Many years ago I drove a taxi for extra money mainly from the downtown to the 36 , beside the Greenwood Racetrack..
Each time a taxi drove up to the station, many kids would run along the   37  . One   38   kid would open the passenger door and say, “  39  , sir.” The passenger would always say thanks and give the kid a   40  . It was a routine that everybody knew.
One day I noticed a boy, who was   41   than most of them but was pushed away by even the smallest kid. He never pushed back.   42  , he would even step aside when others pushed forward. But he never   43  .
Then as I was   44   to the sidewalk, all the other kids were running after a taxi   45  mine. They didn’t notice mine.
The boy saw me and walked toward my taxi. As I pulled up I made sure that I stopped in a 46  with the passenger door right beside him. He   47  the passenger door and said, “Good luck at the track, sir.”
  48 , the man did not tip him a quarter. Instead he   49 , “Get out of my way!” He pushed him aside so   50  that the boy fell down and was badly hurt. I got out of my car quickly,   51  find that the man disappeared in the crowd.
So I looked for the kid. I decided to give him $20 for all his   52 . But he was far up ahead, walking out of the station   53 .   54 , I never saw him again. I’d like to find him and tell him that if only he had stuck around a little longer I would have given him a whole $20.
I learned an important lesson from the boy. When things seem so   55  that you are ready to give up, that is the time when things are most likely to turn around for you.

Have you ever done something silly that made you feel so embarrassed（尷尬的）? Well, I had a really bad Saturday morning last week.
I went to town to do some shopping, and while I was walking through the park  31  my way home, it began to rain. I quickly ran into a nearby phone box because I didn’t have an umbrella. It was raining hard and I decided to stay in the phone box     32    it stopped.
A few minutes later, I saw a young man walk up to the phone box, wearing a yellow raincoat and holding a tool box. I didn’t want to go out into the rain, so I   33  the phone and pretended I was talking to     34   . I thought he would go away, 35 he didn’t. He just waited in the heavy rain, watching me wave    36   hands about and act as if I was deep in conversation.
     37  , the rain stopped after about ten minutes. “OK, Mum,”I said loudly into the phone, “I’ll see you later. Bye!”I put the phone down and went out of the phone box. “I’m sorry to keep you     38    for so long.”I said to the man.
Oh,“I don’t want to use the  39   .”he replied. “I’ve just come to repair it. It doesn’t work, you see.”
I felt myself   40   in the face and I quickly ran off with my head down.
【小題1】A. on                       B. in                 C. from
【小題2】A. before                    B. until               C. though
【小題3】A. gave up                   B. looked up          C. picked up
【小題4】A. someone                  B. anyone             C. none
【小題5】A. or                       B. but                C. and
【小題6】A. his                       B. her                C. my
【小題7】A. Quickly                 B. Luckily            C. However
【小題8】A. waiting                  B. wait               C. waited
【小題9】A. box                     B. raincoat            C. phone
【小題10】A. blue                    B. red                 C. green

完形填空（共20小題，每小題1.5分，共30分）
閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中，選出最佳選項。
James’s New Bicycle
James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully __36__ the coins that lay on the bed. $24.52 was all that he had. The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! __37__ on earth was he going to get the __38__ of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was __39__ to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. There was no __40__ asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to __41__.
There was only one way to get money, and that was to __42__ it. He would have to find a job. __43__ who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had __44__ on most things.
“Well, you can start right here,” said Mr. Clay. “My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing.”
That was the __45__ of James’s odd-job（零工） business. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the __46__ of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the __47__ of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the __48__ increased and he knew that he would soon have __49__ for the bicycle he longed for.
The day __50__ came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He __51__ no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode __52__ home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard __53__ for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more __54__ he had bought it with his own money. He had __55__what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even more than the bicycle.

My father is a strong fisherman. He loved the sea and would stay out until he caught enough to 16 the family .
When we met   17  weather , he would drive me to school with his old truck . And after we 18  , he would bend over and give me a 19  on the face and then tell me to be a good boy. I always felt very 20 in front of so many other  21 . I was already a twelve-year–old young man , but my father still kissed me goodbye !
Then on a rainy day I   22 to tell him my feeling . When we stopped at the school gate, the   23 big smile appeared on my father’s face . I   24  what would happen next. I   25   put my hand up and for the first time said “ No” to him . The smile on his face immediately changed into a 26 look. He looked at me for a long time and   27   began to appear in his eyes. I was shocked. I had never   28   him cry ! Then he said, “ You’re right . You are a big boy … a man. I won’t kiss you 29  .’’
Not long after that, my father went to sea on a bad day. 30  of the fishermen stayed at home , but not Dad , because he had a big family to feed . But after that day, he  31 came back . Later his boat was 32 with his nets half in and half out . He must have   33 a strong wind and was trying to save the nets.
How I wished I had not   34  my father’s kiss! And from this I have learned that we should take every chance with our family and friends as the last one in our lives. We can have  35 regrets by doing so .

第二節(jié)：完形填空（共20小題；每小題1分，滿分20分）
閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從36—55各題所給的四個選項（A、B、C、D）中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
An elderly carpenter （木匠） was ready to retire．He told his employer of his __36___to leave the house building __37__ and live a more leisurely life with his wife, ___38___ time with his extended family．He would ___39___the pay, but he needed to retire．They could ___40___．
The employer was ___41____to see such a good worker leave and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal___42___．The carpenter said yes, but in time it was ___43___ to see that his heart was not in his work．He built the house ___44___ and used poor materials．It was an ___45___ way to end his career．
When the carpenter ___46___ his work, the employer handed the front – door key to the carpenter．“This is your house,” he said, “a ___47___ to you．”
What a shock! What a ___48____! If he had only known he was building his __49___house, he would have done it all so __50__．Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well．
__51___it is with us．We build our __52___in a distracted （心不在焉）way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best．At __53___points we do not give the job our best effort．Then with a shock we look at the situation we have __54_____ and find that we are now living in the house we have built ．If we had ___55___, we would have done it differently．
36．A．retirement     B．problem   C．purposes  D．plans
37．A．business  B．site   C．teams      D．workers
38．A．spending B．dividing   C．enjoying  D．sparing
39．A．consider  B．miss  C．raise D．save
40．A．get by     B．get alone  C．get back  D．get around
41．A．a(chǎn)shamed  B．a(chǎn)nxious    C．frightened      D．sorry
42．A．favor       B．bargain   C．present    D．reply
43．A．frank      B．probable  C．easy  D．content
44．A．sadly       B．carelessly      C．slowly      D．proudly
45．A．unfair     B．unhappy  C．unfortunate    D．unlucky
46．A．checked   B．discovered      C．prepared D．finished
47．A．gift  B．salary      C．memory   D．punishment
48．A．quality    B．prize C．shame      D．surprise
49．A．final B．best  C．everlasting      D．own
50．A．differently      B．quickly    C．hard D．happily
51．A．Then       B．So    C．But  D．Whatever
52．A．houses     B．bodies      C．glories     D．lives
53．A．difficult  B．main C．strong     D．important
54．A．created    B．faced       C．improved D．a(chǎn)voided
55．A．known    B．noticed    C．realized   D．previewed