阅读下面材料, 在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。（每空不多于3个单词。出现拼写、大小写、词性错误都不给分。）
While people in western countries are busy 1. （prepare） Christmas gifts for their loved ones, Chinese people are looking forward to the Spring Festival, China's most important annual event. What is children's expected part of the Spring Festival？Chances are that they are longing 2. （receive） red envelopes which contain money. The red color of the envelope symbolizes wishing someone good luck. And the money in it is a symbol of wishing good fortune on children.
One popular story of 3. the red envelopes came from is about a monster 4. （call） Sui appearing on Chinese New Year's Eve. A sleeping child who was touched by it would develop a fever 5. then became a fool. But a couple prayed so 6. （sincere） that a god sent eight guards disguised（装扮） as coins to protect the children. From then on, people placed eight coins on red string and 7. （ hide） them under children's pillows.
As the Chinese character for"year"has the same 8. （pronounce） as the monster's name, people called the coins"ya sui qian", meaning" 9.（luck） money against the evil spirit".10. time passing, paper notes replaced the coins and the red envelope replaced the thread（线）.
Failing Successfully
Two years ago I took part in a speech competition and delivered a memorized speech. It was a hard time for me when the judge_______ the winners. At last, the moment of truth came. I got the worst.
After not being placed in the competition, I really wanted to_______ again. I realized that finding the right topic was the most important part of the whole_______. It needs to be motivational and inspirational to the _______. So I reworked my speech for the following year, _______ a different topic and spending many hours before the computer and in libraries doing research. Then I worked _______ the speech, line by line, word by word, making it _______ better.
The next year I participated in the competition again. I gave my _______ in two parts, one was about my own experience and the other was about the feelings that people usually have when giving a speech—how _______ it is, standing on a stage all alone, with everyone sitting and watching them. My speech ________ on well and I was hoping to do that a little bit better. ________, my wish didn't come true. The competition was so fierce and again I wasn't ________.
I was deeply disappointed, since I couldn't accept the fact that I had ________ twice in something that I had worked so hard on. However, I knew that losing is ________ and part of life. One of the judges said to me that my speech was quite good, ________ it needed to be better if I wanted to go any further. He advised me to struggle to ________ something like some of the empty gestures. He said that I would surely succeed someday.
While I didn't earn ________ as a result of the competition, I did gain a new viewpoint. I discovered that I could fail successfully. I think I'll ________ to work hard and enter the next competition. Now, whenever I'm faced with a defeat, I ________ myself of what a famous person said, "The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself that it's a slip and not a ________. "
1.A. predicted B. announced C. observed D. interviewed
2.A. compete B. suffer C. win D. check
3.A. process B. condition C. system D. range
4.A. director B. companion C. audience D. author
5.A. reviewing B. supposing C. comparing D. picking
6.A. during B. through C. behind D. against
7.A. increase B. occur C. expose D. flow
8.A. choice B. instruction C. speech D. reason
9.A. frightening B. surprising C. annoying D. confusing
10.A. rolled B. dropped C. slowed D. went
11.A. Angrily B. Strangely C. Sadly D. Eagerly
12.A. settled B. placed C. treated D. affected
13.A. failed B. escaped C. struggled D. decreased
14.A. flexible B. normal C. appropriate D. typical
15.A. or B. so C. for D. but
16.A. overcome B. declare C. assume D. acquire
17.A. profits B. comments C. awards D. rewards
18.A. agree B. continue C. regret D. apply
19.A. allow B. inform C. remind D. accuse
20.A. kick B. push C. walk D. fall
With the development of science and technology, mobile phones have been an important communication tool in our modern life. 1.
First, 2. Mobile phones make it convenient for people to keep in touch with each other wherever they are. If we have a mobile phone, it is possible for us to contact anyone at any time and anywhere. We could call our clients and customers for business. And we can send messages, including text and picture messages to our friends for personal affairs.
In addition, mobile phones have been multi﹣functional nowadays since its advanced development. They can take photos instead of digital cameras. They can download information from computers directly. They can be used as a radio or recorder or for playing music. 3.
4.Sometimes we would not like to be available to anybody at any time； sometimes we receive so many rubbish messages.
In conclusion, 5. They are really a great invention, which makes our life more convenient and more colorful!
A. However, some small troubles would visit you after using it for some time.
B. Thanks to them, our life becomes easy and colorful.
C. But sometimes mobile phones can also make you in a dilemma（进退两难）.
D. mobile phones bring us more benefits than disadvantages.
E. And they can also be game players.
F. mobile phones play an important part in our work.
G. mobile phones really bring great convenience to our lives.
Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street？Perhaps they were busy talking, texting or checking updates on WeChat without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new "species" of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name—phubbers（低头族）.
Recently, a cartoon created by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities（身份） bury themselves in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie（自拍）in front of a car accident site, and a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events eventually leads to the destruction of the world.
Although the ending sounds overstated, the damage phubbing can bring is real.
