1 . Mary uses a walking stick. Benjamin recently learned how to walk. Mary is 99. Benjamin is 2. The neighbors may seem like _________friends, but during the pandemic (疫情), they formed a unique _________at the fence between their houses in Minneapolis.

“Benjamin just turned 2 years old. We’ve been _________with Mary long before he was born,” Benjamin’s mom, Sarah Olson said. They didn’t see Mary much, _________last year when the COV1D-19 pandemic _________and the family had to stay home, Mary was someone they could _________—outside.

During the pandemic, the Olsons _________played in their yard, and Mary would be in hers. Benjamin would _________Mary when he saw her in the yard and they would play games. There's a 97-year _________gap, but Benjamin doesn’t see it.

“She’s just Mary, or ‘Mimi’,” Sarah said. “We’re inside and he’ll go, ‘Mimi? Mimi?’ and we'll go outside and ____________Mary. Then Mary will call out, ‘Hey Benjamin!’ How ____________a scene it is!”

For Mary, who was completely ____________during the pandemic, a friend was just what she needed. It seems Mary has ____________a childlike spirit with Benjamin, playing with bubbles and even water guns.

More than a year after they first started ____________together, Benjamin and Mary still ____________each other's company. Benjamin and Mary's friendship has ____________so many because people like to see relationships form so ____________for young people and elderly people. “We didn't have to work on it at all; it just ____________,” Sarah said.

“Friendship can be ____________in so many different ways. I’m really happy they’ve developed this friendship, ” she said. “It is such a rewarding ____________for both of them.”

1.

A．unfaithful

B．unlikely

C．close

D．special

2.

A．bond

B．habit

C．belief

D．impression

3.

A．strangers

B．friends

C．neighbors

D．relatives

4.

A．but

B．so

C．because

D．or

5.

A．continued

B．ended

C．hit

D．faded

6.

A．visit

B．see

C．recognize

D．invite

7.

A．seldom

B．often

C．once

D．never

8.

A．talk about

B．make room for

C．tend to

D．run over to

9.

A．age

B．culture

C．generation

D．knowledge

10.

A．look into

B．look through

C．look after

D．look for

11.

A．strange

B．familiar

C．sweet

D．awkward

12.

A．different

B．forgotten

C．independent

D．alone

13.

A．rediscovered

B．broken

C．understood

D．accepted

14.

A．chatting

B．playing

C．working

D．learning

15.

A．ignore

B．imagine

C．miss

D．enjoy

16.

A．amused

B．shocked

C．touched

D．puzzled

17.

A．naturally

B．quickly

C．obviously

D．normally

18.

A．remained

B．changed

C．mattered

D．happened

19.

A．established

B．spoiled

C．betrayed

D．improved

20.

A．coincidence

B．experience

C．practice

D．lesson

2 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Old people who smoke may think     1     unnecessary to give up the habit as the damage from years of smoking can't be made up for. But it turns out there's a benefit of     2     (quit) even later in life. Recent research     3     (publish) in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that older adults who quit smoking in their 60s     4     (have) a lower chance of dying in the following years than the ones of the same age who kept smoking.

The results were based on a survey     5     more than 160, 000 participants older than 70 completed questionnaires about their smoking history in 2004 or 2005, and were tracked until the end of 2011 to see who had died. Those who quit in their 60s had     6     23 percent lower risk of death during the study than the current smokers.

The research also stresses that the most effective way     7     (keep) from smoking is to advise people not to get     8     the habit in the first place. Most smokers start and get both physically and     9     (mental) addicted during their adolescence. And among current smokers, the     10     (early) the study participants started, the higher their likelihood of dying during the follow-up period.

3 . When Carlos Westez died at the age of 76, a language died, too. Westez, more commonly known as Red Thunder Cloud, was the last speaker of the Native American language, Catawba.

Anyone who wants to hear different songs of the Catawba tribe can get in touch with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington，D.C.，where，back in the 1940s，Red Thunder Cloud recorded a series of songs for future generations. They are all that is left of the Catawba language. The language that people used to speak is gone forever.

We all know the damage that modern industry can do to the world's ecology. However, few people know the effect that widely spoken languages have on other languages and ways of life. English has spread all over the world. Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Hindi have become powerful languages, as well. As these languages become more powerful, their use as tools of business and culture increases. When this happens, hundreds of languages that are spoken by only a few people die out.

Scholars believe there are about 6，000 languages around the world，but more than half of them could die out within the next 100 years. Araki is a native language of the island of Vanuatu，located in the Pacific Ocean. It is spoken by only a few older adults, so like Catawba，Araki will soon disappear. Many languages of Ethiopia will have the same fate because each one has only a few speakers. In the Americas, 100 languages also are dying out.

Red Thunder Cloud was one of the first to recognize the threat of language death and to try to do something about it. He was not actually born into the Catawba tribe，and the language was not his mother tongue. However，he was a frequent visitor to the Catawba reservation in South Carolina，where he learned the language. The songs he sang for the Smithsonian Institution helped to make Native American music popular. Now he is gone, and the language is dead.

1. Why did Westez record songs for the Smithsonian Institution?

A．To fight for Native Americans’ rights.	B．To reserve the Catawba language.
C．To make Native American music popular.	D．To help young people learn Catawba songs.

2. Which of the following led to the disappearance of Catawba?

A．Widely spoken languages.	B．Changes of lifestyles.
C．Population control.	D．Modern industry.

3. How is paragraph 4 mainly developed?

A．By analyzing causes.	B．By giving examples.
C．By following time order.	D．By making comparisons.

4. What can we learn about Red Thunder Cloud?

A．He passed away in the 1940s.	B．He was born into the Catawba tribe.
C．He learned Catawba from his mother.	D．He used to visit the Catawba reservation.