Question

Double Trouble

When I was eight, I wanted a toy and needed $10 to buy it. But, as usual, I was broken. I decided to ask my 11-year-old sister, Kathleen, for a loan. I went to her room, _______her for the cash. Laughing, she agreed to_______ me the money, but added, “I will charge you 10 percent compound interest every _______until you pay me back.”

“Compound interest—what’s that?” I asked.

“Well, interest is what you call the_______money borrowers have to pay back on a loan,” she explained. “Compound interest means that the interest payments get bigger and bigger the_______you take to pay back the loan. To repay the loan, you will need to give me $11 after one month. If you wait two months to pay me back, your_______ will grow from $10 to $11. So I’ll be charging you interest on $11. Then I will add that interest to the $11 you already owe me, for a _______of $12.10. That’s what you’ll owe after two months.”

“Sure. I get it,” I said. Though truthfully, I was getting _______.

Kathleen lent me the money, and I bought the toy. My birthday came a month later, and my mom gave me $10. _______, that was just the amount I needed to buy another toy I wanted ________. I put off paying my sister for a month. After another month, I________about the loan.

Several months later, on Christmas morning, my sister and I each found a $20 bill in our stockings. I was just putting it into my pocket ________Kathleen tapped me on the shoulder.

“Sorry, kiddo. That’s mine. I’m ________on your debt.”

“Huh?” Then I remembered the loan. “Hey! How can it be that much? I ________borrowed $10.”

“True,” she said, “but interest has been compounding for eight months. Now you ________me $21.43.” She paused, then added. “You can pay me the $1.43.”

I ________to believe that a $10 loan could more than double so quickly. Much to my ________, my sister got her pencil and tablet and showed me exactly how it all added up.

My head ________as I tried to keep track of Kathleen’s ________, but this time, I got the basic idea of compound interest. I ________the hard way that borrowing money can be “double trouble” in no time.

1.A. blaming    B. begging    C. searching    D. preparing

2.A. pay    B. send    C. lend    D. hand

3.A. month    B. year    C. week    D. day

4.A. little    B. same    C. enough    D. extra

5.A. shorter    B. longer    C. more    D. less

6.A. cash    B. saving    C. note    D. debt

7.A. total    B. cost    C. number    D. bill

8.A. encouraged    B. shocked    C. confused    D. satisfied

9.A. Gradually    B. Obviously    C. Unfortunately    D. Hopefully

10.A. seriously    B. anxiously    C. secretly    D. desperately

11.A. forgot    B. knew    C. talked    D. cared

12.A. after    B. until    C. while    D. when

13.A. carrying    B. collecting    C. relying    D. focusing

14.A. normally    B. nearly    C. only    D. really

15.A. owe    B. offer    C. take    D. give

16.A. decided    B. refused    C. pretended    D. managed

17.A. relief    B. delight    C. annoyance    D. regret

18.A. turned    B. nodded    C. stuck    D. hurt

19.A. calculations    B. excuses    C. directions    D. discoveries

20.A. explored    B. learned    C. explained    D. questioned

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

5.B

6.D

7.A

8.C

9.C

10.D

11.A

12.D

13.B

14.C

15.A

16.B

17.C

18.D

19.A

20.B

【解析】这是一篇记叙文。文章讲述了作者八岁时一次借钱的经历。本来作者只借了姐姐10美元，可是最终作者的债务累加到了21.43美元。经过这次经历，作者明白了借钱可能会给自己带来双重麻烦这个道理。

1.考查动词词义辨析。A. blaming责备；B. begging恳求；C. searching搜索，搜寻；D. preparing准备。我需要钱，去恳求姐姐借钱。B选项正确。

2.考查动词词义辨析。A. pay付钱；B. send送，派；C. lend借给；D. hand递。姐姐同意借给我钱。C选项正确。

3.考查名词词义辨析。A. month月；B. year年；C. week周；D. day日。由第三段中的“To repay the loan, you will need to give me $11 after one month”可知，姐姐答应借给我钱，但是要作者每个月付10%的利息。A选项正确。

4.考查形容词词义辨析。A. little不多的，小的；B. same同样的；C. enough足够的；D. extra额外的。利息是借钱人在归还贷款时额外付的钱。D选项正确。

