1 . Many years ago, I was living with my best friend and we had many happy moments together. But there was one night that ________ our lives forever.

On the night of November 25, 2011, I got into a fistfight with my best friend in our kitchen. It all started because I was trying to help him. He was drinking a lot, arguing with everyone and ________ himself from others by keeping silent most of the time. This had been going on for weeks and finally I decided it was time for a(an) ________ I told him that he needed to stop drinking so much and tried to ________ his alcohol and he got angry and started ________ with me. It was scary, but by the end of the night, we were able to calm down and talk to each other.

I thought alcohol ________ was his main problem. But he was just using alcohol to ________ himself through. He was lonely, heartbroken and struggling to connect with people. So during the Christmas season a few weeks later, I gave him a ________ that I didn’t even know I had.

That Christmas my friend didn’t have any place to go, so I invited him home to my parents’ house in Lancaster. They ________ cleaned up our guest room for him and even bought him some Christmas gifts. I’ll never forget the night we arrived at my home. My parents were already ________, but my mom had prepared dinner for us, baked some cookies and left us a note. My parents are known for their ________, so I wasn’t surprised by this warm welcome. But when my friend read my mom’s note and saw all that she had prepared, he broke down and cried. That’s when I ________ how much I took my loving family for granted.

That year my friend and I both received gifts that we would ________ forever. I gave him the gift of a warm, loving, safe place to spend Christmas. And he gave me the gift of a new ________ on life. If I hadn’t shared my home with him, I wouldn’t have understood how ________ I am.

1.

A．defined

B．inspired

C．created

D．changed

2.

A．defending

B．separating

C．protecting

D．locking

3.

A．communication

B．investigation

C．exploration

D．promotion

4.

A．put up

B．take away

C．break out

D．call off

5.

A．talking

B．crying

C．fighting

D．laughing

6.

A．access

B．addition

C．abuse

D．affection

7.

A．look

B．break

C．drive

D．carry

8.

A．time

B．holiday

C．gift

D．family

9.

A．happily

B．generally

C．formally

D．hurriedly

10.

A．awake

B．asleep

C．available

D．absorbed

11.

A．generosity

B．curiosity

C．ability

D．creativity

12.

A．admitted

B．realized

C．recognized

D．accepted

13.

A．exchange

B．present

C．treasure

D．appreciate

14.

A．day

B．test

C．skill

D．eye

15.

A．kind

B．grateful

C．blessed

D．healthy

2 . Criticism is judgment. A critic is a judge. A judge must study and think about the material presented to him, accept it, correct it or reject it after thinking over what he has read, watched or heard.

Another word for criticism is appreciation. When I criticize or appreciate some object or another, I look for its good points and bad points. In reading any printed or written matter, I always have a pencil in hand and put any comments in the book or on a separate paper. In other words, I always talk back to the writer.

That sort of critical reading might well be called creative reading because I am thinking along with the author, asking him questions, seeing whether he answers the questions and how well he answers them. I mark the good passages to store them in my memory and ask myself about every other part and about the complete piece of writing; where, how and why could or should I improve upon it?

You might think that doing what I suggested is work. Yes, it is, but the work is a pleasure because I can feel my brain expanding, my emotion reacting and my way of living change.

Reading exercises is a great influence on a person. If pictures, still or moving, accompany the reading, the memory will retain the material for a long time.

Just as evil books can corrupt, so also can good books gradually work a change on a corrupt person.

Let's get back to the beneficial effects of thinking while reading. It helps us to enlarge our minds. We understand more about the universe, its people and many of its wonders. We learn to think and observe in new ways. We certainly do get a feeling for the language we are reading. All good writers in any language have been readers who read critically and continuously.

1. According to the writer, creative reading is ________.

A．raising questions and answering them for the author

B．reading and giving comments on the materials one has read

C．thinking in the same line with the author

D．storing up facts in one's memory

2. The writer says a critic ________.

A．asks what he does not understand

B．talks back to the author

C．understand the background on which the works are based

D．looks for the good and bad points of the material he has read

3. By the phrase “thinking along with” in the third paragraph, the writer means________.

A．following one's thought closely	B．accepting
C．considering	D．agreeing

4. We can learn from the passage that all good readers ________.

A．understand more about their surrounding than others.

B．have a thorough insight to the problem in life.

C．have the feeling of the language they read.

D．have read extensively(广泛地) and critically

3 . My dad passed away in November last year. And it took me several months to feel “_________” in the world again. I didn’t realize it at the time, but in retrospect(回想), the_________described in this piece was an _________part of that process.

I was on a two-week tour of northern Italy, during which I visited the violin_________in the city hall of Cremona, where priceless old violins are_________. Each day, some of these violins are_________and played as a way of keeping them in their finest condition. I was_________to hear the fantastic violin “Il Cremonese”_________by Antonio Stradivari, a master of instrument making. As I sat in that simple hall, surrounded by the ancient paintings and stones, I_________myself to the strains(旋律)of the violin.

My dad also__________music and he had served in Italy during World War II. So I felt he had been with me during my whole Italian journey-and from Venice to Verona, I would catch myself wondering if he had looked at the__________beautiful hills or squares sixty-five years before.

But it was at that moment in Cremona that I__________his presence most powerfully, and that his__________and mine were intertwined(交织在一起)in the__________of the violin. And I__________that people, from newly-made__________to life-long family, __________come and go in the composition of our lives, but that once they have appeared, they never really__________. They are just like those__________. Every day, in one form or another, we take them out and play them, if just for a while. We honor them and keep them__________-as they do us, intertwined.

