By the third year of teaching I’d begun to expect Christmas break more for the school holiday and less for the excitement of the children. I was teaching fourth grade and my students had made me   36  . I just had to get through one of the hardest days of the school year.
　　The morning bell rang. I walked   37  through the cold into the overly heated school building. Twenty-two smiling faces   38  me at the school bus stop. I forced myself to   39  their smiles. Back into the classroom, they   40 , comparing plans for the   41  . I had to remove one student from each arm   42  I could take a seat at my desk for my morning duties. Before I could find my roll book（點名冊） my desk was covered with   43  and gifts followed by a   44  of “Merry Christmas” wishes.
　“Oh, thank you,” I must have   45  a million times. Each gift was truly special to me, except my   46  mood（情緒）. It was kind of them to   47  me. After a while, I heard a small nervous   48  say my name. I looked up to see Brandon standing   49  by my desk, holding a small, round gift. “This is for you.”
　 “Thank you, Sweetheart.” I laid it on my desk with the others.
　“Um, could you   50  it now?”
　I gently tore at the paper and tape. “  51  ,” he said, “it’s breakable.” Slowly I opened a small, green Christmas tree ornament（裝飾物）, complete with a hook already   52 . It dawned on me what he had done. Then a nearby student said that he just pulled that off his own tree. I tried to keep my   53  back.
　Later that day, I sat   54  the ornament in my hands. Was I really so important to this child that he had searched for something to give me? Now every year as I   55  pull a green Christmas ball from my ornament box, I remember the deep influence my students have on me.

By the third year of teaching I’d begun to expect Christmas break more for the school holiday and less for the excitement of the children. I was teaching fourth grade and my students had made me   36   . I just had to get through one of the hardest days of the school year.

  　The morning bell rang. I walked   37   through the cold into the overly heated school building. Twenty-two smiling faces   38   me at the school bus stop. I forced myself to   39   their smiles. Back into the classroom, they   40  , comparing plans for the   41  . I had to remove one student from each arm   42   I could take a seat at my desk for my morning duties. Before I could find my roll book（點名冊） my desk was covered with   43   and gifts followed by a   44   of “Merry Christmas” wishes.

  　“Oh, thank you,” I must have   45   a million times. Each gift was truly special to me, except my   46   mood. It was kind of them to   47   me. After a while, I heard a small nervous   48   say my name. I looked up to see Brandon standing   49   by my desk, holding a small, round gift. “This is for you.”

  　“Thank you, Sweetheart.” I laid it on my desk with the others.

  　“Um, could you   50   it now?”

  　I gently tore at the paper and tape. “  51  ,” he said, “it’s breakable.” Slowly I opened a small, green Christmas tree ornament（裝飾物）, complete with a hook already   52  . It dawned on me what he had done. Then a nearby student said that he just pulled that off his own tree. I tried to keep my   53   back.

   Later that day, I sat   54   the ornament in my hands. Was I really so important to this child that he had searched for something to give me? Now every year as I   55   pull a green Christmas ball from my ornament box, I remember the deep influence my students have on me.