5.考查形容词词义辨析。A. shorter更短的；B. longer更长的；C. more更多的；D. less更少的。归还贷款需要的时间越长，所需支付的利息就越多。B选项正确。

6.考查名词词义辨析。A. cash现金；B. saving积蓄；C. note钞票；D. debt债务。姐姐告诉我：“如果你等两个月归还我的钱，那么，你的债务将从10美元增加到11美元。” D选项正确。

7.考查名词词义辨析。A. total总数；B. cost花费，成本；C. number数目；D. bill账单。如果作者两个月才归还姐姐的钱的话，那么，利滚利，最终作者要归还的总数为12.10美元。A选项正确。

8.考查形容词词义辨析。A. encouraged受到鼓励的；B. shocked震惊的；C. confused困惑的；D. satisfied满意的。根据though可知，我告诉姐姐我明白了。但是，说实话，我很困惑。C选项正确。

9.考查副词词义辨析。A. Gradually逐渐地；B. Obviously明显地；C. Unfortunately不幸地；D. Hopefully充满希望地。我生日那天，妈妈给了我10美元，不幸地是，那笔钱恰恰就是我买另一个玩具所需要的钱。C选项正确。

10.考查副词词义辨析。A. seriously严肃地，认真地；B. anxiously焦虑地；C. secretly秘密地；D. desperately极度地。作者特别想要再买一个礼物。D选项正确。

11.考查动词词义辨析。A. forgot忘记；B. knew认识，知道；C. talked交谈；D. cared在意。由下文中““Huh?” Then I remembered the loan”可知，又过了一个月，作者忘记了自己借的钱，到了圣诞节经姐姐提醒才想起来。A选项正确。

12.考查连词词义辨析。A. after在……之后；B. until直到……；C. while当……时候；D. when当……时候。作者正要把20美元放到自己的口袋里，这时候姐姐拍了拍他的肩膀。be doing…when…意为“正要做某事这时突然……”。D选项正确。

13.考查动词词义辨析。A. carrying携带，运送；B. collecting收取；C. relying依靠；D. focusing（使）集中。姐姐告诉作者：“我要收债了”。B选项正确。

14.考查副词词义辨析。A. normally正常地；B. nearly几乎；C. only仅仅；D. really的确，确实。作者经过姐姐提醒，记起了自己的债务。但是他认为自己没借那么多钱，他只借了10美元。C选项正确。

15.考查动词词义辨析。A. owe欠；B. offer（主动）提供；C. take带走；D. give给。姐姐告诉作者，过了八个月，作者欠她21.43美元。A选项正确。

16.考查动词词义辨析。A. decided决定；B. refused拒绝；C. pretended假装；D. managed设法做到。作者不相信10美元的借款会这么快就会加倍。B选项正确。

17.考查名词词义辨析。A. relief缓解；B. delight高兴；C. annoyance恼怒；D. regret后悔，遗憾。令作者感到生气的是，姐姐拿来铅笔和便签簿，向作者展示这个钱数是怎么来的。C选项正确。

18.考查动词词义辨析。A. turned转动；B. nodded点头；C. stuck粘贴，粘；D. hurt疼痛。当作者努力地想弄清楚姐姐的计算时，作者很头疼。D选项正确。

19.考查名词词义辨析。A. calculations计算；B. excuses借口，理由；C. directions方向；D. discoveries发现。由上面的“my sister got her pencil and tablet and showed me exactly how it all added up”可知，姐姐给作者计算这个钱数是怎么来的。故A选项正确。

20.考查动词词义辨析。A. explored探索；B. learned学会；C. explained解释；D. questioned询问，质疑。作者通过这次经历学会了借钱可能会给自己带来双重麻烦这个道理。B选项正确。

【点睛】完形填空解题技巧：上下联系寻信息：文章中，句与句之间、段与段之间紧密相连、浑然一体。因此，完形填空中经常会出现前面的信息为后面的空白提供暗示，而后面的信息有可能是前面空白的答案的情况。这时，考生切不可死盯空白不放，而要联系上下文，寻求信息以确定答案。例如11小题。由下文中““Huh?” Then I remembered the loan可知，作者本来忘记了自己借的钱，到了圣诞节经姐姐提醒才想起来。这是典型的通过上下文联系来确定答案的例子。