阅读下面短文 ，掌握其大意 ，然后从36-55各题所给的四个选项中 ，选出最佳选项。

Preparing for tomorrow

         Sixth-grade schoolteacher Ms．Shelton believed in readiness．Students remembered how she walked in on the first day of class and began writing words of eighth-grade on the    36    ．They quickly protested that the words were not on their    37     and they couldn’t learn them．

         Their teacher insisted that the students could and would learn these    38    ．She said that she would teach them something that should be given．Ms．Shelton    39     by saying that one of the students in the classroom could go on to    40    , maybe even be president someday, and she wanted to prepare them for that day．

         Ms．Shelton spoke those words many years ago．  41     did she know that someday one of her students—Jesse Jackson—would take them    42    ．She believed that if they were well prepared, they could    43    high goals．

         Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “People only see what they are    44     to see．” If that’s true, then it is also    45     that they only become what they are prepared to become．And many things in life are just about getting ready．

         “I want to be doing something more    46     with my life than what I am doing now,” a young man once said to me．He    47     what he was doing was just not that important．Other people have said things to me such as, “I only    48     I had a meaningful relationship．” And, “I’d really like to get a better job, but I just don’t see    49    ．”

         You fill in the blanks．What is it you would like to    50     that isn’t happening? Perhaps the answer is that you are not yet    51    ．Maybe you need more time to prepare before you are truly ready for that which you    52    ．

         Think of today as another chance to   53    yourself for the exciting future you are looking for．Today is not wasted．If you desire more from    54    , then you can use today as training．For you will experience only what you are prepared to    55    ．Something wonderful can happen．And you can use today to get ready for tomorrow．

1.A．desk        B．wall    C．chalkboard         D．door

2.A．duty         B．desk   C．mind  D．level

3.A．words     B．grammars C．pronunciations  D．sentences

4.A．started   B．ended         C．warned      D．reminded

5.A．greatness       B．wealth        C．honor                   D．failure

6.A．Seldom   B．Little  C．Hardly        D．Totally

7.A．nervously        B．eagerly       C．seriously    D．simply

8.A．keep        B．have  C．set     D．achieve

9.A．prepared         B．forced         C．attracted   D．tempted

10.A．proper  B．exact C．legal  D．true

11.A．difficult B．significant C．pleasant    D．interesting

12.A．boasted         B．behaved     C．felt     D looked

13.A．wish      B．expect        C．hope  D．imagine

14.A．what     B．when C．why    D．how

15.A．survive B．happen       C．gain   D．win

16.A．adventurous          B．active         C．ready D．intelligent

17.A．concern         B．arrange      C．adore          D．desire

18.A．prepare         B．enjoy C．imagine      D．conduct

19.A．history  B．nature        C．life      D．marriage

20.A．suffer    B．experience         C．struggle     D．work

第二节完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55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。
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   36   30 years ago; I sat in Dr Charles E. Offutt’s British literature class, listening to him   37   what his seniors would learn and get them excited about the journey they would  38  . I’m the principal (校长) of the school now , but for a few minutes I was back in 1975,   39  what the future held.
I have been learning from Dr Offutt for 30 of the 51 years he had been teaching at DeMatha. He not only taught me to think, he   40  me, as much by example as  41  , that it was my moral duty to do so and to serve   42   .
Neither of us could know how our  43  would develop over the years. When I first came back to DeMatha to teach English. I worked for Dr Offutt, the then department chair. After several years, I was  44  department chair, and our relationship changed   45  . I thought that it might be  46  chairing the department, since all of my former English teachers were still there, but Dr Offutt   47  me throughout. He knew when to give me   48   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.   49   , he encouraged me to seize the new     50  .
Five years ago, I became the   51   of DeMatha. Once again, Dr Offutt was there for me, letting me know that I could   52  on him as I tried to fill such big shoes. I’ve learned from him that great teachers have a (n)   53   wealth of lessons to teach.   54  his students don’t know it yet, I know how   55   they are; I’m still one of them.
36．A．mostly        B．exactly        C．only               D．simply
37．A．explain       B．predict        C．speak          D．teach
38．A．keep           B．achieve       C．choose        D．take
39．A．preparing        B．discovering     C．wondering       D．realizing
40．A．assisted       B．reminded      C．advised       D．convinced
41．A．words         B．action         C．explanation     D．models
42．A．the others        B．everyone       C．others         D．anyone
43．A．relationship     B．position      C．situation       D．condition
44．A．pointed       B．named        C．given          D．taken
45．A．already       B．yet          C．still          D．again
46．A．foolish        B．surprising        C．uncertain     D．challenging
47．A．promoted        B．accepted      C．supported     D．welcomed
48．A．advice        B．information     C．notice         D．thought
49．A．Otherwise       B．Therefore        C．Furthermore    D．Instead
50．A．choice        B．opportunity     C．occupation      D．possibility
51．A．teacher       B．principal     C．officer        D．clerk
52．A．live         B．look               C．depend        D．take
53．A．rich         B．little           C．valuable      D．endless
54．A．Once          B．Even if       C．Unless        D．Until
55．A．fortunate     B．curious       C．innocent      D．satisfied

