完形填空： （两篇，每小题1.5分，共60分）

（一）

I was 11, and my family was preparing to leave the beautiful island, where we had lived for four years: my father was being transferred again. But I had constructed a mental wall against this unsettledness. My fascination（迷恋） with  1    provided me with an endless source of   2    .

When I arrived on this little island, I discovered a variety of butterflies, and I began to   3    them. Catching butterflies isn’t   4    , so I was proud of my collection.   5    there was one that I had yet to capture – the great orange tip. The problem was its   6   habitat: I could only watch these lovely insects  7    gracefully. No matter how high I climbed, these creatures were always just  8_  my reach. With only a couple of days before we were to leave, I began to   9   hope of finding my great orange tip.

One morning, I was at leave to wander the bush keeping a   10    eye out for my beauty. In the heat, butterflies of all sorts floated above the wildflowers on the hillsides.   11  , the great orange tips remained high above the treetops. But then, I caught a flash of brilliant white out of the  12    of my eye. I looked up and there it was, about a meter away,   13    on a big red flower. I   14    in my tracks. After a long moment, I began to raise my net, little by little,   15   beating fast. I could scarcely believe my eyes.   16    I reached in and grabbed it, with every intention of moving it into the killing jar. But my hand   17    as I reached for the jar. There was the brilliant bloom of orange on the tips of its glowing white wings, and I could feel the creature’s   18    between my fingers.And then,  on an impulse(冲动), I tossed it into the clear, bright air and watched it float away. High above the nearby trees it  19    and then disappeared from  20. Now, I believe I made a wise choice in an instant then.

1. A. travel                   B. nature                    C. islands                       D. flowers

2. A. amazement          B. information            C. motivation           D. environment

3. A. notice                 B. raise                    C. display                D. collect

4. A. usual                    B. hard                    C. easy                    D. funny

5. A. And                          B. But                     C. Therefore            D. Besides

6. A. high                          B. long                    C. fast                     D. often

7. A. flowing              B. floating               C. jumping              D. running

8. A. by                      B. for                      C. against                       D. beyond

9. A. hold       up              B. put up                    C. give up               D. keep up

10. A. careful              B. tearful                    C. greedy                       D. sleepy

11. A. In turn              B. In common             C. As well               D. As usual

12. A. edge                   B. touch                         C. corner                 D. sight

13. A. gathered             B. settled                    C. performed           D. ploughed

14. A. froze                  B. puzzled               C. stared                  D. rushed

15. A. the tree             B. the net                    C. my heart             D. my hand

16. Gently                    B. Seriously             C. Luckily               D. Actively

17. A. rose                    B. fell                     C. stopped               D. stretched

18. A. movement           B. existence             C. joy                     D. fear

19. A. hung                  B. started                    C. parked                       D. sailed

20. A. hand                   B. sight                   C. jar                   D. tree

Care Your Dream

I always have the dream to dance like a beautiful ballerina(芭蕾舞女演员) twirling around and around and hearing people applaud for me. When I was young, I would twirl in the field of wildflowers that grew in my  21  . For hours I would dance   22   people were watching me.   23    woke me up when I heard a voice saying, “I don’t know why you  2 4   trying to dance. Ballerinas are pretty, slim little girls.  2 5   , you don’t have the talent to  2 6   be a ballerina.” I remember how those words paralyzed(使麻木) every   27   in my body. I fell to   the ground and wept for hours.

We lived in the country by a nearby lake and I would sometimes go there to hide. I enjoyed  28   by the water. I would sit there for hours and stare at my  2 9  . There I was, looking   30  like a pretty ballerina dancer. Reflections don’t   31  . Once the waves would come, my reflection was   32  , washed away just like my  33  . I sat there staring at the water, hoping that my reflection would reappear and be   34  .

As I grew older, I began to realize that the dream I had was never  35  , so it slowly died. It’s not that I wanted it to die,   36   I allowed it to die the day I started listening to the words “You can’t do it.” When I   37   woke up from many years of dreaming, I realized that you can’t just keep   38   in the wildflowers, you have to move on to the   39  . I still go to the lake sometimes and sit there. Looking at my reflection is different now too. When I was young, I looked at how others saw me. Now that I am older and   40   , I look at how God sees me.

21. A. platform

22. A. ever since

23. A. Directors

24. A. bother

25. A. Meanwhile

26. A. yet

27. A. struggling

28. A. hanging about

29. A. figure

30. A. everything

31. A. hide

32. A. lifted

33. A. childhood

34. A. simple

35. A. cared for

36. A. so

37. A. instantly

38. A. crying

39. A. stage

40. A. weaker

B. backyard

B. in case

B. Instructions

B. remind

B. However

B. ever

B. feeling

B. settling down

B. status

B. nothing

B. speak

B. hidden

B. emotion

B. flexible

B. brought on

B. but

B. occasionally

B. singing

B. school

B. taller

C. interest

C. as if

C. Awareness

C. attempt

C. Besides

C. thus

C. performing

C. looking upon

C. picture

C. something

C. lie

C. gone

C. thoughts

C.pretty

C. turned out

C. or

C. unwillingly

C. dancing

C. crowd

C. wiser

D. daydream

D. even if

D. Reality

D. assume

D. Therefore

D. still

D. twirling

D. diving off

D. reflection

D. anything

D. laugh

D. melted

D. dream

D. different

D. given up

D. and

D. eventually

D. running

D. garden

D. stronger

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological disaster area. Nauru’s heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes.

