The winter after 9/11 was a hard one for me. I had just left the Greenville and started what?　1to be long-term unemployment and, at midlife, many endless depressed 　2.I felt empty inside. My one　3 was having my grandchildren, Sophie and Simeon, with me for Hanukkah?(犹太教的光明节),but when they　4 home, I was left with a 　5 state of mind and that inner emptiness again.?

It was then that my wife, Linda, director of the Upstate Homeless Coalition,　6 that I play Santa for 30 children in a holiday program at a local hall. As she pointed out, I 　7 the part. I have a big belly(肚子) and a full, almost white beard.?

The question about coming across religious limits doesn’t concern me. I’d always believed in 8 people to be less tough about sticking to those strict lines.　9,for reasons having nothing to do with religion, I　10 admit that year, my heart just wasn’t in it. Linda 　11 “the show must go on.” So I practised “Ho, ho, ho.”?

I was not 　12for the 30 sets of eyes that fastened upon me　13 I walked  in. “Santa! Santa! Look at my new shoes! Santa! I’ve been a good girl. Santa! Can we sing ‘Jingle Bells’?”

They　14 around me, hugged and kissed me. Each child sat in my lap and posed (摆姿势)for 　15 and I gave them all a present—a teddy bear, a doll...

Their?16 delight and excited voices brought tears to my eyes. I felt a wave of compassion(同情).These 17 were God’s gentlest gifts to a 18 world—gifts of warmth and love. These homeless children 19 me from self-doubt and depression.20 I lost my mind and regained my healthy state of judgment.

1．A．ought               B．went                  C．proved               D．supposed?

2．A．wishes                  B．days                   C．ideas                   D．jobs?

3．A．sadness                 B．hobby              C．hope   q            D．happiness?

4．A．returned                B．got                  C．left                     D．came?

5．A．cheerful                B．dark                    C．light               D．normal?

6．A．demanded             B．said                     C．remembered        D．suggested?

8．A．allowing                B．preventing           C．stopping              D．encouraging?

9．A．Yet                       B．So                      C．Therefore            D．And?

10．A．can                     B．must                   C．may                    D．shall?

11．A．insisted                B．ordered               C．advised               D．joked?

12．A．familiar               B．strange                C．prepared              D．known?

13．A．while                  B．before                 C．until                    D．when?

14．A．walked                B．crowded              C．stared                 D．observed?

15．A．a picture              B．a book                 C．a smile                D．a pleasure?

16．A．relaxed                B．pitiful                  C．shameful             D．confused?

17．A．memories            B．children               C．tears                   D．eyes?

18．A．kind                    B．big                      C．warm                  D．cold?

19．A．lifted                   B．took                    C．push                   D．pulled?

20．A．Since then       B．Sooner or later     C．At that moment  D．In no time

We like to consider ourselves the superior race, and we are. It’s true that we are getting to know more and more, and we actually live in “the information age”. Our human vanity(虚荣心) makes us believe that we really have to know everything! Surprisingly, we do not have this ability. The question “what is happening in the Bermuda Triangle” is the very proof.
Where is the Bermuda Triangle located? The mysterious triangle is believed to be situated between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, where too many unusual events have happened.
On December the 5^th 1945, five U.S. military planes took off from Florida on a clear day only to disappear over Bermuda. Furthermore, some other disappearances took place; in 1947, an American C54 plane simply disappeared at 100 miles from Bermuda; at 80 miles, a Star Tiger plane disappeared in 1948.
Even Columbus had trouble in Bermuda. Some of his journals were about the strange happenings there: “the waters are changing their colors” and “compasses are going wild”.
Maybe it’s why it is called the Devil’s triangle or the Atlantic cemetery.
Many hypotheses were stated in order to explain the strange events. In spite of these attempts, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle remains unsolved.
Some people get to say that maybe aliens are involved in it. Other imaginative scientists relate the happenings in Bermuda to Einstein’s theory, saying that the missing ships and planes are translated to another dimension of space and time and taken into another world.
Maybe we will just have to wait to go to Heaven and ask the One who made it. The answer will surely be a satisfying one!
【小题1】The writer may probably think that______.

We like to consider ourselves the superior race, and we are. It’s true that we are getting to know more and more, and we actually live in “the information age”. Our human vanity(虚荣心) makes us believe that we really have to know everything! Surprisingly, we do not have this ability. The question “what is happening in the Bermuda Triangle” is the very proof.

Where is the Bermuda Triangle located? The mysterious triangle is believed to be situated between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, where too many unusual events have happened.

On December the 5^th 1945, five U.S. military planes took off from Florida on a clear day only to disappear over Bermuda. Furthermore, some other disappearances took place; in 1947, an American C54 plane simply disappeared at 100 miles from Bermuda; at 80 miles, a Star Tiger plane disappeared in 1948.

Even Columbus had trouble in Bermuda. Some of his journals were about the strange happenings there: “the waters are changing their colors” and “compasses are going wild”.

Maybe it’s why it is called the Devil’s triangle or the Atlantic cemetery.

Many hypotheses were stated in order to explain the strange events. In spite of these attempts, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle remains unsolved.

Some people get to say that maybe aliens are involved in it. Other imaginative scientists relate the happenings in Bermuda to Einstein’s theory, saying that the missing ships and planes are translated to another dimension of space and time and taken into another world.

Maybe we will just have to wait to go to Heaven and ask the One who made it. The answer will surely be a satisfying one!

1.The writer may probably think that______.

2. Columbus’ journals told us that in Bermuda _______.

3.The underlined word “hypotheses” in the 6^th paragraph probably means______.

