July 21st, 2007 was a typical English summer’s day ― it rained for 24 hours! As usual, I rushed home from work at midday to check on the house. Nothing was amiss. By the time I lift work at 5 pm, however, the road into our village was flooded. Our house bad never been flooded but, as I opened the front door, a wave of water greeted me. Thank God the kids weren’t with me, because the house was 5 feet deep in water. We lost everything downstairs. And the plaster had to be torn off the walls, ceilings pulled down. ks5u

At first we tried to push on through. We didn’t want to move the children out of home, so we camped upstairs. we put a sheet of plastic across the floor to protect us from the damp. But after three months, we felt very sick, so we moved to a wooden house in a park. The house was small, but at first we were all just delighted to be in a new place. Unfortunately, things took longer than expected and we were there for 10 months. The life there was inconvenient. What surprised me most was how much I missed being part of a community（社區(qū)）.We had lived in a friendly village with good neighbours, and I’d never thought how much I’d miss that. ks5u

Although-our situation was very bad, it’s difficult to feel too sorry for yourself when you look at what’s happening elsewhere. I watched a news report about floods in Northern India and thought , “We didn’t have a straw hut（茅草房）that was swept away , and our house is still sanding . We’re lucky .” ks5u

We moved back home in August. With December coming, there’s reconstruction work to be done, so it’s difficult to prepare for Christmas. But I can’t wait ― I’m going to throw a party for our friends in the village to say thanks for their support. This year , I won’t need any gifts ― living away from home for months has made me realize how little we actually need or miss all our possessions . Although we are replacing things, there’s really no rush ― we have our home back, and that’s the main thing. ks5u

45. What does the underlined word “amiss” in the first paragraph mean?

  A. Wrong.             B. Missing.            C. Right.            D. Found.

46. It can be inferred from the text that the author          .

A. was sick of staying upstairs

  B. cared much about her children

  C. could not stand living in a wooden house

  D. did not deal well with her family affairs during the flood

47. Why does the author say that they were lucky in the third paragraph?

  A. Because her situation was not serious.

B. Because many other places were flooded.

  C. Because she had been to Northern India.

  D. Because some others suffered even more.

48. What does the author mainly want to express by telling her story?

  A. She valued human feelings more than before.

  B. She realized she almost didn’t need possessions.

  C. She found Christmas gifts no longer badly needed.

D. She thought her own home was the most important.

完形填空（共20小題；每小題1.5分，滿分30分）
閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
When I was in medical college, I went   36  with some of my friends. The   37  was summer; therefore, we   38  to go to the seaside. After arriving there, we rented a room and left our   39  there. We finished lunch and then decided to rent a boat   40  the sea and the weather were beautiful.
We started to   41 , but about one mile out, the weather suddenly changed.   42  the weather was not good, we didn’t want to   43 , but finally my friends and I   44  that we should go back. We tried to change the boat’s   45 , but as soon as we changed it, the oarlock (櫓, 槳) broke. Therefore, we were   46  to turn back. We had to wait for help because we couldn’t do anything.
After seeing the change of the weather, we   47  to row, but it was too late. We   48  it. The sea changed a lot, the waves got very high, and the boat began to   49  like a cradle (搖籃). One of my friends started to cry;   50  started to feel sick. Three hours passed, and nobody came to help us. We were just praying.   51 , after five long hours of waiting, two big boats came to   52  us and we   53 . If they   54  come to get us, we would have crossed the border between Turkey and Greece because the border was very close.
This story is the most exciting story of my life because we could have   55 , but luck was with us and we escaped.

根據(jù)句子結(jié)構(gòu)的語法性，在下面空格處填入一個適當(dāng)?shù)脑~或使用括號中詞的適當(dāng)形式填空。

1._________ (hear) their teacher's voice, the pupils stopped talking at once.

2.He _________ (bring) up in North Yorkshire by his grandmother .

3.It may be _________ (believe), but it's the truth.

4.She was so tired that she didn't even have the _________ (strong) to stand up.

5.She had her hair cut last night, now it is _________ (thin) and shorter.

6.Thousands of patients have benefited _________ the new medicine.

7.I find _________ strange that she doesn’t want to go.

8.Great changes _________ (take) place in China over the past few years.

9.Those _________ keep working hard will soon be successful.

10.We tried to save the building, _________ it was a hopeless task.

11.Please call me on your _________ (arrive) at the hotel.

12.She did not know _________ had happened.

13.With time _________ (go) by, my memory seemed to get worse.

14.I have borrowed _________ useful book from the library to prepare for my coming exam.

15.People began looking across to see_________ the noise was coming from.

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids but we made them worse. For my naughty boys, I’d know better. I’d really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and home-made ice cream and leftover meatloaf. I really would.

My cherished boys, I hope you learn humility (謙遜) by surviving failure and that you learn to be honest even when no one is looking. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl (爬) under the covers (被子) with you because he’s scared, I hope you’ll let him. And when you want to see a Disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, I hope you take him.

　　I hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use computers, you also learn how to add and subtract (減) in your head.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on the stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole (旗桿). I hope you get sick when someone blows smoke in your face. I don’t care if you try beer once, but I hope you won’t like it.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your uncle.

I hope your father punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor’s window, and that your mother hugs you and kisses you when you give her a plaster of pared mold (一個石膏模型) of your hand.

　 These things I wish for you—tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.

1.Who wrote the letter?

2.What does the author hope for the boys?

3.It can be inferred from the text that the boys _________________.

4. Why does the author write the letter?