1.

A．amazed

B．anxious

C．normal

D．sad

2.

A．journey

B．adventure

C．accident

D．concert

3.

A．unusual

B．small

C．positive

D．important

4.

A．shop

B．warehouse

C．museum

D．square

5.

A．sold

B．produced

C．housed

D．repaired

6.

A．put away

B．taken out

C．set aside

D．handed in

7.

A．afraid

B．disappointed

C．relaxed

D．fortunate

8.

A．bought

B．built

C．found

D．introduced

9.

A．devoted

B．lost

C．adapted

D．helped

10.

A．loved

B．composed

C．played

D．ignored

11.

A．remote

B．familiar

C．same

D．remaining

12.

A．felt

B．saw

C．forgot

D．recognized

13.

A．words

B．tears

C．spirit

D．image

14.

A．shape

B．sound

C．color

D．design

15.

A．meant

B．imagined

C．hoped

D．realized

16.

A．friends

B．strangers

C．masters

D．musicians

17.

A．suddenly

B．finally

C．unwillingly

D．unavoidably

18.

A．leave

B．stay

C．rest

D．stop

19.

A．stones

B．violins

C．paintings

D．hills

20.

A．happy

B．young

C．priceless

D．alive

4 . My children and I were playing in our yard. The ball we were playing with accidentally ______. We would run out to get it first under ______ circumstances. But it isn't after the outbreak of a serious infectious(传染的) disease. ______, the country was put under strict lockdown and the physical ______ became a dangerous thing.

Considering people walking by, I went inside to get a mask and gloves to take a ______ outside, but before I could go out, an old man ______ the ball. Just as my kids began running to get it, I ______ them. I thanked him and asked him to just ______ it through the gate. The kids told me that the man showed clear ______ at my behavior. I reminded them why my behavior was ______.

As much as I want to ensure my kids to ______ themselves and others, this forced me to ______ how I can do so in a way that doesn't unknowingly teach them to treat people as ______. Thankfully, my children feel safe and loved ______ the many neighbors in our community that have been involved in raising them, ______ their values and sense of self. Despite having to stay home, we haven't been ______. For example, we have woken up to find food at the gate ______ by friends. Our kids left our extra fruits outside for people to take. It's not ______ a kind act. It's their way of creating new ______ in this special period.

Yes, sometimes we need to be ______ about getting back a ball, but it's vital to connect with people.

1.

A．passed by

B．disappeared

C．flew out

D．stuck

2.

A．normal

B．complex

C．familiar

D．certain

3.

A．Strangely

B．Suddenly

C．Luckily

D．Directly

4.

A．constitution

B．conflict

C．condition

D．connection

5.

A．chance

B．step

C．break

D．glance

6.

A．gave back

B．picked up

C．threw away

D．took out

7.

A．educated

B．punished

C．overlooked

D．stopped

8.

A．lift

B．carry

C．cast

D．pull

9.

A．puzzlement

B．regret

C．displeasure

D．shame

10.

A．necessary

B．positive

C．sincere

D．common

11.

A．balance

B．protect

C．comfort

D．respect

12.

A．reflect

B．assume

C．recognize

D．explain

13.

A．burden

B．challenge

C．model

D．threat

14.

A．because of

B．regardless of

C．but for

D．apart from

15.

A．testing

B．shaping

C．sharing

D．considering

16.

A．annoyed

B．impatient

C．alone

D．bored

17.

A．sold

B．promoted

C．abandoned

D．delivered

18.

A．even

B．just

C．ever

D．already

19.

A．projects

B．habits

C．lives

D．bonds

20.

A．anxious

B．courageous

C．cautious

D．curious

5 . George Prochnik would like the world to put a sock in it. He makes his case in a new book, listenning for Meaning in a World of Noise, Here he explains himself (using his indoor voice):

“We’ve become so accustomed to noise, there’s about almost a deep prejudice against the idea that silence might be beneficial. If you tell someone to be quiet, you sound like an old man. But it’s never been more important to find continuing quiet. Silence focuses us, improves our health, and is a key to lasting peace and satisfaction.”

“We need to excite people about the sounds you start to hear if you merely quiet things down a little. During a Japanese tea ceremony, the smallest sounds becomes a kind of art—the spoons making a light ringing sound on a bowl, the edges of a kimono（和服）brushing against the floor.”

“Dear people are very attetice（专注的）in almose every aspect of life. If two deaf people are walking together, using sign language, they constantly watch out for each other and protecet each other by paying steady attention to the other. They are connected yet also fully aware of their surroundings. Even deaf teenagers! We in the hearing world can learn from them. If we remove the powerful blasts（一阵阵）of noise, we become aware of an extraordinarily rich world around us—of little soft sounds and the sound of footsteps, of bird songs and ice cracking（开裂声）. It’s astonishing how beautiful things sound when you can really listen. ”

1. What does the phrase “to put a sock in it” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．to be quiet	B．to be colorful
C．to be full of love	D．to be attentive to someone

2. What does Proehnik say about us?

A．We are used to quietnesss

B．We have to put up with noise

C．We do not think silence to be beneficial

D．We do not believe lasting peace to be available

3. Which of the following is true according to Proehnik?

A．We need more sounds in our lives

B．There is nothing to be learned from the deaf

C．We are not aware how rich the world around us is

D．There is too much noise at a Japanese tea ceremony

4. It can be inferered from the text that ________.

A．we can benefit a lot from old people

B．it is a good idea to use sign language

C．there is no escape from the world of sound

D．it is possible to find how beautiful things sound