1.A. excited        B. tired               C. amazed           D. relaxed

2.A. eagerly         B. aimlessly           C. gently           D. heavily

3.A. watched        B. greeted         C. delighted            D. warned

4. A. return            B. forget          C. ignore           D. refuse

5.A. calmed     B. settled         C. chatted          D. argued

6.A. study           B. weekend         C. vacation         D. lesson

7. A. before             B. when            C. after                D. because

8.A. letters            B. books           C. chalks           D. cards

9.A. knowledge      B. collection          C. series               D. bunch

10.A. confirmed     B. assessed            C. responded        D. explained

11.A. pleased       B. low             C. thrilled         D. angry

12. A. talk about       B. think of            C. turn to          D. connect with

13.A. call          B. sound           C. shout                D. voice

14. A. shyly             B. bravely         C. rudely           D. sadly

15.A. classify      B. collect         C. open             D. check

16. A. Careful      B. Dangerous       C. Patient          D. Hasty

17.A. exposed       B. adapted         C. adjusted         D. attached

18.A. trees         B. hooks           C. gifts                D. tears

19.A. looking into      B. turning over        C. giving away      D. packing up

20.A. anxiously     B. hurriedly           C. delicately           D. casually

By the third year of teaching I’d begun to expect Christmas break more for the school holiday and less for the excitement of the children. I was teaching fourth grade and my students had made me   16  . I just had to get through one of the hardest days of the school year.
　　The morning bell rang. I walked   17  through the cold into the overly heated school building. Twenty-two smiling faces  18  me at the school bus stop. I forced myself to   19  their smiles. Back into the classroom, they   20 , comparing plans for the   21  . I had to remove one student from each arm   22  I could take a seat at my desk for my morning duties. Before I could find my roll book（點名冊） my desk was covered with   23  and gifts followed by a   24  of “Merry Christmas” wishes.
　“Oh, thank you,” I must have  25  a million times. Each gift was truly special to me, except my   26  mood. It was kind of them to  27  me. After a while, I heard a small nervous   28  say my name. I looked up to see Brandon standing   29  by my desk, holding a small, round gift. “This is for you.”
　 “Thank you, Sweetheart.” I laid it on my desk with the others.
　“Um, could you   30  it now?”
　I gently tore at the paper and tape. “  31  ,” he said, “it’s breakable.” Slowly I opened a small, green Christmas tree ornament（裝飾物）, complete with a hook already 32 . It dawned on me what he had done. Then a nearby student said that he just pulled that off his own tree. I tried to keep my   33  back.
　Later that day, I sat   34  the ornament in my hands. Was I really so important to this child that he had searched for something to give me? Now every year as I   35  pull a green Christmas ball from my ornament box, I remember the deep influence my students have on me.
【小題1】.

A．eagerly

B．a(chǎn)imlessly

C．gently

D．heavily

By the third year of teaching I’d begun to expect Christmas break more for the school holiday and less for the excitement of the children. I was teaching fourth grade and my students had made me   16  . I just had to get through one of the hardest days of the school year.

  　　The morning bell rang. I walked   17   through the cold into the overly heated school building. Twenty-two smiling faces  18   me at the school bus stop. I forced myself to   19   their smiles. Back into the classroom, they   20  , comparing plans for the   21  . I had to remove one student from each arm   22   I could take a seat at my desk for my morning duties. Before I could find my roll book（點名冊） my desk was covered with   23   and gifts followed by a   24   of “Merry Christmas” wishes.

  　“Oh, thank you,” I must have  25   a million times. Each gift was truly special to me, except my   26   mood. It was kind of them to  27   me. After a while, I heard a small nervous   28   say my name. I looked up to see Brandon standing   29   by my desk, holding a small, round gift. “This is for you.”

  　 “Thank you, Sweetheart.” I laid it on my desk with the others.

  　“Um, could you   30   it now?”

  　I gently tore at the paper and tape. “  31  ,” he said, “it’s breakable.” Slowly I opened a small, green Christmas tree ornament（裝飾物）, complete with a hook already 32  . It dawned on me what he had done. Then a nearby student said that he just pulled that off his own tree. I tried to keep my   33   back.

   　Later that day, I sat   34   the ornament in my hands. Was I really so important to this child that he had searched for something to give me? Now every year as I   35   pull a green Christmas ball from my ornament box, I remember the deep influence my students have on me.

1..

A. excited      B. tired               C. amazed           D. relaxed

2..

. A. eagerly    B. aimlessly           C. gently           D. heavily

3..

A. watched      B. greeted         C. delighted            D. warned

4..

A. return       B. forget          C. ignore               D. refuse

5..

A. calmed       B. settled         C. chatted          D. argued

6..

A. study        B. weekend         C. vacation         D. lesson

7..