Your health is the first to bear the effect and result of it. "Constantly bending your head to check your cell phone could damage your neck, "Guangming Daily quoted doctors as saying. "The neck is like a rope that breaks after long-term stretching." Also, staring at cell phones for long periods of time will damage your eyesight gradually, according to the report.
But that's not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drive you away from your friends and family. At reunions with family or friends, many people tend to stick to their cell phones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Qilu Evening News reported.
It can also cost you your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents, and were robbed of their cell phones in broad daylight.
1.For what purpose does the author give the example of a cartoon in Paragragh 2?
A. To indicate the world will finally be destroyed by phubbers.
B. To advertise the cartoon made by students.
C. To inform people of the bad effects of phubbing.
D. To warn doctors against using cell phones while treating patients.
2.Which of the following is NOT a risk a phubber may have？
A. He will cause the destruction of the world.
B. His neck and eyesight will be gradually harmed.
C. His social skills could be affected.
D. He might get separated from his friends and family.
3.Which of the following may be the author's attitude towards phubbing？
A. Supportive. B. Objective.
C. Optimistic. D. Opposed.
4.What may the passage talk about next?
A. Advice on how to use a cell phone.
B. Measures to reduce the risks of phubbing.
C. People addicted to phubbing.
D. Consequences of phubbing.
A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve, when Paul came out of his office, a boy was walking around the shining new car, admiring it.
"Is this your car, Mister？"he said.
Paul nodded, "My brother gave it to me for Christmas."
The boy was astonished, "You mean your brother gave it to you, and it didn't cost you anything？"
"Boy, I wish…"he hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said jarred Paul all the way down his heels.
"I wish, "the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my car？"
"Oh, yes. I'd love that. "
After a short ride, the boy turned with his eyes aglow, and said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house？"
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again.
"Would you stop where those two steps are？"the boy asked.
He ran up to the steps. Then in a little while, Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step and pointed to the car.
"There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day, I'm going to give you one just like it. Then you can see for yourself all the prettiest things in the windows that I have been trying to tell you about. "
Paul got out and lifted the boy into the front seat of his car. The shinning-eyed elder brother climbed in beside him. And three of them began a memorable holiday ride.
1.The underlined part in Paragraph 6 means what the boy said ________ Paul a lot.
A. scared B. excited
C. delighted D. surprised
2.What can we know about the boy's little brother？
A. He received a car from his elder brother as a gift.
B. He wanted to buy all the prettiest things.
C. He couldn’t walk well.
D. He admired Paul’s car and asked for a lift.
3.Which word can be used to describe Paul?
A. Kind-hearted. B. Naughty.
C. Humorous. D. Hard-working.
4.What can be the best title for the passage?
A. A Memorable Gift B. A Loving Brother
C. An Unforgettable Ride D. A True Friend
Sharing E Umbrella, a new umbrella sharing company based in Shenzhen, China, recently announced that it had lost most of the 300, 000 umbrellas since it was set up.
China's sharing economy has been growing rapidly, with companies offering anything from bicycles and basketballs to phone batteries for people to rent. Customers make a small deposit（押金）and get to use the thing for a daily cost, with a fine put in place for every day if they fail to return the product in time. It's a simple business model, and market data shows that people see sharing as a cheap and convenient way to cut down waste.
Zhao Shuping founded the Sharing E Umbrella, an umbrella sharing service, in April. By the end of June, he had already started in 11 major Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou. While picking up the umbrellas was relatively simple, as they were made available（可得到的）at bus and subway stations, the return system turned out to be a different matter. "Umbrellas are different from bicycles, "Mr. Zhao told Chinese news site ThePaper.cn. "Bikes can be parked anywhere, but with an umbrella you need something to hang it on. "
So instead of bothering to return the umbrellas back to a station, a lot of people just took them home, and Sharing E Umbrella has reportedly lost track of most of the 300,000 umbrellas. Considering that borrowing umbrellas requires a 19 yuan deposit, with a fee of 0.50 yuan per half an hour usage, Zhao says that he suffers a loss of 60 yuan per lost umbrella, so the company is now in the red, but he is not ready to stop it just yet. Zhao announces that Sharing E Umbrella still plans to roll out（推出）30 million nationwide by the end of the year.
1.What do we know about Sharing E Umbrella？
A. It makes people learn to help each other.
B. It needs people to make a small deposit first.
C. It developed faster in the western countries.
D. It produces more waste and causes disorder.
2.What problem did Sharing E Umbrella meet after it was founded？
A. The company had no money to produce umbrellas.
B. Umbrellas are not allowed to hang anywhere.
C. Lots of customers didn't give the umbrellas back.
D. People refuse to pay deposit for the umbrellas.
3.How much did his company lose if an umbrella was lost？
A. 0.5 yuan. B. 19 yuan.
C. 60 yuan. D. 120 yuan.
4.We can infer from the last paragraph that .
A. Zhao has found a way to get the umbrellas back
B. Zhao will continue his umbrella sharing service
C. Most of Zhao's companies have been closed
D. Sharing E Umbrella is a failure for Zhao.
