My First Trip in the United States
I still remember my first day in the U. S. very clearly. My friend was waiting for me when my plane   36  at Kennedy Airport at three o’clock in the afternoon. The weather was very  37 and it was snowing, but I was too excited to   38  . From the airport, my friend and I took a taxi to my    39   .On the way, I saw the skyline of Manhattan for the   40  time and I looked in surprise at the famous skyscrapers（摩天大樓） and their man-made   41  .  42   me unpack at the hotel, my friend left and promised to return the next day.
  43  my friend had left, I went to a   44   near the hotel to get something   45    . Since I couldn’t speak a single word of English, I couldn’t tell the    46   what I wanted. I was very worried and started to make some   47   ,but he didn’t understand me. Finally, I ordered the    48  thing as the man at the next table was   49   . After dinner, I started to walk along Broadway   50   I came to Times Square with its theatres, neon lights, and crowds of people. I did not feel tired, so I   51  to walk around the city. I wanted to see   52  on my first day, although I knew it was impossible.
When I returned to the hotel, I couldn’t fall asleep, lay    53  and thought about New York. It was a very big and amazing city with many high-rise buildings and streams of cars, and full of   54  and busy people. I also decided right then that I had to learn to    55  .

When I was a teenager I volunteered to work at the water station at a 10,000 m race.      My  36 was to pass out water to the runners. I remember being so excited to see all the different kinds of    37  who passed by and   38 a cup of water. The next year I signed up for the   39  and gave it a shot.
The first 10,000 m race was quite an experience. I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked. At times, I didn’t   40  if I could finish.
At one point near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me very   41  , and I felt embarrassed that I was 50 years younger than him and I couldn’t even keep up with him. I felt      42  for a second.
But then I   43   something. He was running his race and I was running mine. He had   44  capacities, experience, training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my   45   was only to finish.
After a minute, it   46 me that this was a lesson I could draw from . I learned  47 about myself in that moment. I turned my   48  into inspiration.
I decided that I would not   49 running races. In fact, I would run even more races and I would learn how to train and  50 properly and one day I would be one of those 70-year-olds who were still running. As I   51 the finishing line, I was proud  52 my accomplishment.
In life we all have those moments when we  53 ourselves to others. It’s only   54 . Don’ allow those moments to weaken you. Turn them into   55  and let them inspire you. Use them to show you what is possible.

The party began shortly after Mr. Wood ,who lived in the flat below ,signed (嘆息)to himself as he heard excited voices and the noisy music. Luckily he had ___36___ some work home from the office, ___37___ he kept himself busy for a couple of hours ,thus managing to pay no attention to the noise___38___ . But by eleven o’clock he felt ___39___ and was ready to go to bed ,though from his earlier experience he knew it was ___40___ trying to get to sleep. He undressed and lay for a while on the bed ,trying to read ,but he___41___ himself reading the same page over and over again. He then turned off the light and ___42___ his head in the pillow(枕頭). But ___43___ he could not shut ___44___ the noise ，finally after __45____ seemed hours his___46___ was gone.
He jumped out of bed ,__47__ some clothing, marched ___48___ up the stairs and walked into his neighbor’s flat. The owner of the flat, who ___49___ him in his dressing gown came ___50___ the room and__51___ Mr. Wood could say anything, cried “My dear fellow ,come and ___52___. I know our parties ___53___ you. I meant to send you ___54___.” Mr. Wood’s anger disappeared then and there. He said “I’d better go and get __55_.” Minutes later, he returned properly dressed, only to find that the party was nearly over.

