Serveral pairs of old shoes need ___.

A. washed   B. to wash    C. washing   D. to being washed

Most of us think that the ocean bottom is ___ smooth land.

A. made up for    B. made up of   C. made of    D. made by

The present situation  is very complex, so I think it will take me some time to ______ its reality.

A. make up      B. figure out       C. look through     D. put off

      Compassion is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into actions. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register（收款機(jī)）with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash（現(xiàn)金）, had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.

      I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.

     Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.

      What had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.

41. The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits______.

A. promised to obey the store rules                    B. forgot to take any money with him

C. hoped to have the food first and pay later       D. could not afford anything more expensive

42. Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?

A. kind and lucky                                                   B. poor and lonely

C. friendly and helpful                                            D. hurt and disappointed

43. The writer acted upon the store rules because___________.

A. he wanted to keep his present job                   B. he felt no pity for the old gentleman

C. he considered the old man dishonest       

D. he expected someone else to pay for the old man

44. What does the writer learn from his experience?

A. Wealth is more important than anything else.  B. Helping others is easier said than done.

C. Experience is better gained through practice.

D. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.

    When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble – a word game – against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against. I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken 15 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’home. And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers.

    It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She has been the one teaching me all my life: to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.

    It wasn’t easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字處理). This proved to be a bigger challenge(挑戰(zhàn)) to her, so I gave her some homework I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.

    “Are you this demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she asked.

    “No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”

     My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(過(guò)敏反應(yīng)). For as long as I can remember, any time I called, my mother would answer. Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years.

49. What does the author do?

    A. She is a cook.                                               B. She is a teacher.

    C. She is a housewife.                                        D. She is a computer engineer.

50. The author decided to give her mother a computer            .

    A. to let her have more chances to write letters

    B. to support her in doing her homework

    C. to help her through the bad times                     D. to make her life more enjoyable

51. The author asked her mother to write her a letter                .

    A. because her mother had stopped using the telephone

    B. because she wanted to keep in touch with her mother

    C. so that her mother could practice what she had learned

    D. so that mother could be free from housework

52. After the computer was brought home, the author’s father             .

    A. lost interest in cooking                             B. took more phone calls

    C. played more games                                  D. began to use it

   It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.

   The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries（食品雜貨），saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.

   I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.

   People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity（人性）as a whole. And it has influenced（影響）us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.

56. Why was the bike so important to the couple?

   A. The man’s job was bike racing.                               B. It was their only possession.

   C. It was a nice Kona 18 speed.                           D. They used it for work and daily life.

57. We can infer from the text that ____________.

   A. the couple worked 60 hours a week.                 B. people were busy before Christmas

   C. the stranger brought over the bike                    D. life was hard for the young family.

58. How did people get to know the couple’s problem?

   A. From radio broadcasts.                                           B. From a newspaper.

   C. From TV news.                                                     D. From a stranger.

59. What do the couple learn from their experience?

   A. Strangers are usually of little help.                          B. One should take care of their bike.

   C. News reports make people famous.                   D. An act of kindness can mean a lot.

25. Whenever I go to Beijing, ____ is quite frequent, I will go to visit the Great Wall.

A. where               B. which                      C. as it                  D. It

25．He left for lunch________ the clock_________ twelve．

A．while; hit               B．immediately; struck    C．right away; beat D．a(chǎn)t once; knocked

You can’t imagine what difficulty that deserted cats will have _____ through the frozen winter.

       A．lived B．living       C．to live      D．been living

Ted spent seven years as a prisoner of war. There he discovered the power of    1    . For more than half of that    2   he was in isolation (隔絕). He lived for ten months in total     3    . Those ten months was the longest of his life. When they    4    with wooden boards the window of his little seven-by-seven foot cell, shutting out the light, he    5    if he was going to make it.

Ted spent hours a day exercising and thinking. But at times he felt he could do    6    but scream. Not wanting to give his    7    the satisfaction of knowing they’d    8    him, he placed clothing into his mouth to lessen the noise    9    he screamed at the top of his lungs.

One day Ted got down on the    10    and crawled (爬) under his bed. He found a hole that   11   air from the outside. As he approached the hole, he saw a    12    ray of light. Ted put his eye next to the wall and discovered a small crack in the building. It allowed him to glimpse    13   , though all he could see was a     14     piece of grass. But when he saw this, he felt a surge of joy, excitement and   15    that he hadn’t had in years. “It represented life, growth and    16    ,” he later said. It was the small hope that helped Ted    17    this nearly unbearable experience.

The human spirit is   18    . It seems to run forever    19    nothing but a faint (微弱的) hope. Without it, you have nothing. With it, nothing else    20    — even the worst conditions.

1. A. thought             B. scream            C. support               D. hope

2. A. prison                B. war                 C. time                    D. month

3. A. happiness           B. sadness            C. darkness              D. silence

4. A. strengthened         B. fixed               C. covered               D. broke

5. A. reminded            B. required            C. wondered             D. feared

6. A. something         B. nothing            C. everything            D. anything

7. A. soldiers             B. friends             C. enemy               D. army

8. A. wounded           B. quitted             C. satisfied              D. broken

9. A. till                 B. since               C. as                  D. after

10. A. window            B. floor               C. wall                D. board

11. A. let in            B. put out              C. took in              D. gave off

12. A. weak               B. soft                  C. strong               D. sharp

13. A. inside             B. outside              C. above               D. below

14. A. very               B. right                 C. specific             D. single

15. A. gratefulness      B. usefulness           C. fulfillment          D. establishment

16. A. courage         B. perseverance          C. choice              D. freedom

17. A. by              B. out                   C. over                 D. through

18. A. straight         B. strong               C. lucky                D. interesting

19. A. against              B. from                  C. on                   D. over

20. A. matters         B. relates               C. changes             D. happens