Question

A daughter thought life was unpromising(无前途的) to her and complained to her father about it. She did not know how she was going to     and wanted to give up. She was     of fighting and struggling. It seemed as if one problem was just solved before a new one     .

Her father, a cook, took her to the     . He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high

    . Soon the pots came to the     . In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and     waited, asking repeatedly what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the     He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he spooned the coffee out and placed it in another. Turning to her he asked, “Darling, what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to    

the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the     , she observed the hard-boiled egg! Finally, he asked her to taste the coffee. She smiled     she tasted its rich flavor. She humbly asked, “What does it mean, Father?”

    He explained that each of them had faced the same     , boiling water, but each   differ-

ently. The carrot went in     and hard. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it     and became weak. The egg had been     . Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting     the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique,     . After they were in the boiling water, they had     the water.

    “Which are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity(逆境) knocks on your door,    do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

1. A. make outB. make it

   C. make upD. make through

2.A. typicalB. conscious

   C. tiredD. warned

3. A. raisedB. arose

   C. disappearedD. faded

4.A. roomB. market

   C. kitchenD. grocery

5. A. shelfB. temperature

   C. fireD. table

6. A. boilB. cool

   C. hotD. smoke

7. A. happilyB. calmly

   C. casuallyD. impatiently

8. A. lightsB. burners

   C. tapD. water

9. A. seeB. carryC. feelD. fetch

10. A. shellB. packC. bagD. cover

11. A. sinceB. asC. beforeD. if

12. A. occasionB. point

   C. varietyD. adversity

13. A. reflectedB. answered

   C. abandonedD. reacted

14.A. stableB. weak

   C. strongD. sensitive

15. A. softenedB. widened

   C. shortenedD. sharpened

16. A. half-doneB. easily-broken 

   C. easily-gotD. hard-boiled

17. A. overB. forC. throughD. on

18. A. howeverB. otherwise

   C. besidesD. moreover

19.A. meltedB. absorbed

   C. pollutedD. changed

20. A. whatB. howC. whenD. why

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.B

4.C

5.C

6.A

7.D

8.B

9.C

10.A

11.B

12.D

13.D

14.C

15.A

16.B

17.C

18.A

19.D

20.B

【解析】

1.B make it设法做到，获得成功，与后面的and wanted to give up相照应。make out辨认出；make up构成；make through通过。

2.2】C be tired of对……厌倦/厌烦。typical典型的；conscious有意识的。

3.3】 B arise出现。句意：似乎一个问题刚解决另一个就会出现。raise提升；fade消退；disappear消失。

4.4】 C 由后文可知他们应该是进了厨房。

5.5】 C a high fire旺火。

6.6】 A 由前文可知此处意为锅里的水开了。

7.7】 D 由后文asking repeatedly what he was doing可知女儿此时已经不耐烦了(impatiently)。

8.8】 B turn off the burners关掉炉火。

9.9】 C 由后文…they were soft可知此处为“感觉”。

10.0】A put off the shell意为“剥去蛋壳”。

11.1】 B as在此处引导一个时间状语从句。

12.2】 D 此处这位父亲把开水比作不幸、灾难(adversity)。

13.3】 D react起反应，符合语境。

14.4】 C strong and hard强硬，与下一句中的weak相对应。

15.5】A soften变软，符合语境。

16.6】 B easily-broken易碎的。

17.7】 C through此处意为“经由，凭借”。

18.8】 A however可是，然而，表转折。

19.9】 D 句意：咖啡豆改变了水。

20.20】B 句意：当灾难降临在你的头上时，你会怎么反应呢？