(08·北京)

When I entered Berkeley, I hoped to earn a scholarship. Having been a Straight-A student, I believed I could   36   tough subjects and really learn something. One such course was World Literature given by Professor Jayne. I was extremely interested in the ideas he  37  in class.

When I took the first exam, I was   38   to find a 77, C-plus, on my test paper,   39   English was my best subject. I went to Professor Jayne, who listened to my arguments but remained_ 40   .

I decided to try harder, although I didn’t know what that   41   because school had always been easy for me. I read the books more carefully, but got another 77. Again, I   42   with Professor Jayne. Again, he listened patiently but wouldn’t change his  43  .

One more test before the final exam. One more  44  to improve my grade. So I redoubled my efforts and, for the first time,  45  the meaning of the word “thorough”. But my  46__    did no good and everything  47   as before.

The last hurdle(障礙) was the final. No matter what   48   I got, it wouldn’t cancel three C-pluses. I might as well kiss the   49   goodbye.

I stopped working hard. I felt I knew the course material as well as I ever would. The night before the final, I even  50  myself to a movie. The next day I decided for once I’d have 51__with a test.

A week later, I was surprised to find I got an A. I hurried into Professor Jayne’s office. He  52__ to be expecting me. “If I gave you the As you  53  , you wouldn’t continue to work as hard.”

I stared at him,  54  that his analysis and strategy(策略) were correct. I had worked my head   55  , as I had never done before.

I was speechless when my course grade arrived: A-plus. It was the only A-plus given. The next year I received my scholarship. I’ve always remembered Professor Jayne’s lesson: you alone must set your own standard of excellence.

36.  A. take                  B. discuss                C. cover                       D. get

37.  A. sought                B. presented               C. exchanged                   D. obtained

38.  A. shocked              B. worried                C. scared                D. anxious

39.  A. but                   B. so                    C. for                         D. or

40.  A. unchanged            B. unpleasant              C. unfriendly             D. unmoved

41.  A. reflected              B. meant                 C. improved              D. affected

42.  A. quarreled              B. reasoned               C. bargained              D. chatted

43.  A. attitude               B. mind                  C. plan                  D. view

44. A. choice                B. step                   C. chance                D. measure

45.  A. memorized                  B. considered              C. accepted              D. learned

46.  A. ambition             B. confidence             C. effort                       D. method

47.  A. stayed               B. went                  C. worked               D. changed

48.  A. grade               B. answer                C. lesson                D. comment

49.  A. scholarship          B. course                 C. degree                D. subject

50.  A. helped              B. favored                 C. treated                D. relaxed

51.  A. fun                B. luck                    C. problems                    D. tricks

52.  A. happened           B. proved                  C. pretended             D. seemed

53.  A. valued              B. imagined                C. expected               D. welcomed

54.  A. remembering        B. guessing                C. supposing              D. realizing

55.  A. out                B. over                    C. on                   D. off

 (08·北京A篇)

Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.

I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.

I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”

“Oh, you’re such a good man,”she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”

“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.

“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to a hospice(臨終醫(yī)院). I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter(計(jì)價(jià)器).

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

At dawn, she suddenly said,“I’m tired. Let’s go now.”

We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

“How much do I owe you?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said.

“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”

56. The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to ______.

A. show she was familiar with the city

B. see some places for the last time

C. let the driver earn more money

D. reach the destination on time

57. The taxi driver did not charge the old woman because he ______.

A. wanted to do her a favor                            B. shut off the meter by mistake

C. had received her payment in advance          D. was in a hurry to take other passengers

58. What can we learn from the story?

A. Giving is always a pleasure.

B. People should respect each other.

C. An act of kindness can bring people great joy.                                                 

D. People should learn to appreciate others’ concern.

完形填空（共20小題；每小題1.5分，滿分30分）
Two days before Thanksgiving, I was trying to open my mouth wide enough for a mirror and a roll of steel wire. Metal braces (牙齒矯正器)had been on my   31  for weeks, but this was the day for the wire to be adjusted. Only those who have had braces will understand the terrible   32  of being “wired”. For the next 24 hours, it felt like every tooth was being   33  slowly by a giant clawhammer (拔釘錘).  34  drinking water caused pain.
By Thanksgiving Day, I had got used to it.   35  I didn’t use my teeth, the pain was bearable. But this was a day when teeth had to   36  longer than usual. We were   37  at my grandparents’ house with relatives. The house was filled with so many pleasant   38  that we could hardly resist the food. When grandma said, “Dinner is ready!” all the kids   39  to be first in line. I was so excited that I    40  the braces in my mouth and   41  my way up to the head of the line.
I piled my plate high with my favorite corn-on-the-cob(玉米棒子)and   42  my mouth to enjoy it. The pain was   43 . I felt I would never be able to eat again. I put my plate away and ran outside in   44 .
Grandma then took my plate to the   45 . She cut all the corn off that cob and rescued me from my   46 . She handed me my plate piled high with corn. “Thanks,” I said   47 . Then I looked up and   48  a strange light in her eye, a light that is still   49  to me after more than fifty years. That was the Thanksgiving when I discovered something more   50  than good food.

