There was a very special teacher who made a far-reaching difference in my life.

Fall, 1959, the first day of class at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School was about to begin. “Who”, I asked a senior, “is Mrs. McNamara, my 10th grade English teacher?” He just 1 and said something about my being in 2 . Soon, I understood what he meant. Mrs. McNamara had a pattern of 3 that she repeated again and again. We would have a literature reading task for 4 . The next day, when we came to class, there would be two or three topics on the blackboard 5 to the homework reading. We were 6 to write an in-class essay about one of the topics. The following day, she would 7 the corrected and graded essays and each person would be called 8 to stand in front of the class and to 9 his/her essay. The class were required to criticize （评论） that essay, 10 the grade of everyone in class would be reduced.

The first time that I 11 her read-write-criticize method, I had not 12 to do the homework and had written something without knowing what it meant. 13 the extreme embarrassment I suffered, standing before my classmates, 14 myself. No one laughed at me; no one would be 15 enough, or foolish enough, to do that in Mrs. McNamara’s class. The embarrassment came from 16 and along with it came a strong 17 not to let it happen again.

Mrs. McNamara kept all of our written work in files; it was easy to see the 18 in writing that had occurred. What was not so easy to see was the inner transformation that had taken place, at least for me. What Mrs. McNamara 19 me to do was to see myself as others see me and, having done that, I could improve myself. And I 20 . Thank you, Mrs. McNamara.

难易度：难

1..A.nodded　　　　 B. laughed　　　　 　 C. apologized　　 　 D. shouted

2. A. trouble　　　　 　 B. sorrow　　　　 　 C. danger　　　　 　 D. anger

3. A. behaviour　　　 　 B. evaluation　　　 C. activity　　　　 D. thought

4. A. review　　　　 B. performance　　 　 C. practice　　　　 D. homework

5. A. added　　　　 B. related　　　　 C. contributed　　 D. compared

6. A. expected　　　　 B. persuaded　　　 C. allowed　　　　 　 D. advised

7. A. collect　　　　 　 B. return　　　　　 C. send　　　　　 　 D. receive

8. A. on purpose　　　 B. at first　　　　 　 C. by chance　　　 　 D. in turn

9. A. talk through　　 B. hand over　　　 C. read out　　　　 D. show off

10. A. so　　　　　　 B. and　　　　　 C. but　　　　　 D. or

11. A. tried　　　　　 B. adopted　　　　 C. examined　　　 D. experienced

12. A. undertaken　　　 B. attempted　　　 　 C. bothered　　　 　 D. hesitated

13. A. Remember　　 B. Predict　　　　 　 C. Bear　　　　 D. Imagine

14. A. playing jokes on B. making a fool of C. setting a trap for 　 D.taking advantage of

15. A. brave　　　　　 B. careless　　　　 C. proud　　　　　 　 D. selfish

16. A. above　　　　　 B. within　　　　 　 C. behind　　　　 　 D. below

17. A. tendency　　　 　 B. preference　　 　 C. determination　 D. sense

18. A. improvements　 B. pains 　　　　　 C. difficulties　　　 　 D. advantages

19. A. trusted　　　　 B. invited　　　　 C. forced　　　　　 D. permitted

20. A. did　　　　　　 B. could　　　　　 　 C. had　　　　　 D. would

完形填空，阅读下面短文，从各题所给的四个选项中，选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。

　　When a person is curious about something, it means he is 1 in it and wishes to know more about it. There is 2 wrong with curiosity in itself. Whether it is good or bad depends on what people are curious about.

　　Curiosity is 3 silly or wrong. Some persons with nothing to do are full of curiosity about what their 4 are doing. They are 5 to know what they are eating or drinking, what they are 6 home or taking outside, or 7 they have come so early or late. To be interested in these things is 8 because they are 9 at all. It is none of their 10 to know what their neighbors do or are doing. Such curiosity is 11 not only 12 but also harmful. For most probably, it 13 to small talk which often brings harm, shame of disrespect to others, and thus 14 their feelings.

　　On the other hand, there is a 15 curiosity--the curiosity of wise men, who wonder at all the great things and try to 16 all they can about them. Columbus could never have found America if he had not been 17 . James Watt would not have made the steam engine 18 his curiosity about the raising of the kettle lid. All the discoveries in human history have been made 19 a result of curiosity, 20 , the curiosity is never about unimportant things which have few or nothing to do with the happiness of the public.

　　Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet”. When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet”. Some people may have more than one skeleton.

　　As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin. Sometimes, we get some hard facts. But more often we have to depend on guesswork. And that is true of this phrase, which came from England.

　　Before 1932, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体) of an executed(处决) criminal.

　　But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine. It was helping in the advance of modern medicine. The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices.

　　We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study. It became very important in his work. But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing. As a rule, the doctor would keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet.

　　After a time, people began to suspect(怀疑) every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet. From this suspicion, the phrase “a skeleton in the closet” took on a broader, more general meaning to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering. It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious. Well, that is one theory.

　　One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened. It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime. Well, one man’s guess is as good as another. But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac.

　　Baizac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover. The husband comes home by surprise. But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom. He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover. He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her. She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet.

　　The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive. But she will not change her story and admit her guilt.   

1. Which of the following situations is suitable for using the phrase “skeleton in the closet” ?

　　A. You have stolen something precious and don’t want it discovered.

　　B. You are a doctor and have to keep a skeleton for research.

　　C. If you have cut open a dead human body for scientific examination you should keep the skeleton secret.

　　D. You have done a crime or done something foolish, but you want to keep other from discovering it.

2. From the text we know that there are _______ theories about how the phrase “skeleton in the closet” came into being.

　　A. one 　　　　　      B. two 　　　　　      C. three 　　　　D. four

3. In Chinese the world “skeleton” means _______.

　　A. 尸体 　　　　　B. 标本 　　　　　C. 收藏 　　　　D. 骷髅

4. Which of the following is right according to the text?

　    A. In the 20th century, doctors realized the importance of anatomy(解剖) in the development of medicine.

　　B. The doctors of the ancient times liked to collect as many skeleton as possible.

　　C. The thieves stole skeletons from tombs in order to help the doctors.

　　D. It was legal that corpses of anybody were cut open for scientific examination in history.

5. From the story Balzac told we know that the wife’s lover must have become _______.

A. a corpse 　　　　B. a phrase 　　　　C. a skeleton 　　　D. a secret