Two thieves came to a house to steal something. They dug a hole in the wall of the house.
There lived many mice in the house. The woman in the moonlight saw a mouse crawl into the house.“Look！In comes one，”she said to the man in the house. The thief was so frightened that he hurriedly crawled out of the house and said to the one waiting outside，“She found me when I was just in.” But the thief outside didn’t believe him，so he said，“Let us two try to crawl into the house together.”At that time two mice happened to crawl into the house，too. The woman saw the mice and shouted，“In come two，catch them！” The two thieves were terribly frightened. The man in the house said，“You saw them come in but where are they？ I will catch them tonight.”The two thieves started running away at once.
The two thieves wanted to make it clear whether they had been found or not the night before. The next day they acted as men selling sweet potatoes and came before the house. The man and the woman were ploughing in their fields. The rein（缰绳）broke and the woman came home for a rope. She saw two men selling sweet potatoes and wanted to buy some. She picked out two which looked like mice. At the time the man couldn’t wait for her any longer in the fields and he ran back from the fields to hurry her up. The woman showed the sweet potatoes to the man and said，“How they look like the two of last night.”The man said，“I asked you to fetch a rope，why don’t you hurry for it？”The two thieves ran away quickly without their sweet potatoes.
【小题1】The two thieves failed to steal anything from the house because______.

Americans, generally speaking, make an effort to be friendly with their colleagues, neighbours and other people they often run into. This often takes the form of a simple greeting like “How’s it going?” or “What’s up ?” This is simply a way of saying I see you and I recognize you.

Americans also show this friendliness in “small talk”. Small talk is a casual conversation that Americans engage in when they meet on the street, in the shop or in the office before a meeting. Usually the topics of such small talk will be something that everyone is familiar with, the weather, sports, traffic, hobbies or what’s on television. The topic of the conversation is not as important as the effort make to spend a few minutes with the other person. Small talk shows that you are a considerate person who is interested in others and who is willing to take the time to get to know people.

Small talk is used in the business world to create a friendly atmosphere and to put everyone at ease before the serious matters of business are discussed. Often businessmen will spend a few minutes talking about the weather or sports before a meeting. This form of small talk only lasts a few minutes before the American businessman wants to “get down to business.”

Asians are very skilled at making casual conversation. However, they often find it difficult to make small talk with Americans because they don’t know what to say, how to say it and who to say it to. Americans may see Asians who are reluctant to make small talk as unfriendly and cold.

American people ask others how it is going because      .

A. they are curious about others’ affairs   

B. they are eager to help others

C. they want to start a long conversation

D. they only want to show their kindness

Businessmen talk about weather before a meeting       .   

A.so that everyone present will feel relaxed

B.in order that everyone will be warned against the possible bad weather

C.because weather is very important to American people

D.in order to make people fresh

The word “reluctant” means       .        

A. willing        B. eager        C. unwilling        D. skilled

Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A.You should keep the conversation short.

B.Asians are not friendly and don’t like to talk with others

C. “To get down to business” means to start the work.

D. The topics of the small talk are not very important.

I am a long distance runner. When I was thirty-one, I was in a serious car accident. The doctor told me that they would try to get me to walk “normally” but I would never run again—terrible news for someone who views running as the oxygen(氧气) she breathes. The doctors were right. For the next nine and a half years, I was unable to run more than twenty-five feet.
In 2006, I began self-training to take part in a 60-mile walk. Three months into preparing, I realized that walking 4-5 hours a day was too long. If only I could jog(慢跑) part of it—that would cost me less time. I started jogging without my knees aching. Slowly, I increased the distance. The doctor were proved wrong—it only took nine and a half years to do so.
While practicing, I suffered a loss—a dear friend suddenly died. His work had been to help women to accept themselves and reach their fullest potential(潜力). He believed that people should let nothing hold them back from achieving their goals. Soon after his death, a crazy thought entered my mind: what if I could run the LA Marathon? I knew that if I didn’t train to my fullest, the doctor would win. So I trained seven days a week. And I succeeded in crossing the finish line of the LA Marathons all over the United States to the astonishment of my doctors. They never believed that I would achieve that.
The aches and pains I experience while training and racing are nothing compared to the suffering people whom I respect must accept.
【小题1】What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 1?