Question

Yesterday, our teacher asked us when a man could be referred to as an old man. David stood up and said people with wrinkles could be called old people, However, Mary didn’t _______ for some people may gain wrinkles at an earlier age owing to their. _______ life. Then Lily expressed her idea that those reaching their 60s or more could be called old people. However, Emily expressed her _______ and said some old people may still be energetic and trying to pursue their dreams, which makes them appear _______. The class was over and we still didn’t reach any _______, so the teacher asked us to think about it after class.

The _______ has reminded me of the saying of J. Barrymore that a man isn’t old as long as he is _______ something.

My grandma is such a woman who pursues her dream _______ when she’s 70 now. She has _______ her dream of being a painter since she was a little child. ________, because her family was poor, she had to ________ her dream and stepped into the ________ to raise money so as to support her family. Though she has ________ abandoned her dream, she could hardly find any ________ to realize it because of the tough work. ________, chance came when she retired from her work. She began taking her painting lessons ________ she had all-white hair and lots of wrinkles. At first, I was ________ her idea of attending school at so old an age, but after seeing her paint happily and enjoyably, I ________ feeling it a good choice. She seems ________ and looks fine.

So if we have our dreams and seek for them, we aren’t old. It’s when we don’t know what we want and let ________ be the center point of our lives that we can finally be regarded as the old.

1.A. respond    B. agree    C. identify    D. understand

2.A. negative    B. boring    C. tough    D. complex

3.A. certainty    B. wish    C. doubt    D. concern

4.A. attractive    B. young    C. intelligent    D. ambitious

5.A. conclusion    B. contract    C. decision    D. destination

6.A. embarrassment    B. barrier    C. question    D. confusion

7.A. preserving    B. seeking    C. treasuring    D. possessing

8.A. even    B. nearly    C. only    D. hardly

9.A. realized    B. changed    C. promoted    D. kept

10.A. Therefore    B. Instead    C. Moreover    D. However

11.A. give up    B. search for    C. put aside    D. stick to

12.A. society    B. reality    C. world    D. office

13.A. seldom    B. occasionally    C. already    D. never

14.A. time    B. excuse    C. help    D. money

15.A. Suddenly    B. Eventually    C. Soon    D. Gradually

16.A. because    B. once    C. though    D. unless

17.A. with    B. for    C. at    D. against

18.A. risked    B. rejected    C. continued    D. began

19.A. energetic    B. gentle    C. optimistic    D. wealthy

20.A. achievements    B. regrets    C. dreams    D. difficulties

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.C

4.B

5.A

6.C

7.B

8.A

9.D

10.D

11.C

12.A

13.D

14.A

15.B

16.C

17.D

18.D

19.A

20.B

【解析】作者的老师叫他们讨论什么时候一个人才被视为老人，对此同学们对此各抒己见。作者以70岁的奶奶仍坚持自己的梦想来说明：一个人如果有追逐的梦想，就不算老。只有当我们不知道想要什么，生活中留有遗憾时，我们才可能最终被视为老了。

1.B

考查动词辨析。respond回答；agree同意；identify确定；understand明白。大卫说有皱纹的人即为老人，但玛丽认为“some people may gain wrinkles at an earlier age”由此可知，她并不赞成大卫的说法，故选B项。

2.C

考查形容词辨析。negative消极的；boring令人厌烦的；tough艰苦的，困难的；complex复杂的。根据生活常识可知，艰苦工作易使人有皱纹，而且下文介绍我奶奶的故事时，文中“she could hardly find any to realize it because of the tough work ”有“tough work”的提示。由此判断选C项。

3.C

考查名词辨析。certainty确定性；wish愿望；doubt怀疑；concern关注，关心。莉莉说60或60岁以上的人可谓老人，但艾米丽认为“some old people may still be energetic and trying to pursue their dreams”，即她对莉莉的观点也表示怀疑。由此可推断选C项。

4.B

考查形容词辨析。attractive有吸引力的；young年轻的；intelligent聪明的；ambitious有抱负的。结合语境可判断，此空应与“some old people”相对应，即老人“be energetic and trying to pursue their dreams”使他们显得年轻。故选B项。