Charlie Chaplin was the first international star of the modern era(年代). He was especially beloved for his Little Tramp 32. He was the first screen artist to write, 33 and perform in his own films; in fact, 34 Charlie Chaplin even wrote the music for his movies. He was also the first artist to use his work to pass a 35of equality and justice for all —36for the "little guy". Charlie Chaplin's career and life made 37 the first global icon (偶像); his too-small hat, his too large shoes and his trademark moustache were instantly 38 by audiences from Chicago to China, from Iowa City to India. And they 39 are today. All of these make Charlie Chaplin the first citizen of our global village.
Chaplin, a native of London, was born in40 on April 16, 1889 to music hall performers. Chaplin only saw his 41twice until the age of seven. The man 42 him and his mother about a year after Chaplin was 43. During Chaplin's earliest years, his mother was a(n) 44and performer. Then her voice gave out, her stage career 45, and she began actively 46Church of England services. At the age of 47, Chaplin's mother was considered as the insane and sent to Cane Hill lunatic asylum (瘋?cè)嗽?, and the 48 sent Charlie and his brother to live with his father, 49 had by then stopped all payments of child support.
Charlie Chaplin lived with his father only a short time 50 his mother was released from the lunatic asylum and then 51Charlie and his brother, to live with her once again.

A group of graduates got together to visit their old university professor.
The conversation soon turned into complaints about  26  in work and life. To offer his guests coffee, the  27 went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and a variety of  28  — porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some  29  , some expensive, some delicate — telling them to help themselves to the  30 .
When all the students  31  a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, "If you have  32  , all the nice-looking expensive cups have been taken up,  33 the plain and cheap ones. While it is  34  for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the  35 of your problems and stress. "
"Be assured that the cup itself adds no  36  to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even  37 what we drink. "
"What all of you really want is coffee,  38  the cup, but you  39  went for the best cups … And then you began  40 each other's cups. "
"Now consider  41 : Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain  42 , and the type of cup we have does not determine, nor  43 the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we  44 to enjoy the coffee. Fully appreciate the coffee, not the cups! Don't let the cups   45 you ... enjoy the coffee instead. "

It was a cold winter. The day my husband fell to his death, it started to snow, just  31 any November day. His   32 , when I found it, was lightly covered with snow. It snowed almost every day for the next four months, while I sat on the couch and watched it   33 . One morning, I walked slowly   34  and was surprised to see a snow remover clearing my driveway and the bent back of a woman clearing my walk. I dropped to my knees and crawled back upstairs,  35 those good people would not see me. I was   36 . My first thought was, how would I ever  37 them? I didn’t have the  38 to brush my hair,   39 clear someone’s walk.
Before Jon’s death, I felt proud that I   40 asked for favors. I identified myself by my competence and  41 . So who was I if I was no longer capable? How could I   42 myself if I just sat on the couch every day and watched the snow fall?
Learning to receive the love and   43 from others wasn’t easy. Friends cooked for me and I cried. Finally, my friend Kathy said, “Mary, cooking for you isn’t a   44 for me; it makes me feel good to be able to do something for you.”
Over and over, I heard   45 words from the people who supported me during those  46 days. One wise man told me, “You aren’t doing nothing because being fully open to your  47 may be the hardest work you will ever do.”
I am not the person I   48 was, but in many ways I have changed for the   49 . I’ve been surprised to learn that there is incredible freedom coming form  50 one’s worst fear and walking away whole. I believe there is strength, for sure, in accepting a dark period of our life.

閱讀下面短文，從短文后所給各題的四個選項A.B.C.D中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項。
In the clinic, I asked if Michael could be retested, so the specialist tested him again. To my 21  , it was the same score.
Later that evening, I _22  _ told Frank what I had learned that day. After talking it over, we agree that we knew our _23_  much better than an IQ test. We 24   that Michael’s score must have been a _25  and we should treat him __26___ as usual.
We moved to Indiana in 1962, and Michael studied at Concordia High School in the same year. He got 27 grades in the school, especially 28 biology and chemistry, which was a great comfort.
Michael _29_ Indiana University in 1965 as a pre-medical student, soon afterwards, his teachers permitted him to take more courses than _30_ . In 1968, he was accepted by the School of Medicine, Yale University.
On graduation day in 1972, Frank and I 31  the ceremony at Yale. After the ceremony, we told Michael about the _  32_ IQ score he got when he was six. Since that day, Michael sometimes would look at us and say _33  , “My dear mom and dad never told me that I couldn’t be a doctor, not until after I graduated from medical school!” It is his special way of thanking us for the _34 _ we had in him.
Interestingly, Michael then _35 _ another IQ test. We went to the same clinic where he had _36 _  the test eighteen years before. This time Michael scored 126, an increase of 36 points. A result like that was supposed to be _37 _ .
Children often do as _38 _ as what adults, particularly parents and teachers, _39_  of them. That is, tell a child he is “ _40_”, and he may play the role of a foolish child.

