It was a cold winter. The day my husband fell to his death, it started to snow, just  31 any November day. His   32 , when I found it, was lightly covered with snow. It snowed almost every day for the next four months, while I sat on the couch and watched it   33 . One morning, I walked slowly   34  and was surprised to see a snow remover clearing my driveway and the bent back of a woman clearing my walk. I dropped to my knees and crawled back upstairs,  35 those good people would not see me. I was   36 . My first thought was, how would I ever  37 them? I didn’t have the  38 to brush my hair,   39 clear someone’s walk.
Before Jon’s death, I felt proud that I   40 asked for favors. I identified myself by my competence and  41 . So who was I if I was no longer capable? How could I   42 myself if I just sat on the couch every day and watched the snow fall?
Learning to receive the love and   43 from others wasn’t easy. Friends cooked for me and I cried. Finally, my friend Kathy said, “Mary, cooking for you isn’t a   44 for me; it makes me feel good to be able to do something for you.”
Over and over, I heard   45 words from the people who supported me during those  46 days. One wise man told me, “You aren’t doing nothing because being fully open to your  47 may be the hardest work you will ever do.”
I am not the person I   48 was, but in many ways I have changed for the   49 . I’ve been surprised to learn that there is incredible freedom coming form  50 one’s worst fear and walking away whole. I believe there is strength, for sure, in accepting a dark period of our life.

Long long ago, human beings used to walk barefoot. A king happened to travel 16 into the countryside. He was greatly troubled by the 17  roads where gravel(砾石) and broken stones pricked(使刺痛) and numbed(使麻木) his  18 . When he returned to his palace he issued an order that all the roads be  19 with cattle hide(牛皮). He thought it was beneficial not only to 20 but also to his people and hoped 21 would no longer be a painful thing
But 22 all the cattle in the kingdom were killed there   23  not be enough hide to get the work done. Evidently it was a stupid  24 . As it was an imperial order people could do nothing but shake their heads and 25 . At this juncture a clever servant in the palace  26  to make a suggestion. "Your Majesty, why don't take an easier way? You don't have to mobilize（调动）so many people, to have so many oxen killed, nor so much money  27 . What you have to do is simply to cover each of your feet with a piece of hide." Surprised and 28 , the king immediately changed his mind and adopted the 29 .
This is said to be the origin of using  30 to make shoes. Though it sounds  31 and strange, it inspires us to think. It is much easier to change oneself than to change the world.  32 it will be much better for one to change oneself before one   33  an attempt to change the outer world. Why don't try to put yourself on the   34 of the person you deal with? You will find it easier to solve a problem  35 you change your way of thinking.

完形填空 (共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Every year on my birthday, a white gardenia (栀子花) was     1    to my house. But no card or note came with it. Calls to the flower shop were always     2    -- it was a cash purchase. After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender’s identity and just     3    in the beauty and heady perfume of that one magical, perfect white flower lying in soft pink paper.
But I never stopped     4    who the giver might be. My mother     5     to these imaginations. She asked me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing     6    . I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy I fell in love with or one who had     7    me even though I didn’t know him.
One month before my high-school graduation, my father died. My feelings     8     from sorrow to fear and     9   : my dad was missing some of the most important events in my life. I became completely     10    in my coming graduation, the senior-class play and the ball. But my mother would not hear of my losing any of those things. Mother and I had gone shopping and found an impressive dress, but it was the     11    size. When my father died, I forgot about the dress.
The day before my ball, I found that dress-- in the right size—hanging over the living room sofa. It was     12     to me so lovingly. I didn’t     13    if I had a new dress or not. But my mother did. She wanted her children to feel     14   , filled with a sense that there was a beauty even in the face of     15  .
My mother died ten days after I was married. The following year the gardenia stopped coming.
1. A. given         B. delivered            C. taken            D. brought
2. A. useful            B. helpful          C. in vain      D. hopeful
3. A. delighted     B. pleasant         C. pleasing     D. satisfied
4. A. considering       B. remembering      C. imagining        D. recalling
5. A. referred      B. led              C. preferred        D. contributed
6. A. appreciation  B. honor            C. grateful     D. respect
7. A. observed      B. watched          C. noticed      D. hated
8. A. ranged            B. differed         C. suffered     D. judged
9. A. shock         B. happiness            C. depressing   D. anger
10. A. uninterested B. interested           C. unhappy      D. disappointing
11. A. wrong            B. false                C. proper       D. right
12. A. provided     B. presented            C. introduced   D. awarded
13. A. doubt            B. wonder           C. desire       D. care
14. A. loving           B. loved                C. respected        D. honored
15. A. trouble      B. despair          C. problem      D. sorrow

It was her giggling (咯咯笑) that drew my attention. Note taking really wasn’t all that funny.
Walking over to the offender (肇事者), I asked for the   36 . Frozen, she refused to give it to me. I waited, all attention in the classroom on the quiet   37  between a teacher and a student. When she finally   38  it over she whispered, “Okay, but I didn’t draw it.” It was a hand-drawn   39  of me, teeth blackened and the words “I’m stupid” coming out of my mouth.
I managed to fold it up calmly. My mind,   40  , was working angrily as I struggled not to   41 . I figured I knew the two most likely students who drew the picture. It would do them some   42  to teach them a lesson, and maybe it was high time that I did it.
Thankfully, I was able to keep myself   43 .
When there were about six minutes remaining, I showed the class the picture. They were all silent as I told them how   44  this was for me. I told them there must be a reason   45    and now was their chance to write down anything they needed to tell me. Then I let them write silently while I was seated in the back of the classroom, with tears in my eyes.
As I   46  the notes later, many of them said something like, “I’ve got nothing   47  you.” or “I’m sorry you were hurt.” Some kids said, “We’re afraid of you.” But two notes, from the girls who I   48  drew the picture, had a list of issues. I was too   49 , too strict…
Reading those notes, I realized that over the course of this year, instead of   50  my students, I had begun commanding them to   51 . Where I thought I was driving them to success I was   52  driving them away. I had some apology to make. But the next day in the classroom, one boy and one girl each handed me a card. The one   53  by all the boys expressed sincere regret for the ugly joke. The one from the girls asked for   54 .
This was a lesson for both the kids and me. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the   55 .

Like most July days, it was hot．I stepped into a tiny ice-cream shop to cool off with a chocolate ice-cream．It was a very   21  store with little round tables and chairs．
As I entered, I found a very old woman bent over a  22  near the door．Her back was so 23 twisted （扭曲） by some misfortune that her face nearly  24 the tabletop．1 sat down  25  her a couple of tables away．
"Poor woman," I thought．"What does she  26 life? Why does God let people live so long past their prime （盛年）?"
As I thought, another  27 lady entered the shop and sat down with her．Soon the two of them were  28  childhood days．They talked of how little the shop had changed in 70 years．In minutes, the two of them were shaking with  29 .
I looked again at the first woman, then in the  30 on a nearby wall, catching a picture of myself．I was wearing a dirty shirt．She was  31  dressed in white, her face carefully made up and her hands  32  with gold rings．I was  33 ．She was laughing．I was putting the   34  of my life together．She had millions of   35 memories to recall．  36 I was worried about getting old．She was old, but it wasn't   37  her．As I left the shop, I thought of my  38  question about God letting people live past their prime．Why, that woman was more  39  to life than I was．Age has not  40 her spirit．