D. truth

5.A. a little               B. some                    C. little                               D. much

6.A. which                 B. that              C. what                      D. as

7.A. activities                     B. occasions    C. periods                          D. games

8.A. gradually                    B. temporarily         C. consequently               D. thoroughly

9.A. change              B. enjoy                     C. refresh                          D. laugh

10.A. special                     B. deep                     C. strong                            D. positive

11.A. comes             B. ends             C. lasts                                 D. returns

12.A. when                        B. as                          C. once                      D. if

13.A. play                                    B. make            C. reach                              D. expect

14.A. signature                 B. participation       C. access                            D. appearance

15.A. secrets                    B. unhappiness       C. presentation                D. disagreement

16.A. prejudice                B. sense                     C. theory                            D. belief

17.A. reduces                    B. robs                      C. consumes                     D. increases

18.A. may                                     B. must             C. can                                  D. will

19.A. as usual                    B. as a result    C. in fact                            D. in a word

20.A. abuse                        B. involve                 C. cause                             D. equal

My Teacher in the School of Life

I spent the opening day of school this year at DeMatha Catholic High School in much the same way I spent the first day of classes ___1___ 30 years ago; I sat in Dr Charles E. Offutt's British literature class, listening to him __2___ what his seniors would learn and get them excited about the journey they would __3__.I'm the principal(校长) of the school now, but for a few minutes I was back in 1975, __4__ what the future held.

I have been learning from Dr Offutt for 30 of the 51 years he has been teaching at DeMatha.He not only taught me to think, he __5__ me, as much by example as___6__， that it was my moral duty to do so and to serve __7__.

Neither of us could know how our __8__ would develop over the years. When I first came back to DeMatha to teach English, I worked for Dr Offutt, then the department chair. After several years, I was __9__ department chair, and our relationship changed __10__. I thought that it might be __11__chairing the department, since all of my former English teachers were still there, but Dr Offutt __12__ me throughout. He knew when to give me __13__ about curriculum, texts and personnel, and when to let me design my own course.

In 1997, I needed his advice about leaving DeMatha to become principal at another school. If he had asked me to stay at DeMatha, I might have. __14__， he encouraged me to seize the new __15__.

Five years ago, I became the __16__ of DeMatha.Once again, Dr Offutt was there for me, letting me know that I could__17__ on him as I tried to fill such big shoes, I've learned from him that great teachers have a(n) __18__ wealth of lessons to teach. __19__ his students don't know it yet, I know how __20__ they are; I'm still one of them.

1．A.mostly　　　B．exactly　　　C．only　　　D．simply

2．A.explain     B．predict       C．speak     D．teach

3．A.keep       B．achieve       C．choose   D．take

4．A.preparing   B．discovering   C．wondering  D．realizing

5．A.assisted    B．reminded      C．advised   D．convinced

6．A.words     B．action        C．explanation  D．models

7．A.the others  B．everyone       C．others   D．anyone

8．A.relationship  B．position      C．situation  D．condition

9．A.pointed    B．named         C．given    D．taken

10．A.already      B．yet       C．still  D．again

11．A.foolish      B．surprising  C．uncertain  D．challenging

12．A.promoted    B．accepted  C．supported  D．welcomed

13．A.advice      B．information  C．notice   D．thought

14．A.Otherwise  B．Therefore  C．Furthermore  D．Instead

15．A.choice     B．opportunity  C．occupation  D．possibility

16．A.teacher     B．principal  C．officer      D．clerk

17．A.live       B．look     C．depend       D．take

18．A.rich      B．little     C．valuable       D．endless

19．A.Once     B．Even if  C．Unless       D．Until

20．A.fortunate  B．curious  C．innocent      D．satisfied

完形填空

　　When Nancy Lublin got $ 5000 from her great grandfather, she never once considered taking a vacation or paying off student loans（借款）. ____1____ the 24-year-old New York University law student began thinking about the clothing ____2____ faced by most of today's low-income women: “If she goes for a job interview ____3_____ dressed, she won't get the job,”Lublin says.“But without a job, she can't ____4____ proper clothing.”

　　A few weeks later, Lublin ____5___ Dress for Success and began searching for clothing and volunteers（志愿者）. She asked women to give away ____6____ business clothes that were ____7____ in good condition. She asked the members of diet centers to give away clothes that no longer fit. At first Lublin ____8____ the clothes in her one-bed-room apartment, but finally she found ___9___ in Greenwich Village church basement, which now ___10___ as the organization's main office.

　　Today, when women arrive at the office for help with job-hunting, they ____11___ a dress, shoes, a bag, stockings and jewelry, and self-confidence as well. Some are trying to enter the work __12___ after being on welfare（福利）for years.

　　__13____Dress for Success fitted its first per son who got help a year ago, more than 1 000 women have received dresses and many have won ___14___. Yarit Polanco was recently __15___ as a law-firm office manager. “Thanks to Dress for Success, I made a good impression（印象）and was accepted.”she says.

　　Donations（捐赠）are now __16___ in, including jewelry and 6 000 pairs of trousers and $ 40 000 worth of handbags. Broadcast journalists have given suits. And Lublin is opening Dress for Success ____17____ in other cities. “Many women have clothes ____18___ around that they'll never wear again,” says a volunteer.“Nancy's ___19___ is simple and practical and the ___20___ has proved so important to those women who are in great need of it.”