I sat down to read under an old tree in the park. I felt my life was   36  , because my whole world was dark.
A young   37   ran up to me, out of breath（氣喘吁吁）. He stood right before me with his head down and said   38  , “Look what I found!” In his hand was a flower, and what a poor sight! The flower was dry and   39 . I gave him a small smile and then turned my eyes away so that he could take his dry flower and go off to play.
  40 , he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his   41  and said in surprise, “It smells sweet and it’s beautiful, too. That’s   42  I picked it. Here, it’s for you.” The flower before me was dead. But I knew I must   43  it, or he might never leave. So I accepted(接受) the flower, and replied, “This is just what I   44 .” Just then, for the first time I noticed that the boy could not   45 －h(huán)e was blind.
Tears came down my face as I   46  him for picking the best one. “You’re welcome.” he smiled, and then ran off  to  47 . I sat there and wondered how he was able to learn about my pain.
Through the eyes of a blind child,   48  I could see the problem was not with the world; the problem was me. And for all those years I myself had been   49 . I decided to see the beauty in life, and   50  every second of my life. And then I held that dry flower up to my nose and breathed in the smell of a beautiful rose.

It was Mother’s Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn’t go back home. When he walked by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind. “I’ll send Mum some roses (玫瑰).”

While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside. “How many roses can I get for only five dollars, Madam?” he asked. The shop assistant told him that roses were as expensive as forty dollars a dozen (一打). Maybe he would be happy with carnations(康乃馨). She told him they were a lot cheaper than roses.

“No, I have to have red roses,” he said, “My mum was badly ill last year and I didn’t get to spend much time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses, as the rose is her favorite.”

After hearing this, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them, the shop assistant said, “Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you two.” Taking the roses, the young man almost jumped into the air. He thanked John, and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty-five dollars John paid to see the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the shop assistant to send them to his mother.

As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park. But soon he realized it was not a park but a cemetery (墓地). Crying, the young man carefully laid the roses, “Mum, oh, Mum, why didn’t I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mum and tell her I love her.”

Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked back to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.

1.The shop assistant tried to ask the young man to buy carnations instead of roses because _____.

A. there were not enough roses in the shop

B. carnations were much nicer than roses

C. roses were more expensive than carnations

D. carnations were special flowers for Mother’s Day

2.John spent _______ in the flower shop that day.

A. $5                  B. $25                     C. $ 45                 D. $ 55

3.The young man cried at the cemetery because he _______.

A. had spent all his money on the roses

B. wasn’t able to tell his mother he loved her himself

C. felt sorry to ask John to pay for his flowers

D. hadn’t got enough money for his sick mother

4.At last John decided to take the roses home himself because he wanted to _______.

A. tell his mother he loved her

B. ask his mother for more money

C. tell his mother the young man’s story

D. ask his mother if she liked roses

5.The writer wrote this passage to tell us “_______”.

A. Buy roses for your mother when she is ill

B. Let your mother know how much you love her

C. Work hard to get more money for your mother

D. Send your mother flowers on Mother’s Day

I sat down to read under an old tree in the park. I felt my life was   21  , for my whole world was dark.

A young boy ran up to me, out of   22  . He stood right before me with his head down and said   23  , “Look what I found!” In his hand was a flower, and what a poor sight! The flower was dry and   24  . I gave him a small smile and then turned my eyes away so that he could take his dry flower and go off to play.

  25  , he sat next to my side and placed the flower to his   26   and said in surprise, “It smells sweet and it’s beautiful, too. That’s   27   I picked it. Here, it’s for you.” The flower before me was dead. But I knew I must   28   it, or he might never leave. So I accepted the flower, and replied, “This is just what I   29  .” Just then, for the first time I noticed that the boy could not   30   —he was blind.

Tears (眼淚) came down my face as I   31   him for picking the best one. “You’re welcome.” he smiled, and then ran off to   32  . I sat there and wondered how he was able to learn about my pain (痛苦).

Through the eyes of a blind child,   33   I could see the problem was not with the world; the problem was me. And for all those years I myself had been   34  . I decided to see the beauty in life, and   35   every second of my life. And then I held that dry flower up to my nose and breathed in the smell of a beautiful rose.

21. A. hopeless         B. colourful            C. simple           D. wonderful

22. A. mind             B. trouble              C. breath           D. work

23. A. sadly                B. strictly             C. angrily          D. excitedly

24. A. dead             B. fresh                C. alive            D. heavy

25. A. So                   B. Or               C. However      D. And

26. A. head             B. nose             C. ear          D. neck

27. A. how              B. when             C. where            D. why

28. A. buy              B. sell             C. accept           D. break

29. A. admire               B. dislike              C. want         D. have

30. A. cry                  B. speak                C. smile            D. see

31. A. forgave              B. thanked          C. paid         D. hated

32. A. sleep                B. study                C. dance            D. play

33. A. at most              B. at times         C. at first         D. at last

34. A. cheerful             B. useful               C. blind            D. deaf

35. A. waste                B. enjoy                C. lose         D. forget