完形填空，先通读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后在每小题所给的四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

　　On the evening of last Sunday while I was reviewing my lessons in my room, it suddenly began to rain．　　1　　 as usual, I stopped to listen to the rhythm(韵律)of the rain．For many years, whenever it rains, I couldn't 　　2　　 listening to it and thinking of the garden in which I spent my childhood in my hometown．

　　When I was a little girl, my family lived in a big house with a big garden in the countryside．The garden was full of flowers and 　　3　　 , with some bamboo in front of the wall．Whenever it rained, I 　　4　　 to sit in the front of the house, listening to the rhythm of the rain and watching the 　　5　　 raindrops．

　　When small drops of rain fall from the heaven in a row, they 　　6　　 a curtain made up of pearls(珍珠); when the raindrops 　　7　　 the ground, a lot of small sprays(水花)will splash(溅出)and then disappear slowly．

　　I have been 　　8　　 interested in watching such a scene．Listening to the rhythm of the rain, I feel calm and peaceful in my heart．This feeling of peace makes me think a lot about life．We are the 　　9　　 of the earth, and one day we will embrace(拥抱)our earth and stay with her forever．Life is short and we should treasure it．

　　Listening to the rhythm of the rain, I learn to understand the 　　10　　 of life．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

　　In the 1930s, a lot of people in the USA were out of work．Among these people was a man named Alfred Butts．He always had an interest in word games and so, to fill his time, he planned a game which he called “Lexico”．However, he was not completely satisfied with the game, so he made a number of changes to it and, in time, changed its names from “Lexico” to “Alph” and then to “Criss Cross”．He wanted to make some money from his new game but he didn’t have any real commercial(商业的)success．

　　In 1939, Butts happened to meet a man called Jim Brunot who showed an interest in the new game．The two worked together on developing the game and in 1948 it was offered for sale in the United States under its new name ——“Scrabble”．

　　At first, it didn’t sell very well．In the first year it sold just 2250 sets and by 1951 it had only reached 8500 sets a year．

　　Then, in 1952 the manager of Macy’s department store in New York, Jack Strauss, happened to play “Scrabble” while he was on holiday．He thought it was a wonderful game and, when he went back to work after his holiday, he insisted that Macy’s should stock(储备)the game and make an effort(努力)to call the public’s attention to it．

　　As a result, “Scrabble” became a big success in the United States and it soon spread to Australia and then to other English-speaking countries．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)