Anne was born in Jamaica. Her family was not poor, but it was not    50   , either. Her parents had to    51    hard so that she could go to school. At school, Anne was not a good student,    52    she enjoyed writing because her English teacher said, “Anne, you are a wonderful    53   .” The teacher encouraged her all the time.

Later, Anne went to university in Canada and then    54    for a job. It was very difficult. Then, one day, she went to see the editor of a newspaper in Ottawa. The editor gave her a job. “Everyone needs a    55    at first.” He said.

46. A. book B. job C. sweater D. picture

47. A. still B. never C. also D. only

48. A. to B. of C. for D. from

49. A. my B. his C. our D. their

50. A. rich B. new C. small D. big

51. A. study B. walk C. work D. play

52. A. but B. if C. because D. so

53. A. farmer B. nurse C. doctor D. writer

54. A. looked B. made C. joined D. found

55. A. ticket B. hobby C. chance D. habit

三、阅读理解(共四篇短文，每小题2分，满分40分)

A

One day, a raven(渡鸦)happened to fly past a lake. Looking at the lake, he saw the most beautiful animal he had ever seen. It was a swan(天鹅)and its feathers(羽毛)were as white as snow. The swan was playing with other birds happily, talking and dancing. And it seemed that the other birds all liked to stay with it. When he looked at his own feathers, they were as black as coal. The raven was very angry with the swan. “How can the swan have such wonderful feathers?” said the raven. What should he do with his feathers? He thought it over and over.

Then, the raven decided that he also wanted to have white feathers like the swan’s. From that day on, the raven began to live like the swan. He moved his home from the woods to the lake. He also started to eat water plants like the swan. He tried his best to  talk and dance with the other birds. The most important was that each day, the raven would wash his feathers, hoping that they would turn white. Even he went to the nearby rivers and ponds to wash his feathers because he thought the water in the lakes was not enough for him to wash them. But no matter how hard he washed his feathers, they remained black.