5.A

考查名词辨析。conclusion结论；contract感染；decision决定；destination目的地；根据“so the teacher asked us to think about it after class”可推断出，对老师的提问未达成一致观点，故选A项。

6.C

考查名词辨析。embarrassment尴尬；barrier障碍；question问题；confusion混乱。根据语境可知，此空应指老师的提问“when a man could be referred as an old man”，由此判断选C项。

7.B

考查动词辨析。preserve值得；seek寻找，追求；treasure珍视；possess拥有。下文奶奶的故事就说明了这么一个道理，即“a man isn’t old as long as he is __7__something”再根据下文“My grandma is such a woman who pursues her dream when she’s 70 now. ”和“So if we have our dreams and seek for them, we aren’t old. ”.故可综合判断出指的有追逐的（seek）梦想，故选B项。

8.A

考查副词辨析。even甚至；nearly几乎；only只有；hardly几乎不。由上下文语境可知，即使奶奶70岁了，她还有自己追求的梦想。even when意为“即使当……的时候”，符合语境，故选A项。

9.D

考查动词辨析。realize意识到；change改变；promote提升；keep保持。由上下文可知，奶奶想当画家的梦想从孩提时代到70岁的高龄一直没有放弃过，即一直保持着这个梦想，故选D项。

10.D

考查副词辨析。therefore因此；instead反而；moreover而且；however然而。奶奶尽管一直保持着这份梦想，然而因为家里穷，她不得不将自己的梦想搁置在一旁。前后是转折关系，故选D项。

11.C

考查动词短语辨析。give up放弃；search for寻找；put aside放在一边；stick to坚持。根据“stepped into the to raise money so as to support her family”再结合奶奶一直未放弃其梦想可推断，奶奶是将其梦想暂时搁置在一旁。put aside意为“将……搁置在一旁”，符合语境，故选C项。

12.A

考查名词辨析。society社会；reality现实；world世界；office办公室。由下文“I was _11_ her idea of attending school at so old an age”可知，奶奶要想成为画家就必须上学，而奶奶却选择退学，走入社会去赚钱养家。由此语境判断选A项。

13.D

考查副词辨析。seldom很少；occasionally偶尔；already已经；never从不。根据“My grandma is such a woman who pursues her dream _8_ when she's 70 now”可知，奶奶从来没有(never)放弃过她的梦想，故选D项。

14.A

考查名词辨析。time时间；excuse借口；help帮助；money钱。根据“ …chance came when she retired from her work. ”可推断，奶奶退休以后才有时间学画画，即奶奶是因为没有时间才一直未实现她的梦想。故选A项。

15.B

考查副词辨析。Suddenly突然；Eventually最后；Soon很快；Gradually慢慢地。奶奶年轻的时候就将其梦想暂时搁置在一旁，直到退休才有时间去实现梦想，这是一段多么漫长的时间，故此处田“终于（finally）”最符合语境，即选B项。

16.C

考查连词辨析。because因为；once一旦；though虽然；unless除非。虽然她满头白发和有很多皱纹，她开始上绘画课。根据前后的让步转折关系可判断，选C项。

17.D

考查副词辨析。with与；for为了；at对于；against反对。根据“…but after seeing her paint happily and enjoyably, I _18__feeling it a good choice. ”可知，起初我反对奶奶的想法，故选D。

18.D

考查动词辨析。risk冒险；reject拒绝；continue继续；begin开始。由原来的反对，到后来的同意，即；“开始觉得奶奶的选择是对的”，可判断选D项。

19.A

考查动词辨析。energetic充满活力的，精力充沛的；gentle温和的，文雅的；optimistic乐观的；wealthy富有的。根据上一句“seeing her paint happily and enjoyably,”和下一句“looks fine”可知，此处指奶奶看上去很精神（energetic）。由此判断选A项。

20.B

考查名词辨析。achievements成就；regrets后悔；dreams梦想；difficulties困难。全文最后两句互为对应，由此对应关系可推断，此句意为“当我们不知道自己的追求而让遗憾成为生活的中心的时候，我们才算‘老’”。由此判断选B项。