There are 12 star signs in total. Your star sign depends on your 41 . In western culture, some people believe that people 42 the same star sign share similar characteristics. There are lots of stories about star signs.   43  a story about Scorpio.

Once upon a time, in Greece, there was a hunter  44  Orion who was the son of a sea god. He was handsome, brave and strong. One day he said he  45 kill all the dangerous animals. The mother of the land was quite 46  at what he said. She ordered a scorpion  47   him. The scorpion hid in the  48  and gave the hunter a sudden attack 49  the shoulder. The hunter tried his best to fight back. The fighting  50  for ten days and ten nights. In the end, they 51  died. From then on,  52  scorpions appeared, hunters would hide. They  53 met again.

  54 your birthday is between Oct. 23^rd and Nov. 21^st, your star sign is Scorpion. You are a powerful person 55 energy. You can always keep secrets. However, sometimes you do not forgive others.

1. A. body              B. day          C. birthday         D. mind

2. A. under                 B. in            C. on           D. with

3. A. Here’s        B. It’s          C. That’s         D. There’s

4. A. was named             B. called        C. is called       D. call

5. A. would like             B. will           C. had better      D. would

6. A. nervous               B. worried         C. angry       D. pleased

7. A. attack          B. to attack         C. kill          D. to invite

8. A. sea                 B. sun           C. river           D. dark

9. A. on                   B. in             C. with          D. for

10. A. lasts                 B. began         C. was on         D. is on

11.A. all                B. both            C. every           D. each

12.A. however       B. whatever         C. whenever        D. wherever

13. A. hardly           B. often              C. sometimes        D. never

14. A. If        B. Before            C. After           D. Unless

15. A. short of         B. fill with       C. full of          D. proud of

No visitor was left in the museum now, and John was walking around to check if everything was all right. __46_ he saw a beautiful painting lying on the floor. John __47__ and gave it to the curator (馆长). The curator called several museums to check if it was a stolen painting __48__ no one claimed (认领) it. So the curator decided to hang it. __49__ said it was beautiful and had a very deep meaning. The curator was __50__ to have such a painting in his museum and congratulated John on his discovery.

Some weeks later a woman and her __51__ came to the museum. While they were looking at that painting, the little boy began to __52__. The curator went over and asked what was making him so sad.

The child pointed to __53__ and said, “That’s my painting and I want it back.”

“Yes,” said his mother. “He __54__ it on the floor a few weeks ago. If you look carefully, you can see the name on the painting.” The curator __55__ believe his ears when he heard the truth.

（  ）46. A. Suddenly         B. Actually             C. Usually              D. Quickly

（  ）47. A. set it up        B. picked it up     C. tried it out      D. put it down

（  ）48. A. because           B. so                     C. or                     D. but

（  ）49. A. Everyone      B. Someone        C. No one       D. None

（  ）50. A. nervous           B. lucky              C. proud             D. worried

（  ）51. A. husband        B. son                C. daughter         D. friends 

（  ）52. A. cry                 B. shout                C. smile                 D. laugh

（  ）53. A. John           B. his mother      C. the painting      D. the curator

（  ）54. A. put              B. drew              C. found             D. left

（  ）55. A. might         B. could          C. might not        D. couldn’t

I looked carefully at the face of my 23-year-old son, Daniel. In a few hours he would be 　 41 to France. He would be staying there for at least a year to learn another language and experience another style of 　42 in a different country far from the USA.

It was a(n) 　43 time in Daniel life, a step from college into the adult world. I wanted to 44 him some meaningful words. But 　45 　came from my lips(嘴边). I stood quietly, looking into the searching eyes of my son.

It was 　46　 to say something to my son. I knew this was not the first time I had let such a moment 47 . When Daniel was five, I took him to the bus stop on his first day of kindergarten. I felt he was very 　48 as the bus turned the corner. I saw his face turned red as the bus 49 . He looked at me-as he did now.

My father and I loved each other. Yet, I always regretted(后悔)never hearing him put his feelings into words and 　50 having the memory of that moment. Why is it so hard to tell a 　　51 something from his heart? My mouth turned 52 , and I knew I would be able to get out only a few words clearly.

“Daniel,” I said, “If I could have picked, I would have picked you.”

I wasn’t sure whether he understood 　53 I meant. Then he came toward me and threw his 54 around me. For a moment, the world and all the people 55 , and there was just Daniel and me in our home by the sea.

