---My god, it’s raining again. What a cold day!

---So it is. It’s really too cold _______ May.

Only after he graduated _______ how much he loved his alma mater (母校) .

---Besides being bright, he has always been working hard.

--- No wonder he _______ in almost all subjects.

With the World Cup at hand, _______ has been a heated discussion over which country the championship will go to.

One can fail at times, but _______ makes a difference is one’s attitude towards life.

This kind of new car _______ in three colors: black, silver and red.

The price of vegetables _______ sharply since last month.

完形填空（共20小题；每题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。

He drove after drinking alcohol, having a severe accident and had to get his arms removed. Since then, he has had to rely on his younger brother, who became his shadow, never   36   him alone for years. Except for   37   with his toes, he was totally unable to do anything else. As the two brothers grew up together, they had their own problems and would often   38  . Eventually, his younger brother went away and lived separately, leaving him heartbroken and   39   a loss what to do.

40  , a misfortune happened to a girl. One night she was preparing dinner when the kerosene(煤油) light on the stove was overturned, resulting in a fire which took her   41   away. Having decidedly   42   her sister’s willingness to help her, she determined to be thoroughly   43  . At school, she always studied hard. Most of all, she learned to be self-reliant. “I am lucky.   44   my arms are broken, my heart can still fly.” She wrote in her blog.

One day, the young man and the girl were both invited to a(n)   45   program. The boy told the television hostess about his uncertain future, whereas the girl was full of   46   for her life. They were both asked to write something on a piece of paper with their  47  . The boy: My younger brother’s arms are my arms. The girl: Broken wings,   48  heart.

They had both gone through the same ordeal(痛苦的折磨), but their different   49   determined the nature of their lives. As seems the case, unexpected disasters can strike our life at any time. How you handle   50   when faced with it is the true   51   of your character. If you choose to   52   or escape from the ordeal, it will follow you wherever you go.   53  , if you decide to be strong, the   54   will turn out to be a fortune on which new   55   will arise.

36. A. having left                   B. to leave                 C. left                  D. leaving

37. A. walking                B. writing               C. cleaning              D. playing

38. A. quarrel                         B. share                   C. communicate          D. disagree

39. A. on                    B. under                C. in                   D. at

40. A. Unfortunately          B. Unexpectedly         C. Similarly             D. Seriously 

41. A. hair                     B. hands                   C. happiness             D. possessions 

42. A. turned on                    B. turned up             C. turned off             D. turned down

43. A. helpless                     B. free                     C. independent           D. respected

44. A. Though                 B. Unless                 C. Whether               D. Since

45. A. interview              B. entertainment         C. contest                D. donation

46. A. calmness               B. enthusiasm           C. patience               D. excitement

47. A. wisdom                 B. strength                C. toes                     D. mouths

48. A. promising           B. inspiring             C. flying                D. advancing

49. A. characters              B. attitudes               C. opinions              D. ambitions

50. A. emergency             B. misfortune            C. opportunity                 D. defeat

51. A. test                       B. value                   C. meaning              D. function

52. A. complain                    B. struggle                    C. fight                 D. suffer

53. A. However               B. Though                C. But                  D. Therefore

54. A. accidents               B. carelessness           C. failures                D. hardship

55. A. solutions               B. impressions           C. hopes                  D. rewards

When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.

He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.

Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.

Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored (发起) “Tom Thumb” weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

56. Which of the statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Charles’ parents supported him and performed together with him.

B. Charles was found and hired by the famous showman.

C. Charles put lots of advertisements to arouse interest.

D. Charles’ success was largely due to Mr. Barnum’s help.

57. Tom would dance on a wooden plate held by an eight-foot-tall person probably because ______________.

A. the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom was dancing

B. it made Tom look taller

C. the eight–foot–tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted

D. the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller

58. The underlined words “talk of the town” in the second paragraph from the bottom means ______________.

A. it was in the newspaper                       B. people spread bad rumors about it

C. it was the most popular topic                    D. it was discussed in a city meeting

59. What does the author think about Tom’s wedding?

A. It helped people cheer up in a dark time.              B. People gave it too much of their attention.

C. It was funny and ridiculous.                         D. Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

Where have all the boys gone? You may be able to find them in the gym, at work or hanging out, but there is one important place where boys are under-represented, and the problem seems to be getting worse. These days, at high school graduation ceremonies, there are a lot more girls than boys.

In fact, every year, 10 percent more girls graduate from high school than boys. “I think that there’s a tendency to focus on boys as problems at this point, rather than recognizing that boys have problems,” says Joanne Max, PhD. Experts say the problems start in grade school, where there’s often an emphasis on sports instead of reading, for example. “I think that with boys there’s some idea that it’s not masculine(男子汉的)to read,” says Rob Jenkins, an English professor.

There’s also a shortage of male teachers as role models. “I think boys need role models, so if you’re a boy and you don’t have a dad in your home and then you have one male teacher and he’s your athletic coach, then I don’t think you have a message that education is very important,” says Carol Carter, another expert. In addition, classrooms often have too little activity and too much passive listening, which is not conducive (有益的) to boys’ learning.

Experts say parents can fight back in many ways. Read to your sons early and often; show by your action that you value their education. Ask them about their schoolwork, offer help, drop by their classroom and, finally, appeal to their competitive spirit, challenge them to do better and help them understand that their future depends on it.

60. According to the passage, boys have the problem that they think _____________.

A. reading is more important than sports           B. it is shameful for boys to read

C. boys should not work as a teacher              D. boys lack the gift for reading

61. Carol Carter’s words in the third paragraph implies that ______________.

A. parents play an important role in education

B. athletic coaches contribute a lot to education

C. lack of role model affects boys’ attitudes to school work

D. classrooms lack enough activities that are suitable for boys

62. The passage is written mainly for _____________.

A. parents               B. boys              C. teachers             D. experts