2、      The choice to adopt and hold gratefulness is the one that is different from those who suffer misfortune and those who enjoy a full life.

My mother died when I was 24. It was a very difficult time in my life ― everything seemed to fall apart. I lost my job, and then my utilities were turned off. I had to take cold showers for six months. A neighbor who knew about my situation came to my house and made me an offer. I took care of her children as a job, and I no longer went hungry. I was surprised that someone would trust me ― a young woman ― with her children. And it was with the very confidence that before long I began taking care of other people’s children, too. I have since moved 300 miles from Boise, Idaho. For more than 23 years I have made every effort to reach out to all the kind-hearted people who helped me when I was down and out. Without their trust, I don’t know what I would have done. I am very involved in my community and volunteer at the local food bank, and I help out whenever I can. I’d like to owe what I am to whoever has offered me generosity.

If you are grateful for what you already have, the world will work together to give you more to be grateful for. Otherwise, the world will give you more to complain about.

Moreover, the true master learns to be grateful, in advance, for the things that are desired, because, being grateful in advance for some attainment or accomplishment does two very important things: one…it tricks your subconscious（潛意識） into believing that the goal is certain and two…it convinces other people, with whom you must interact to achieve your desires, that you know what you are about, that you are a winner, not a whiner (哀訴者).

56. The underlined “utilities” refers to such things as ______ in the passage.

A. gas and electricity     supplies                                 B. water and gas supplies
C. shower equipment and water supply                       D. heating and TV signals

57. The writer was grateful mainly for ______.
A. his neighbor’s donation                              B. his community   

C. having got the job                                        D. others’ trust

58. The writer’s personal story in the second paragraph tells us that ______.
A. to be grateful will get you nowhere but away from home
B. we need to be grateful to be helpful and useful
C. a grateful person is most likely to be successful
D. the fragrance (芳香) stays in the hand that gives the rose

59. The best title for the passage would be ________.
A. A Thank-You Note to Trusting Neighbor             B. You Are a Winner, Not a Whiner
C. Gratefulness Brings a Great Fullness to Life         D. Be Grateful to Life in Advance

1、My family moved into our home nine years ago and we spent a lot of time and energy in the yard to get it looking like it does today. We live on a corner and the yard is   36   by a rock wall. We call this area our “rock garden”.

Last summer, I found a tiny little   37   in the yard that I could not immediately identify(識別). I knew I didn’t plant it. We   38   to let it continue growing until we could   39   what it was.

Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the   40   plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. I decided to treat it with care and   41   the weeds(雜草) around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something   42  . The sunflowers had not   43   where I saw the stalk (莖) began. It   44   had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the   45  .

That’s when I   46   that if a tiny little sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its   47   of developing, we too have the capability of doing the same thing.   48   our environment begins to see that we believe in ourselves like that little sunflower, we can   49   the same nutrient as well.

  50  , we need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the capabilities in   51   our desires. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the capability to overcome its obstacle(障礙) because it   52   in the universal truth and had   53   that it would succeed.

Stand tall like the sunflower and be   54   of who and what you are and the environment will begin to support you. You will find a way to go under or   55   your big obstacle in order to reach your desires.

27、Eliza remembers everything exactly as if it ______ yesterday.    

A. was happening   B. happens     C. has happened     D. happened      

26、―Did you see who the driver was?    

―No, so quickly_________ that I couldn’t get a good look at his face.    

A. does the car speed by                                 B. the car sped by    

C. did the car speed by                                   D. the car speeds by    

25、We rushed to the football court, only to see a sign _____ into the ground reading PERIODIC MAINTENANCE （定期維修）.  

A. knocked                               B. knocking                    C. to be knocked           D. being knocked    

24、― I don’t think we have met before.    

― Yes, once at a party, but we _______.    

A. didn’t introduce                                           B. weren’t introduced    

C. haven’t introduced                                       D. weren’t introducing    

23、_____ the Hope Project was carried out in this poor area, students here had no access to education.    

A. Once                    B. As              C. Before                 D. After   

22、So much of interest     that most visitors simply run out of time before seeing it all.

A．offers Beijing                                      B．Beijing offers          

C．does Beijing offer                                D．Beijing does offer

21、―Do you want tea or coffee?

―      . I really don’t mind.

    A．None        B．Neither                          C．Either                            D．All