A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had   16      a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well   17  it, he told him that was all he wanted.  
On the morning of his graduation day his father called him into his own study and told him how   18  he was to have such a fine son. He handed his son a beautiful gift box.   19  but slightly disappointed（失望）, the young man opened the box and found a lovely book.   20 , he raised his voice at his father and said, “With all your money you give me a book?” and rushed out of the house,   21  the book in the study. 
He did not contact his father for a whole year until one day he saw in the street an old man who looked like his father. He   22  he had to go back home and see his father.  
When he arrived at his father’s house, he was told that his father had been in hospital for a week. The moment he was about to leave for the hospital, he saw on the desk the   23  new book , just as he had left it one year ago. He opened it and began to turn the pages. Suddenly, a car key   24      from an envelope（信封）in the book. It had a tag（标签）with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car. On the tag was the   25  of his graduation, and the words “ PAID IN FULL”. 

Martin was a good man. He had a small   16  in the town. Only Sam and Henry  17  for him. One day three of them went to the city to buy things for the shop. On the way they   18  a genie (妖怪). The genie said, "I can make everyone’s wish come true.   19  you tell me your wishes?" Three of them said OK.
Sam went first. "I’d like to   20   the rest of my life living in a big house in St. Thomas   21   any worries." The genie said "OK" and sent him to ST. Thomas.
Henry went   22   ."I’d like to live a life  23  on a ship in the Mediterranean because travelling on it will be great fun." The genie said "OK" and made him get there at once.
Finally, it was Martin’s turn. "And what is your    24  ?" asked the genie.
"I want them   25  back," answered Martin. Then the genie said "OK" and Sam and Henry stood in front of them again.
【小题1】  

Is the art of conversation dying? The other day, my wife   16  two teenage children did something we haven’t    17  for ages. It didn’t require the Internet, a TV screen, batteries… or anything else for that matter. But we all   18  it so much we’re thinking of doing it again sometime.

We had a conversation. The kind of real, live conversation that was   19  when I was growing up, but which seems all too rare these days. Today we have chat rooms, text messages, e-mails but we seem to be losing the   20  of communicating face-to-face. We all know   21  young people are out on a date(约会）these days, they spend most of that time   22  their mobile phones. And teenagers nowadays seem to   23  communicating with their friends by sending text messages rather than actually   24  to them.

If we carry on like this，in the future, we’ll lose the use of our   25 . What do you think? E-mail me, and who knows? Maybe we could even have a real conversation about it!

It is said that people born on different dates have different characteristics. For example, people who were born between March 21 and April 20 are likely to be active and strong. They like power and enjoy adventures.
People who were born between April 21 and May 21 are likely to learn more slowly, but they can remember what they learn well. They love children and usually have many friends.
People who were born between May 22 and June 21 are bright and humorous. They like to talk and enjoy wearing fine clothes.
People who were born between June 22 and July 22 think deeply. They would rather hide their feelings than express them.
People who were born between July 23 and August 22 are interested in many subjects and it is interesting to hear them talk.
People who were born between August 23 and September 22 are said to be calm and thoughtful. They like to read and often become successful scientists.
If you have free time, you can read about star signs to see if your characteristics match your birth date.

1. 1.

   People who were born between March 21 and April 20 are ________.

   1. A.
      patient
   2. B.
      modest
   3. C.
      energetic
   4. D.
      kind
2. 2.

   People who were born between May 22 and June 21 like to ________.

   1. A.
      wear fine clothes
   2. B.
      take care of others
   3. C.
      travel around the world
   4. D.
      buy their friends nice gifts
3. 3.

   People who were born between June 22 and July 22 are not good at ________.

   1. A.
      singing and dancing
   2. B.
      earning money
   3. C.
      doing with difficulties
   4. D.
      expressing their feelings
4. 4.

   People who were born ________ often become successful scientists.

   1. A.
      between April 21 and May 21
   2. B.
      between July 23 and August 22
   3. C.
      between August 23 and September 22
   4. D.
      between June 23 and July 22
5. 5.

   The passage mainly talks about ________.

   1. A.
      birth dates
   2. B.
      abilities
   3. C.
      star signs
   4. D.
      birth dates and characteristics

It was sunny and hot all day. I went to the beach with my friends. We had a lot of fun __21__at sea(大海).In the afternoon, we__22___. There ___23__many people in the museum. It was crowded, so I____24__ really enjoy it. __25___home. I found a little girl __26___in the street. She __27__and I helped her ___28__her mother. It made me feel very happy. I didn’t any money ____29__a taxi, so I walked back home. I was really___30____.