As I got the bill from his hand, he said, “That’s it! We can’t wait for the   39   to come to us. We must take action to   40   what we want!”

After his talk, I managed to formally meet Jack and bravely asked for his   41   email address. Over the next months, I sent him emails   42   my vision and dreams with him. He kindly emailed back lots of encouragement. But my life got   43   with other things. I stopped e-mailing Jack.

A year later, my dreams had worn away. I thought Jack would inspire me into action, like a giant   44   that would show me the way.

I emailed him, and then again — but got no   45  . As I sat down at my computer to check my emails, I   46   woke up. What was I doing? I was waiting! Now I remembered the crowd, most likely   47   that hundred-dollar bill, while they sat   48   to their chairs.

Usually we all have a “Jack” for whom we wait — whether it’s a person, a place or a thing. We    49   believe the gifts of life are just around the corner, and that everything will come in a(n)   50   way. So we don’t try. We give up. But as Wayne Gretzky said: “You’ll always miss 100% of the opportunities you don’t take!” So I stopped waiting and started my writing career.

Now what are you waiting for?

31.A. picked out B. handed in C. stuck to D. reached for

32.A. Cheers B. Hands C. Heads D. Shouts

33.A. offer B. choose C. like D. greet

34.A. steps B. road C. path D. route

35.A. appeared B. started C. raced D. existed

36.A. ask B. order C. demand D. call

37.A. But B. So C. And D. Or

38.A. careful B. helpful C. meaningful D. doubtful

39.A. results B. aims C. opportunities D. times

40.A. attract  B. create C. repair D. accept

41.A. professional B. personal C. public D. secret

42.A. speaking B. sharing C. presenting D. describing

43.A. quick B. loose C. full D. busy

44.A. entrance B. gate C. exit D. hand

45.A. response B. notice C. news D. reaction

46.A. gradually B. slowly C. immediately D. suddenly

47.A. begging B. claiming C. desiring D. valuing

48.A. lost B. devoted C. opposed D. stuck

49.A. falsely B. honestly C. sincerely D. correctly

50.A. difficult B. natural C. early D. impressive

第三部分：阅读理解(共20小题;每小题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

What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt? Or is it the look on the recipient’s face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?

This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming, and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lone dandelion standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.

I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood, I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.

Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad’s face as he unwrapped those swirling (盘旋) black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.

51. The idea for a special gift began to form when the author was _______.

A. reading a message            B. having a debate

C. doing shopping              D. leaving for Wyoming

52. The author’s inspiration for the gift came from _______.

A. a call from the mother        B. a story about a kid

C. a photo of a flower           D. a text about Christmas

53. The underlined word “it” in paragraph 3 refers to a poem by ______.

A. the father               B. Edgar Allan Poe

C. William Blake           D. the author

54. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A. To show how to design images for gifts.

B. To describe the gifts the author has received.

C. To explain how computers help create gifts.

D. To suggest making gifts from one’s heart.

B

The story begins with fishing.

Once a boy and his father went fishing before bass (a kind of special fish) season opened. They were fishing early in the evening, catching other fish with worms. Then the boy tied on a small silver lure (鱼饵) and put it into the lake. Suddenly he felt that something very big pulling on the lure. His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully brought the fish beside the bank. Finally he lifted the tired fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass(the special fish).

The boy and his father looked at the big fish. The father lit a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 pm – two hours before the bass season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy. “You’ll have to put it back, son,” he said.

“Dad!” cried the boy, “There will be other fish,” said his father. “Not as big as this one,” cried the boy. He looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were in sight in the moonlight. He looked again at his father.

Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he had caught the fish, the boy could tell from his father’s voice that the decision couldn’t be changed. He threw the huge bass into the black water. The big fish disappeared. The boy thought that he would never again see such a big fish.

That was 34 years ago. Today the boy is a successful architect in New York City. He often takes his own son and daughters to fish at the same place.

And he was right. He has never again caught such a large fish as the one he got that night long ago. But he does see that same fish … again and again … every time he has an ethical decision to make. For, as his father had taught him, ethics (伦理道德)are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult.

55. What happened when the big fish turned out to be a bass?

A. The father lit a match in order to check the time.

B. The boy and his father discussed what to do with the big fish.

C. The boy threw the bass back into the water willingly.

D. They worried other fishermen may discover what they had done.

56. From the text we know that the father _____.

A. disliked the huge fish    B. always disagreed with his son

C. didn’t love his son           D. was firm and stubborn

57. The successful architect went fishing with his children at the same place because _____.

A. they might catch a big fish there

B. their children enjoyed fishing there

C. it was a most popular fishing spot

D. he was taught a moral lesson there

58. What does the story imply?

A. An ethical decision is always easy to make.

B. Fishing can help one to make right decisions

C. It’s hard to tell right from wrong sometimes

D. It is easy to say something, but difficult to do.