阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在文后第53至第57小题的空格里填上适当的单词或短语，并将答案转写到答题卷上。每空不超过3个单词。

One day, in spring, four lawyers were riding their horses along a country road.

There had been a storm, and the ground was very soft. Water was dripping(滴) from the trees, and the grass was wet. As they were passing through a grove(树丛) of small trees, they heard a great fluttering(拍翅) over their heads and a weak chirping(唧唧声) in the grass.

“What is the matter here?” asked the first lawyer, whose name was Speed. “Oh, it’s only some birds!” said the second lawyer, whose name was Hardin. “The storm has blown two of the little ones out of the nest. They are too young to fly, and the mother bird must be very worried about them.”

“What a pity! They’ll die down there in the grass,” said the third lawyer.

“Oh, well! They’re noting but birds,” said Hardin. “Why should we bother?”

Then they rode on, talking and laughing as before. In a few minutes they forgot about the birds.

However, the fourth lawyer, whose name was Abraham Lincoln, stopped. He got down from his horse and very gently put the little ones in his big warm hands. They did not seem frightened, but chirped softly, as if they knew they were safe. Then he looked up to find the nest from which they had fallen. It was much higher than he could reach from the ground, so Lincoln climbed up the tree. He put the birds softly one by one into their warm little home.

Soon the other three lawyers stopped at a spring(泉) to give their horses water.

“Where’s Lincoln?” asked one.

All were surprised to find that Lincoln was not with them.

In a few minutes Lincoln joined them. His shoes were covered with mud.

“Hello, Abraham!” said Hardin. “Where have you been?”

“I stopped a minute to give those birds to their mother,” he answered.

Then all three of them laughed heartily

Then all three of them laughed heartily. They thought it so foolish that a strong man should take so much trouble just for some worthless little birds.

“Gentlemen,” said Lincoln, “I would not sleep well tonight if I had left those helpless little birds on their own in the wet grass.”

Abraham Lincoln afterwards became very famous as a lawyer and statesman. He was then elected president. Next to Washington, he is regarded as one of the greatest American presidents.

Emma Hart Willard (1787—1870) was an American pioneer educator. In her time, colleges and universities were open only to men, and women were not permitted to attend.

Emma received advanced education at home from her father and became a school teacher at twenty. She continued to teach at school for several years after her marriage. Then began offer college lessons in her home to women students. Later she founded a school in New York State, which was the first school that offered higher education in the US for women.

Emma Willard also tried to persuade New York State to pass a law to allow women to attend public colleges and universities, though that did not come about until after her death. Some years later people remembered her for her life-long efforts and elected her to the US Hall of Fame (荣誉) in 1905.

1.Emma received advanced education at home because _________.

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

3.What do you suppose the US Hall of Fame is?

4.Why was Emma Willard considered an important person?

When building houses, people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also the building materials and the fashions for their houses. However, since electricity became more and more expensive, people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat.

Now, houses of an old yet new type have been widely built. In some parts of the world, people share their houses with their livestock（家畜）.During cold weather, they gather their cows, goats, or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses. The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well. The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses, where people live. By sharing their houses with their livestock, people gain a source of heat.

People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock. However, home builders use the fact that heat rises. This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas. Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor, builders fill it with large rocks. As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather, these rocks take in heat. They also give off the heat, and, of course, the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses. So these houses are energy-saving.

House-building becomes a great challenge to building designers and energy engineers. They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology. And someday in the future, people will be able to live in more energy-saving houses.

1.What did people begin to consider as electricity was no longer cheap?

2.People in some areas gain a source of heat by _________.

3.The underlined words “natural law” in the third paragraph refer to the fact that ________.

4.From the passage, we can conclude that __________.

Mr. Lang worked in a factory. As a driver he was busy but he was paid much. His wife was an able woman and did all the housework. When he came back, she took good care of him and he never did anything at home. So he had enough time when he had a holiday. A few friends of his liked gambling（赌博）and he learned it soon. So he was interested in it and hardly forgot anything except gambling. He lost all his money and later he began to sell the television, watches and so on. His wife told him not to do it but he didn’t listen to her. She had to tell the police. He and his friends were punished for it. And he was nearly sent away. After he came out of lock-up(拘留所), he hated her very much and the woman had to leave him. It was New Year’s Day. Mr. Lang didn’t go to work. He felt lonely and wanted to gamble again. He called his friends and they came soon. But they were afraid the police would come. He told his five-year-old son to go to find out if there were the policemen outside. They waited for a long time and didn’t think the police would come and began to gamble. Suddenly a few policemen opened the door and came in.

“I saw there weren’t any policemen outside, Daddy” said the boy “So I went to the crossing and asked some to come.”

1.Mr. Lang was paid much because _______.

2.Mrs. Lang did all housework because _______.

3.The woman had to leave Mr. Lang because _______.

4.Which of the following is right? _________.

Lulu is a brave pet in our shelter. As you know, there are a lot of forest fires during the summer season. Many forests are badly damaged by fire each year. Not far from our shelter, a forest caught fire during this hot summer. We were in a heat wave which had been   31  for three days.

Lulu rushed towards the forest where flames sent out a terrible   32 ．I no longer had any hope that Lulu would come back to the shelter．In fact, I was waiting for the firemen to announce his   33  in the forest, when suddenly, a fireman burst into my shelter and informed me that my dog Lulu had   34    to save four kittens(小猫) who were trapped by the flames．According to the fireman, Lulu seized the kittens, one by one moving them to a safe place．I immediately accompanied(陪同) the fireman to the forest to   35    the rescued kittens．When we arrived   36   the scene of the incident, we found Lulu was not there. Then we heard the   37   of a dog from the forest barking furiously (猛烈地). I recognized it was my dog Lulu．The fireman followed the tracks of the dog until we found him barking   38   by the side of an injured fireman who was lying on the ground and desperately(绝望地) waiting for rescue．Thanks to Lulu, four kittens and a fireman were saved.

That day, I was very proud of Lulu for his two heroic(英雄的) 39   toward the kittens and the fireman．Lulu showed much compassion (同情) for both animals like him and for a human being who was trying to   40   the fire with his colleagues(同事)．

This true story of genuine(真的) love and compassion shows us that pets are loving, caring and considerate(考虑周到的)．We should love and protect them．One day they could do us a good turn.

—I wish I _________ the meeting.

—But you didn’t .

Is there a hospital around _________ I can get some medicine for my wounded hand?

The happy children _________ the coast, where they would see the sea for the first time in their lives.

Why? I have nothing to confess(坦白). _________ you want me to say?

It was announced that only when the fire was _________ would residnts(居民) be permitted to return to their homes.