For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived on the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. The whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.

Nauru’s real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate (磷酸盐)on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.

In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.

Unfortunately, the leaders invested（投资） the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.

41. What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A. To seek help for Nauru’s problems.     B. To give a warning to other countries.

C. To show the importance of money.     D. To tell a heartbreaking story of a war.

42. What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

A. Rich and powerful.                  B. Modern and open.

C. Peaceful and attractive.               D. Greedy and aggressive.

43. The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from _______.

A. soil pollution                      B. phosphate overmining

C. farming activity                    D. whale hunting

44 Which of the following was a cause of Nauru’s financial problem?

A. Its leaders misused the money.         B. It spent too much repairing the island.

C. Its phosphate mining cost much money.  D. It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.

45. What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?

A. The ecological damage is difficult to repair.

B. The leaders will take the experts’ words seriously.

C. The island was abandoned by the Nauruans

D. The phosphate mines were destroyed

One of the greatest contributions to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.

This was a huge task., so Murrary had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American Surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.

But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline(谢绝) to visit Oxford. So in 1897， Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum(精神病院) for the Criminally insane.

Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.

In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.

 Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.

46. according to the text, the first Oxford English Dictionary _________.

A. came out before minor died            

 B. was edited by an American volunteer

C. included the English words invented by Murray

D. was intended to be the most ambitious English dictionary

47. How did Dr. Minor contributed to the dictionary?

A. He helped Murray to find hundreds of volunteers.

B. He sent newspapers, magazines and books to Murray.

C. He provided a great number of words and quotations

D. he went to England to work with Murray.

48. Why did Dr. Minor refuse to visit Oxford?

A. He was shut in an asylum.            B. He lived far from Oxford.

C. He was busy writing a book.          D. He disliked traveling.

49. Prof. Murray and Dr. Minor became friends mainly because ________.

A. they both served in the Civil War.      

B. They had a common interest in words.

C. Minor recovered with the help of Murray.

D. Murray went to America regularly to visit Minor.

50. Which of the following best describe Dr. Minor?

A. Brave and determined.               B. Cautious and friendly.

C. Considerate and optimistic.           D. Unusual and scholarly.

51. What does the text mainly talk about?

A. The history of the English language.    

B. The friendship between Murray and Minor.

C. Minor and the first Oxford English Dictionary.

D. Broadmoor Asylum and its patients.

Honey(蜂蜜)from the African forest is not only a kind of natural sugar, it is also delicious. Most people, and many animals, like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest(巢)and take the honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. In parts of Africa, though, people and animals looking   for honey have a strange and unexpected helper一a little bird called a honey guide.

someone to help it. The honey guide gives a loud cry that attracts the attention of both passing animals and people. Once it has their attention, it flies through the forest , waiting from time to time for the curious animal or person as it leads them to the nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower reaches in to get at the

delicious honey as the bird patiently waits and watches. Some of the honey, and the wax, always falls to the ground, and this is when the honey guide takes its share.

Scientists do not know why the honey guide likes eating the wax, but it is very determined in its efforts to get it. The birds seem to be able to smell wax from a long distance away. They will quickly arrive whenever a beekeeper is taking honey from his beehives, and will even enter churches when beeswax candles are being lit.

52. Why is it difficult to find a wild bees' nest?

A. It's small in size.              B. It's hidden in trees.

 C. It's covered with wax.         D. It's hard to recognize.

53. What do the words "the follower" in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. A bee.     B. A bird.      C. A honey seeker.    D. A beekeeper.

54. The honey guide is special in the way_.

A. it gets its food             B. it goes to church

C. it sings in the forest        D. it reaches into bees' nests

55. What can be the best title for the text?

A. Wild Bees  B. Beekeeping in Africa    C. Wax and Honey   D. Honey-Lover's Helper

Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins "Twinkle, twinkle, little star"or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

One explanation is the law of overlearning , which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, additional learning trials(尝试)increase the length of time we will remember it.

In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overleam.

The multinlicatinn tables(乘法口诀表)are an exception to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood.

The law of overleaming explains why cramming(突击学习)for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory  way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one's future development.

56. What is the main idea of paragraph I?

A. People remember well what they learned in childhood.

B. Children have a better memory than grown-ups.

C. Poem reading is a good way to learn words.

 D. Stories for children are easy to remember.

57.The author explains the law of overleaming by_________.

A. presenting research findings     B. selling down general rules

C. making a comparison          D. using examples

58 According to the author, being able to use multiplication tables is_______.

A. a result of overlearning           B. a special case of cramming

C. a skill to deal with math problems  D. a basic step towards advanced studies

59. What does the word "they" in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A. Commonly accepted rules.    B. The multiplication tables.

 C. Things easily forgotten.      D. School subjects.

60. What is the author's opinion on cramming?

A. It leads to failure in college exams.     B. It's helpful only in a limited way.

C. It's possible to result in poor memory.   D. It increases students' learning interest.