(　 )41. A. flying　　　 　 B. shipping　　 　　 C. riding　　　　　　 D. driving

(　 )42. A. study 　　　 B. life　　　　　　　　　 C. art　　　　　　　　 D. fashion

(　 )43. A. easy　 　　　 　 B. comfortable　　　 　　 C. boring　　　　　　 D. important

(　 )44. A. record　　　 　　　 B. leave　 　　　　 C. take　　　　　　　 D. write

(　 )45. A. something 　 B. everything 　　 C. nothing　　 　 D. anything

(　 )46. A. difficult　　 　 B. easy　 　　　　 C. surprised　 　 D. rare

(　 )47. A. remember 　 B. pass　 　　　　 C. forget　　　 　 D. waste

(　 )48. A. gentle　　　　　　　 B. famous　　　 　 　C. happy　　　 　 D. nervous

(　 )49. A. stopped　　　　　 B. opened　　　　 C. shook　　　　　　 D. drove

(　 )50. A. always　　　　　　 B. seldom　　　 　　 C. usually　　　　　 D. never

(　 )51. A. father 　　　 B. mother　　　　　　　　　　 C. daughter　　　　 D. son

(　 )52. A. wet　　　　　　　　 B. sour　　　　　　　　 C. dry　　　　　　　　 D. sweet

(　 )53. A. what 　　　 B. which　　　　　　　 C. where　　　　　　 D. that

(　 )54. A. legs　　　　　　　　 B. hands　　　　　　　 C. arms　　　 　 D. feet

(　 )55. A. cheered　　　　　 B. disappeared　　　 C. laughed　 　 D. cried

Mr. Klein told the class that a new student, Inez, would join them soon. He  46  that Inez was deaf. She “talked” with others by using sign language. Mr. Klein knew sign language, and he decided to teach  47  students so that they could also “talk” with Inez.

First, they learned to sign the letters. Some letters were hard to remember. Other letters, such as C, were easier because the shape of the hand was the same as the shape of the letter.

The  48  thing they learned was finger spelling. They signed one letter after  49  to spell a word. They started with two-letter words such as “at” and “on”. Then they spelled  50  words.

Finally, Mr. Klein showed that  51  one sign could be used for a whole word. To make the sign for the word “fine”, a person spreads(张开) out the fingers on one hand, touches the thumb(拇指) to the chest(胸部), and moves the hand away from the chest. Signing is not just done with the hands, expressions on the face are also  52 . The students learned to sign a question mark by using expressions  53  the face.

When Inez entered the classroom, she looked  54 . But the students signed, “Good morning, Inez.” She gave the class a big smile and signed back, “What a wonderful  55 !”

(    ) 46. A hoped          B. said            C. guessed               D. thought

(    ) 47. A. his           B. my            C. her                 D. our

(    ) 48. A. first          B. only           C. last                D. next

(    ) 49. A. other          B. another         C. the other            D. others

(    ) 50. A. newer       B. easier                  C. longer              D. nicer

(    ) 51. A. never         B. perhaps         C. still                D. just

(    ) 52. A. important      B. different        C. difficult             D. strange

(    ) 53. A. about         B. to                    C. on                         D. in

(    ) 54. A. serious        B. surprised       C. frightened           D. nervous

(    ) 55. A. welcome     B. congratulation  C. progress                    D. success

Dear Kitty,

I am sorry that I did not write to you earlier because I have been very    46   . I was helping with a charity show to raise money    47    Project Green Hope. A lot of work needed to be finished, so I did not have much free time.

I felt very happy when I was chosen to be the host. It was exciting,    48    I was also very nervous. I knew that lots of people would watch the show and that many famous pop    49    would come, too. We started working on the show half a year ago so that we could do everything on time. My job was to introduce each star and I also had many other duties. We practiced a lot before the show. I had to remember to    50    the right camera at the right time.    51   , I thought I would never be able to remember all the words. Slowly, everything became    52   .

The big day came very quickly, and I was so excited. Twenty minutes before the big event, we opened the doors and many people came into the theatre to watch the show. The fans of the pop stars were making a noise, so I had to speak    53   .

Everything seemed to happen so fast. A lot of    54   has been given to Project Green Hope. I hope more events like this will be organized to raise money for charity and I think more people should be    55    to take part in them.

See you soon.

Best wishes!

                                                                        Ricky

(     )46. A. busy      B. free          C. nervous           D. excited      

(     )47. A. except          B. for           C. from               D. towards

(     )48. A. so        B. or           C. and                D. but          

(     )49. A. stars     B. doctors   C. teachers                 D. students

(     )50. A. look at  B. look for    C. look through     D. look after   

(     )51. A. After all  B. At first      C. At last              D. For example

(     )52. A. harder    B. easier        C. more tiring       D. more boring   

(     )53. A. loudly    B. quickly     C. quietly             D. happily

(     )54. A. food      B. paper       C. money            D. medicine   

(     )55. A. found   B. invited      C. caught            D. carried