One morning, a boy of twelve saw a small fire at one end of the ship “S. S. Panama”. Rua Parori   36  home immediately, against the wishes of his _ 37 _ , to see the fire at the ship. It was a good thing that he did, because there was nobody else around, and  _38  , the small fire grew  __39__ big.

Young Rua stood at the   40   of the stairway up to the ship, and shouted at the top of his voice. He   41   the port workers living downstairs, who were enjoying a Sunday morning in bed.

The S. S. Panama was one of the six  42   ships in port at the time, all of them within twenty-five metres of old buildings, shops and houses, of wood.  43  , the S. S. Panama was carrying oil, as well as paint, and paper from ports in the Far East.

 The fire   44   hundreds of boxes of paper, which made the fire spread very quickly. The end of the ship now black with smoke, but  45   to Rua Parori, the fire did not   46   the paint or the oil.

 Rua was also lucky, because his father was pleased   47   angry with him.

36. A. got                 B. left                    C. went             D. hurried

37. A. father              B. mother                      C. teacher           D. own

38. A. in no time          B. at the time            C. for a while          D. on time

39 .A. surely              B. hurriedly          C. dangerously         D. fully

40. A. top              B. middle               C. foot              D. flight

41. A. called on         B. woke up            C. rang up           D. signed up

42. A. beautiful          B. small               C. comfortable         D. huge

43. A, What’s worse     B. unfortunately         C. To his surprise     D. To tell the truth

44. A. missed           B. burned              C. surrounded          D. heated

45. A. according        B. referring            C. belonging           D. owing

46.A. reach             B. get                 C. arrive              D. move

47. A. less than          B. other than            C. rather than          D. more than

While Christmas shopping in a jewelry store, I discovered a table of golden ornaments (饰品) on sale. So beautiful in   41   ,each had a personality of its own. I looked through hundreds of pieces,   42   a few and took them home.

I was afraid that they would disappear among other   43   gifts of a Christmas tree,   44   I used them to decorate wreaths (花环). When I stood back to    45    my work, a thought crossed my mind: Wouldn’t some of our family and friends like these, too?

I raced back to the jewelry store to discover that the piles of ornaments had been   46  even further. This time I bought dozens, as I   47   the many people who might enjoy one for the holidays.

I   48   began my creative project. While I tied lovely bows and glued golden ornaments, my mind   49   to Christmases past, how special each had been. I thought about others perhaps not so   50  . Some people in our community   51   had a family to share the joy of Christmas. Some didn’t   52   with holiday decorations.

I nodded my head in determined   53  . They would be at the top of my list to receive a little wreath.   54   the plan my husband showed great enthusiasm (热情) and we set out together to put it into   55  .

We visited the aged, the widowed (寡居的) and the lonely. Each one was   56   at our cheerful stop and   57   hung our small gifts — often the   58   signs of celebration in their homes.

After several days, I realized we had made and given almost two hundred wreaths. Decorated with   59   and delivered with delight, they filled many homes and hearts with the joy of Christmas. We were glad that our   60   did make sense and we found our Christmas spirit in doing and giving.

1.A. design                  B. concept                  C. condition                D. form

2.A. checked              B. selected      C. transformed   D. charged

3.A. huge       B. fancy     C. expensive                    D. valueless

4.A. however         B. therefore          C. otherwise    D. still

5.A. envy       B. polish     C. admire  D. undertake

6.A. reduced     B. emptied       C. sorted           D. cleared

7.A. worried about   B. thought of   C. cared for    D. watch over

8.A. bitterly    B. naturally     C. eagerly             D. curiously

9.A. appealed          B. opened         C. crossed      D. wandered

10.A. fortunate        B. wealthy    C. energetic             D. comfortable

11.A. sometimes   B. ever             C. often             D. never

12.A. bother      B. serve                   C. compare        D. play

13.A. surprise   B. disappointment         C. satisfaction         D. shame

14.A. In              B. At        C. On                                    D. About

15.A. effect            B. action   C. reality         D. consideration

16.A. shocked      B. scared    C. embarrassed        D. excited

17.A. without delay         B. as usual    C. on purpose        D. in turn

18.A. common        B. universal         C. only              D. standard

19.A. hope      B. pardon      C. luck                   D. love

20.A. devotion       B. courage    C. kindness             D. support