 A. before      B. when            C. after                D. because

8..

A. letters      B. books           C. chalks               D. cards

9..

A. knowledge    B. collection          C. series               D. bunch

10..

 A. confirmed   B. assessed            C. responded            D. explained

11..

A. pleased      B. low             C. thrilled         D. angry

12..

A. talk about   B. think of        C. turn to              D. connect with

13..

 A. call        B. sound           C. shout                D. voice

14..

 A. shyly       B. bravely         C. rudely               D. sadly

15..

 A. classify    B. collect          C. open             D. check

16..

A. Careful      B. Dangerous           C. Patient              D. Hasty

17..

A. exposed      B. adapted         C. adjusted         D. attached

18..

 A. trees       B. hooks           C. gifts                D. tears

19..

A. looking into B. turning over        C. giving away      D. packing up

20..

 A. anxiously   B. hurriedly           C. delicately           D. casually

More than three years after moving from Australia to this remote part of England, we are still learning how things are done here.

　　Not too long after we arrived and unpacked, we were invited for “a drink on Sunday morning” by a retired couple nearby. We got there about noon, to find the living-room crowded — lots of chat and discussions, and in all a very jolly occasion.

　　Trouble was, there was no food — no self-respecting Australian would regard a tray of crisps as food. In Sydney, when you are invited for a drink any time after midday on a Sunday, you know you will be fed as well as watered and you plan accordingly. Meaning the hardworked little woman makes no plans to cook lunch because you are eating out.

　　By one-fifteen my stomach was sending up “please explain” to me. Even the crisps had gone. There was nothing we could do except wait, and wonder if the hostess was going to perform some magic and feed us fashionably late. Then, as quickly as if word had spread that there was free beer at the local pub, the room emptied. By one-forty-five there were only a few guests left, so we decided to go home. Tinned soup for lunch that day because the little woman was not really interested in real cooking for us.

　　A few weeks ago we were invited out for “supper” and the hostess suggested 8:15. Ah, we thought greedily, “this is going to be the real thing.”

　　We dressed with some care — I putting on a dark suit — and arrived on time. My wife looked pretty good, I thought, a little black dress and so on. But when we walked in I had a terrible feeling we had got the night wrong because the hostess was dressed in a daytime kind of way and the husband was in jeans and an open-neck shirt. But no, we were greeted and shown into the sitting-room.

　　After a drink I looked around and saw that this was indeed a superior cottage because it had a (more or less) separate dining-room. But there were no signs of a table-setting. Not again! I thought. Were we meant to eat before we came? I decided that in future my wife and I would always carry a chocolate bar. About 9:28 our hostess went out of the room, saying something about food. Ten minutes later she returned and asked us to follow. We were led out to the kitchen. There on the table were country style plates and a huge bowl of soup, rough bread and all the makings of a simple meal. And that is what it was. In other words we had not read the signals right when we were invited for “supper”. If they want you to come to dinner, they say so, and you know that means dark suits and so on. If they mean supper, they say it, and you get fed in the kitchen.

When the author and his wife were invited out for “a drink on Sunday morning”, they thought _______.

       A. they would be the only people there

       B. they would be given lunch as well

       C. they would be taken to a restaurant for lunch

       D. they would be asked to take some food with them

The “party” had been going on for about an hour and three quarters when _________.

       A. the hostess decided to feed her guests      B. everyone had tinned soup for lunch

       C. most of the guests went to lunch at the pub     D. the author realized he would go home hungry

When invited out for “supper” a few weeks later, the writer _________.

       A. expected to be served a proper dinner

       B. arrived on the wrong evening

       C. interpreted the invitation correctly this time

       D. realized there was no dining-room in the cottage

As the evening went on, the writer became aware that _________.

       A. no one used their dining-rooms in the countryside

       B. he should have had a meal before going out

       C. “supper” meant a simple, informal meal

　    D. he should, in future, eat only chocolate in the evening