第二节：完形填空(共20小题;每小题1分，满分20分)

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

What I noticed first about my new parrot, Chico, was that he couldn’t fly. His wings had been cut short and he was stuck on the 31 just like us humans. When the weather turned nice, I took Chico outside. I sat him on a branch of a tree, hoping to make him 32 . At first he seemed 33 . He walked back and forth on the branch looking anxious or nervous. He didn’t even flap his wings in an attempt to fly. Somehow he knew he was 34 .

One day Chico got especially excited . He paced back and forth and made an incredible amount of 35 . Then all of a sudden he stopped and let out an even louder scream. He started 36 flapping his wings for the first time ever - then he lifted off the 37 like a space shuttle! I was amazed and 38 . Little did I know his feathers had been growing back, and Chico had been 39 until the moment was ripe for escape!

Two days later Chico 40 . First I tried to trick him back with food, but he would not come near me. Then I took his 41 and put it away—still he would not come. Finally, I made him a firm promise that I would let him 42 every day the weather was nice if he did come back. 43 , he flew onto my shoulder.

From that day on, whenever the weather was good I would let him out early and he would fly around and be back before dark. The 44 lasted for two months before suddenly Chico became 45 . The vet said that he had been infected with a disease from the pigeons in the neighborhood. Within a few days he died.

I was very sad. The 46 crossed my mind that if I had not set him free to fly, he would be still alive. But what 47 is there in being a bird if you can’t fly?

Chico made his first break for 48 on a late Monday afternoon in April. When will you make yours? You too can take a 49 when the conditions are right, knowing you too, in your own way, were built to fly. If you don’t 50 , what will be the purpose of your life?

31. A. floorB. earthC. sceneD. road

32. A. smarterB. healthierC. happierD. stronger

33. A. disappointedB. determinedC. frightenedD. confused

34. A. incapableB. disabled C. wrongD. stupid

35. A. noiseB. progressC. energyD. consideration

36. A. slowlyB. gentlyC. madly D. gracefully

37. A. groundB. treeC. cageD. branch

38. A. movedB. shockedC. delightedD. excited

39. A. strugglingB. pacingC. flyingD. waiting

40. A. leftB. returnedC. survivedD. recovered

41. A. cageB. featherC. chainD. food

42. A. inB. outC. offD. alone

43. A. As usuallyB. At that momentC. Once in a whileD. At the same time

44. A. actionB. attemptC. routineD. effort

45. A. activeB. injuredC. sadD. ill

46. A. factB. concernC. thoughtD. detail

47. A. senseB. mistakeC. interestD. problem

48. A. lifeB. freedomC. funD. food

49. A. breakB. holidayC. chanceD. look

50. A. keep yourself busyB. cheer yourself upC. let yourself downD. set yourself free

第三部分：阅读理解(共20小题;每小题分2分，满分40分)

阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

For the past two years, 8-year-old Harli Jordean from Stoke Newington, London, has been selling marbles(弹珠). His successful marble company, Marble King, sells all things marble-related - from affordable tubs of the glass playthings to significantly expensive items like Duke of York solitaire tables - sourced, purchased and processed by the mini-CEO himself.

“I like having my own company. I like being the boss,” Harli told the Mirror.

With profits now in the thousands, “the world’s youngest CEO” has had to get his mother and older brothers to help him meet the growing demand.

Harli launched Marble King after swapping marbles at school led to schoolchildren consuming his marble collection. Yes, he literally “lost his marbles.” Harli and his mother, Tina, turned to the Internet to find replacements.

Harli saw an empty space online: the marbles he wanted were hard to find. Within months, Harli had his own marble-selling website - and orders started pouring in.

Tina says her son's attachment to marbles started when he was just 6.

“His attachment became so passionate that we started calling him the Marble King — so when he wanted to set up a website it was the natural name for it,” she told The Sun.

“I never thought it would become so popular - we are struggling to cope with the number of orders at times.”

The 8-year-old boy has his sights set on expanding his business and launching his own brand of marbles.

“Sometimes his ideas are so grand we have to scale them back a bit. But his dream is still to own Britain's biggest marble shop and open stores around the world,” Tina told The Daily Mail.

“At the moment he is annoying me by creating his own Marble King marbles - so that could well be the next step for him.”