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，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

I’ve always had strong opinions of how love should be expressed, but others had their own ways of showing care.

What I   36   most about visiting my boyfriend’s parents is the loud tick of the clock in the dining room as we   37   ate our meal. With so little conversation I was quick to   38  his family as cold. When we got into the   39   to go home, his father suddenly appeared. 40   , he began to wash his son’s windscreen. I could feel he was a caring man through the glass.

I learned another lesson about love a few years later. My father often  41   me early in the morning. “Buy Xerox. It’s a good sharp price,” he might say when I answered the phone. No pleasant  42  or inquiry about my life, just financial instructions. This manner of his  43  me and we often quarreled. But one day, I thought about my father’s success in business and realized that his concern for my financial security lay behind his  44    morning calls. The next time he called and told me to buy a stock, I  45   him.

When my social style has conflicted with that of my friends, I’ve often felt   46  . For example, I always return phone calls   47   and regularly contact with my friends. I expect the same from them. I had one friend who rarely called, answering my messages with short e-mails. I rushed to the   48   : She wasn’t a good friend! My anger   49    as the holidays approached. But then she came to a gathering I   50  and handed me a beautiful dress I had fallen in love with when we did some window-shopping the previous month. I was   51    at her thoughtfulness, and regretful for how I’d considered her to be   52   . Clearly I needed to change my expectations of friends.

Far too often, I ignored their   53    expressions, eagerly expecting them to do things in my   54  . Over the years, however, I’ve learned to   55   other persons, love signs.

36. A. remember       B. enjoy       C. value        D. admire

37. A. excitedly        B. nervously      C. silently            D. instantly

38. A. regard          B. treat          C. take              D. think

39. A. bus            B. train         C. car               D. plane

40. A. Punctually      B. Carefully      C. Proudly           D. Coldly

41. A. visited         B. interrupted     C. warned            D. telephoned

42. A. greeting        B. meeting       C. apology          D. explanation

43. A. interested       B. angered      C. encouraged       D. surprised

44. A. long           B. short          C. warm            D. polite

45. A. praised        B. remembered   C. blamed          D. thanked

46. A. content        B. guilty        C. curious          D. disappointed

47. A. in order       B. in turn        C. without delay      D. without difficulty

48. A. feeling        B. suggestion     C. judgment         D. belief

49. A. disappeared    B. grew         C. helped           D. declined

50. A. opened        B. refused       C. hosted            D. invited

51. A. depressed     B. upset         C. fascinated          D. shocked

52. A. uncaring      B. dishonest      C. unhappy           D. uncooperative

53. A. unique        B. common       C. pleasant           D. familiar

54. A. opinion       B. way           C. mind            D. life

55. A. send          B. read         C. give             D. express

第三部分  阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分，满分30分)

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

A

Born in a fishing village in Japan, Fujiyama, 25, recalls a childhood dominated by health concerns. Doctors told his parents that he had a hole in his heart and “they didn’t think I had a lot longer to live”. But during a later visit to the doctor, his family learned the hole had closed. “Somehow I was cured and I became a normal kid,” Fujiyama says. “And I had a second chance.”

During his second year at the University of Mary Washington, he volunteered in Honduras with a campus group and was struck by the extreme poverty he saw—barefoot children collecting cans and sleeping in the streets. Fujiyama realized he could help give other children their own second chance.

Today, his organization, Students Helping Honduras, brings education and community projects to children and families in need.

He started by telling his friends about his experience and collecting spare change at his two campus jobs. “When I had my very first meeting, only two people showed up,” he says. “I knew I had to keep fighting.” He persuaded his younger sister, Cosmo, to join the cause. “She’s dynamite,.” He says. “When she talks in front of a crowd, she can move mountains. Knowing that she was behind it, I knew I could do anything.” Since 2006, the siblings’ organization has grown to 25 campuses and raised more than $750,000 to fund projects, including the construction of two schools and the establishment of scholarships to help young women attend college.

Fujiyama says students are deeply committed to the organization. They raise money and then travel to Honduras to help building houses. While Fujiyama spends his summers in Honduras working alongside volunteers, he spends a large portion of the year on the road visiting colleges to raise funds. Cosmo Fujiyama, 23, lives in Honduras full time to coordinate(协调)the group’s building efforts on the ground.

Students Helping Honduras is working with community members of Siete de Abril to build a new village. Many of the families lost their belongings in Hurricane Mitch in 1998. A lot of them didn’t have access to clean water or health care, and they didn’t have a school. Fujiyama’s group helped build 44 homes in the village named “Sunshine Village”. The organization is also raising funds to build a water tower, an eco-friendly sanitation system and a library.

56. At the beginning of his organization, ________.

A. Fujiyama was supported by many friends     B. things didn’t go on smoothly

C. Fujiyama had little idea of Honduras         D. many famous people joined in

57. We can infer that Fujiyama is a _______ man.

A. diligent         B. mean           C. sympathetic        D. cheerful

58. The underlined word “siblings’ ” can be replaced by __________.

A. brothers’        B. brother and sister’s        C. friends’        D. couple’s

59. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Help the people in need

B. Students lend a hand in America

C. Fujiyama helps build “Sunshine Village”

D. Fujiyama gives poor people in Honduras a second chance

B

A new report says only about half of all students in the main school systems of America’s largest cities finish high school. The report notes higher rates of graduation — over 70% —in areas surrounding the cities. Researchers studied high school graduation rates from the 2003, 2004 school year. They also identified the nation’s fifty largest cities. The largest, New York City, had a population of more than eight million. The smallest city was Wichita, Kansas. It had about three hundred and sixty thousand people.

Researchers used a system of measurement called the cumulative promotion index to find graduation rates. School officials in many of the cities studied said the resulting numbers were too low. That is because different areas use different methods to find graduation rates. Critics say many methods do not give a true picture of the number of students who leave high school before finishing.

Other studies have put the national graduation rate at about 70%. But experts agree that too many students are not completing high school. They estimate the number at more than one million each year. The report was prepared for America’s Promise Alliance. The private group aims to help children receive services they need to succeed.

General Colin Powell was chairman of America’s Promise Alliance when it was formed in 1997. He attended the press conference Tuesday where the report was released. He said studies have shown that the US must do more to educate the leaders and work force of the future.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings also spoke. She said the government will propose that states use the same methods when reporting graduation rates. Alliance officials also announced the start of a nationwide campaign to improve graduation rates. It is to include a series of meetings to be held in every state over the next two years. The meetings will bring together elected leaders, business owners, students, parents and education officials. They will develop plans to increase the number of Americans who finish high school.