My parents ran a small restaurant in Seattle. It was open twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. And my first real job, when I was six years old, was   31   the diners’ shoes. My father had done it when he was young, so he taught me  32   to do it well, telling me to  33   to shine the shoes again if the customer wasn’t  34  .

I was proud of working in the restaurant   35  I was also working for the good of the family. But my father   36   said that I had to meet certain standards(標(biāo)準(zhǔn)) to be part of the team. I   37   to be on time, hard-working, and polite to the  38  . I was    39   paid for the work I did at the restaurant. One day I made the mistake of suggesting to Dad that he  40   give me $10 a week. He said, “OK. How about you paying me for three meals a day you have here? And for the times you bring in your friends  41   free soft drinks?” He   42   the amount of money I owed him, about $40 a week.

I remember returning to Seattle after being  43   in the US Army for about two years. I had just been promoted（升職） to Captain at that time. And full of pride, I walked into my parents’ restaurant, but the   44   thing Dad said was, “How about your   45   up tonight?” I couldn’t  46   my ears! I am an officer in the Army! But   47  didn’t matter. As far as Dad was concerned, I was just  48   member of the team. I reached for the mop(拖把).Working for Dad has taught me that the devotion(奉獻(xiàn)) to a  49   is above all. It has nothing to do with  50   that team is for a family restaurant or the US Army.

1.A. washing               B. shining                    C. changing                          D. repairing

2.A. why                      B. what                                  C. when                                D. how

3.A. offer                    B. refuse                    C. continue                    D. forget

4.A. interested           B. annoyed                           C. relaxed                   D. satisfied

5.A. if                               B. because                   C. when                           D. though

6.A. anxiously          B. strangely                     C. clearly                 D. secretly

7.A. had                       B. tended                             C. hated                              D. pretended

8.A. family                            B. workers                            C. customers                        D. friends

9.A. never                            B. always                               C. seldom               D. already

10.A. must                            B. should                              C. might                           D. could

11.A. by                                B. to                                       C. on                                D. for

12.A. worked out                B. decided on                C. set aside           D. cut down

13.A. absent                        B. over                                  C. away                       D. alone

14.A. usual                           B. last                                    C. next                                  D. first

15.A. washing       B. going                                  C. cleaning                           D. turning

16.A. cover                         B. follow                     C. believe                      D. understand

17.A. they                            B. I                                    C. he                              D. it

18.A. no                         B. either                             C. any                                D. another

19.A. team                           B. family                          C. leader                           D. restaurant

20.A. when                          B. whether                           C. how                                   D. why

完形填空（共12小題；每小題1分，滿分12分）
(1)閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從第31至第40小題所給的A、B、C、D四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
I know my brother better than anyone else in the world. Since the moment of his birth, I’ve been part of his life. I had spent seven  29    years in the world with the attention of those around me. But when Rohan was born, life   30     . Suddenly I had to share my toys and there were no more bedtime stories or my own choice of food.
Finally, I felt my     31      at my brother. The poor baby had no idea what    32      me so unhappy. Maybe he found me strange, the only person in this house    33      did not like him. Whatever the reason was, he loved following me around. However, I seldom talked to him and   34      asked him to leave me alone.
Then all that changed. I hardly remember everything of that day six years ago,   35    I do remember that I was feeling very angry. Somehow my feet led me to my brother’s bed. My hand, completely    36     from my mind, reached through the bars (護(hù)欄). At once, he reached out his small hand and softly touched   37      . And that was all I needed. Through all the unhappiness of the day, that one moment changed everything. How could I hate someone who made me     38     so important? For the   39      time, I saw my brother, not through the eyes of a child who was no longer favored (寵愛), but through the eyes of a   40    .
29. A. happy              B. hard          C. lonely              D. busy
30. A. began               B. continued C. changed            D. saved
31. A. fun                  B. anger               C. fear                  D. worry
32  A. makes        B. has made     C. is making          D. had made
33. A. which               B. where        C. who                 D. what
34. A. always             B. already       C. hardly              D. almost
35. A. but                  B. so             C. or                    D. for
36   A. far                   B. sick           C. different           D. free
37    A. one                  B. both          C. mine                D. them
38. A. feel                    B. feeling              C. feels                 D. felt    
39   A. first                 B. second       C. last                  D. next
40. A. student             B. parent       C. teacher             D. sister