4.The purpose of the writer is to______.

We like to consider ourselves the superior race, and we are. It’s true that we are getting to know more and more, and we actually live in “the information age”. Our human vanity(虚荣心) makes us believe that we really have to know everything! Surprisingly, we do not have this ability. The question “what is happening in the Bermuda Triangle” is the very proof.
Where is the Bermuda Triangle located? The mysterious triangle is believed to be situated between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, where too many unusual events have happened.
On December the 5^th 1945, five U.S. military planes took off from Florida on a clear day only to disappear over Bermuda. Furthermore, some other disappearances took place; in 1947, an American C54 plane simply disappeared at 100 miles from Bermuda; at 80 miles, a Star Tiger plane disappeared in 1948.
Even Columbus had trouble in Bermuda. Some of his journals were about the strange happenings there: “the waters are changing their colors” and “compasses are going wild”.
Maybe it’s why it is called the Devil’s triangle or the Atlantic cemetery.
Many hypotheses were stated in order to explain the strange events. In spite of these attempts, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle remains unsolved.
Some people get to say that maybe aliens are involved in it. Other imaginative scientists relate the happenings in Bermuda to Einstein’s theory, saying that the missing ships and planes are translated to another dimension of space and time and taken into another world.
Maybe we will just have to wait to go to Heaven and ask the One who made it. The answer will surely be a satisfying one!

1. 1.

   The writer may probably think that______.

   1. A.
      humans have to and can know everything strange
   2. B.
      the missing ships are taken into another world
   3. C.
      humans can know more in “the information age”
   4. D.
      God created the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle
2. 2.

   Columbus’ journals told us that in Bermuda _______.

   1. A.
      an American C54 plane disappeared
   2. B.
      there were some strange happenings
   3. C.
      the compasses were lost
   4. D.
      a cemetery was found
3. 3.

   The underlined word “hypotheses” in the 6^th paragraph probably means______.

   1. A.
      guesses
   2. B.
      reports
   3. C.
      places
   4. D.
      stories
4. 4.

   The purpose of the writer is to______.

   1. A.
      tell some stories about the Bermuda Triangle
   2. B.
      warn people not to travel to the Bermuda Triangle
   3. C.
      laugh at man’s vanity to know everything
   4. D.
      prove man does not have the ability to know all

阅读理解

　　Something big is happening to the human race-something that could be called The Great Transformation.

　　The Transformation consists of all the changes that are occurring in human life due to advancing technology. For thousands of years such progress occurred slowly. Now, everything is changing so fast that you may find yourself wondering where all this progress is really leading.

　　Nobody knows what all these changes really will mean in the long run. But this mysterious Transformation is the biggest story of all time. It is the story of the human race itself.

　　Some people worry about what will happen when the deposits of petroleum are gone, but already researchers are finding all kinds of new ways to obtain energy. Someday, solar power collected by satellites circling the earth or fission power manufactured by mankind may give us all the energy we need for an expanding civilization. Space exploration promises to open up many new territories for human settlement, as well as leading to the harvest of mineral resources like the asteroids.

　　Scientific research continues to open up previously undreamed of possibilities. Fifty years ago, few people could even imagine things like computers, lasers, and holography. Today, a host of newly emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and genetic engineering are opening up all kinds of new paths for technologists.

　　Like it or not, our advancing technology has made us masters of the earth. We not only dominate all the other animals, but we are reshaping the world’s plant life and even its soil and rocks, its waters and surrounding air. Mountains are being dug up to provide minerals and stone for buildings. The very ground under our feet is washing ways as we chop down the forests, plow up the fields, and excavate foundations for our buildings.

　　Human junk is cluttering up not only the land but even the bottom of the sea. And so many chemicals are being released into the air by human activities that scientists worry that the entire globe may warm, causing the polar icecaps (冰冠) to melt and ocean waters to flood vast areas of the land. During the twentieth century, advancing technology has enabled man to reach thousands of feet into the ocean depths and to climb the highest mountain. Mount Everest, the highest mountain of all, resisted all climbers until the 1950s. Now man is reaching beyond Earth to the moon, Mars, and the stars.

　　No one knows what the Great Transformation means or where it will ultimately lead. But one thing is sure: Human life 50 years from now will be very different from what it is today. It’s also worth nothing that our wondrous technology is posing an increasingly insistent question: When we can do so many things, how can we possibly decide what we really should do? When humans were relatively powerless, they didn’t have to make the choices they have to make today.

　　Technology gives us the power to build a magnificent new civilization－if we can just agree on what we want it to be. But today, there is little global agreement on goals and how we should achieve them. So it remains to be seen what will happen as a result of our technology. Pessimists worry that we will use the technology eventually to blow ourselves up. But they have been saying that for decades, and so far we have escaped. Whether we will continue to do so remains unknown－but we can continue to hope.

1．The Great Transformation is caused by ________.

[　　]

A．artificial intelligence and genetic engineering

B．the shortage, of natural resources

C．the development of practical science

D．unknown reasons

2．Today it is impossible for people to build a remarkable new civilization because ________.

[　　]

A．nobody is optimistic about the future

B．human beings are unable to do so

C．people disagree with each other in many ways

D．people are not interested in it

3．The more chemicals we send into the air, the less land we will possibly have because ________.

[　　]

A．chemicals will wash away fields

B．water levels will go up

C．more and more land will be covered by ice

D．none of the above

4．________ after all the petroleum is used up.

[　　]

A．We can depend on solar power or fission for energy

B．We can ask God for help

C．We will have no source to obtain energy

D．We can bum wood