It was a bitter,   36 evening in northern Virginia. The old man’s beard was   37  by winter’s frost (霜)while he waited for a ride across the river. The wait seemed endless. Then he heard the weak sound of hooves(馬蹄) advancing along the frozen path.   38  , he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one pass by, then another. As  39 rider drew near where the old man sat, the old man   40  the rider’s eye and said, “Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side of the river?”
Reining(勒住) his horse, the rider replied, “Sure thing.” Seeing the old man unable to   41  his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman helped the old man onto the horse and took him to his   42 . On the way, the horseman said: “Sir, I notice that you let several other riders pass by. I'm   43  why, on such a bitter winter night, you would wait and ask the last rider.”
The old man looked at the rider and replied, “I know people pretty good. When I   44  the eyes of the other riders, I immediately saw there was no   45  for my situation. But when I looked into yours, kindness and compassion(同情) were obvious. I knew that your gentle spirit would give me help in my time of   46  .”
Those heart-warming comments   47  the horseman deeply. “I'm most grateful for what you have said,” he told the old man. “May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion.”

In 1977, a dead author of detective stories saved the life of a 19-month-old baby in a most unusual way. The author was Agatha Christie, one of the most successful writers of detective stories in the world.
In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Qatar, near Saudi Arabia. Doctors were unable to __36__ the cause of her illness, so she __37__ to London and admitted to Hammersmith Hospital, where specialist help was __38_. She was then only half-conscious（半昏迷） and on the “Dangerously Ill” list. A team of doctors hurried to __39__ the baby only to discover that they, __40__, were puzzled by the very unusual symptoms. While they were discussing the baby’s case, a nurse asked to __41__ to them.
“Excuse me,” said nurse Marsha Maitland, “__42__ I think the baby is __43_ from thallium poisoning.”
“__44__ makes you think that?” Dr. Brown asked. “Thallium poisoning is extremely __45__.”
“A few days ago, I was reading a novel called A Pale Horse __46__ Agatha Christie,” Nurse Maitland explained. “In the book, somebody uses thallium poison, and __47__ the symptoms are __48__. They are exactly the same as the baby’s.”
“You’re very observant and you may be right,” another doctor said. “We’ll __49__ some tests and find out __50__ it’s thallium or not.”
The __51__ showed that the baby had __52__ been poisoned by thallium, a rare metal used in making optical（光學(xué)的） glass. __53__ they knew the cause of illness, the doctors were able to give the correct treatment. The baby soon __54__ and was sent back to Qatar. Inquiries（調(diào)查） showed that the poison __55__ from an insecticide（殺蟲劑）used in Qatar.

Dorothy Brown was very happy as she sat in the theatre listening to the music．Today her little daughter Lauren was giving her   36  concert．She had been waiting for this   37  for years and years．“Now it is here at last,” she thought．“How beautiful her   38  is.”
The song made her   39  to the days when she was Lauren’s   40 ．As a young   41 , Dorothy wanted to be a concert singer．She studied   42  in France, Italy and in the United States．“You can become a fine   43  in the future,” her teachers told her．“But you must be   44  to study hard and work for many years．There will be   45  time for anything but music in your life.”
Dorothy was   46  at that time and she was   47  that music was all she wanted or needed to   48  her life．For almost a year Dorothy   49  of nothing else．Then she   50  David, a young engineer travelling Europe．They soon fell in   51 ．David asked her to be his  52 ．Dorothy also wanted to marry David．But she loved   53 , too．She didn’t know what to do．David was against her being a singer．He said, “If you want to be a singer, you must forget about getting married．You can’t   54  do both.” Thus her days were gone and would never return.
Now Lauren became a singer instead of her, which was her   55 .