陳孟爾

Parents and grandparents are understandably proud of the quick minds and impressive talents of their little ones. But let me tell you about another __ 1__, perhaps even more__2__, found in a little girl named Skylar.

I received a letter from a grandmother who told me about her four-year-old granddaughter Skylar. Ever since Skylar__3__ of Disneyland from TV, she__4__ her nickels and dimes in a piggy bank in__5__ of visiting there someday. Her parents__6__ her with a trip when she was four, however, and didnt even__7__ her to use her own money!

8__ Skylar returned it was Christmas time. She decided to buy__9__ with her savings. But she also learned from announcements on TV about a local__ 10__ shelter called “The Road House.” She__ 11__ asked her mother what “homeless” meant and why those children__ 12__ coats and warm clothes. She couldnt seem to get the homeless off her__ 13__.

Her mother took her to the__ 14__ to buy presents. Instead of buying for herself or her family, however, she__ 15__ to purchase a warm coat, socks, gloves and crayons for a little girl in the__ 16__. She also wanted to buy a doll, but when she__ 17__ she didnt have enough money, she left the doll__ 18__.

When Skylar got home, she chose one of her favorite dolls and put it into the box with the other items she bought that day.

She could hardly wait for Christmas! Skylar was thinking about going to the shelter and giving her carefully__ 19__ gifts to a homeless child. She was much__ 20__ with joy at truly helping someone else.

“Perhaps its good to have a beautiful mind, but an even greater gift is to have a beautiful heart,” says Nobel Laureate John Nash. Young Skylar has a beautiful heart. It is that one quality, above all else, that makes beautiful people.

1. A. benefit B. advantage

C. quality D. point

2. A. necessary B. important

C. popular D. ordinary

3. A. learned B. cared

C. thought D. watched

4. A. saved B. collected

C. took D. made

5. A. honor B. favor C. hopes D. search

6. A. disappointed B. annoyed

C. pleased D. surprised

7. A. ask B. require C. allow D. force

8. A. When B. While C. As D. Since

9. A. dolls B. toys

C. presents D. dresses

10. A. poor B. homeless

C. orphan D. disaster

11. A. generally B. repeatedly

C. strangely D. seriously

12. A. used B. took

C. needed D. liked

13. A. mind B. thought

C. heart D. brain

14. A. store B. library C. park D. school

15. A. thought B. decided

C. wanted D. wished

16. A. shelter B. nursery

C. house D. hospital

17. A. reminded B. promised

C. noticed D. discovered

18. A. around B. behind C. away D. alone

19. A. collected B. bought

C. selected D. demanded

20. A. surprised B. caught

C. cheered D. filled

Keys: 1. C2. B3. A4. A5. C6. D7. B8. A9. C10. B11. B12. C13. A14. A15. B16. A17. D18. B19. C 20. D

答案解析：

文章講述了一個(gè)故事，告訴我們一個(gè)道理：有善良的心靈很重要，但是有“心”更能使人美麗。我們不光要有想法，還要有把想法付諸行動(dòng)的“心”。

1. C。quick mind和impressive talents以及下文提及的“heart”都是人的品質(zhì)（quality）。

2. B。從下文的敘述看，這種品質(zhì)比quick mind和impressive talents更偉大、更重要（important）。

3. A。Skylar從電視了解到了Disneyland，一心向往。了解：learn of。

4. A。從這時(shí)候開(kāi)始，Skylar開(kāi)始節(jié)?。╯ave）零花錢(qián)。collect搜集；take拿；make制作，均不符合句意。

5. C。in hopes of希望……；in favor of幫助……；in honor of榮幸……；in search of尋找。Skylar一心希望去Disneyland玩，所以in hopes of符合題意。

6. D。父母帶她去玩這個(gè)消息讓她感覺(jué)意外（surprise sb. with sth.）。

7. B。而且不用花她積攢的零花錢(qián)。Ask要求，問(wèn)；require要求（較正式）；allow，force明顯不符合題意。

8. A。本句考連詞。從句子結(jié)構(gòu)判斷，缺表示時(shí)間的連詞，while表示同時(shí)；as表示隨著；since表示自從，均與句子意思不甚符合。When表示他們回來(lái)時(shí)，已是快圣誕節(jié)了。

9. C。圣誕節(jié)到了，要去買(mǎi)禮物（presents），其他幾個(gè)單詞均表示具體的東西。

10. B。從下文可以對(duì)應(yīng)，這是個(gè)homeless shelter。

11. B。小孩子好問(wèn)，反復(fù)地（repeatedly）問(wèn)及homeless是什么意思，表示了真實(shí)的孩子性格。

12. C。這些homeless的孩子需要（need）衣服和被子過(guò)冬。

13. A。這個(gè)詞在她的心靈里（mind）拂之不去。

14. A。買(mǎi)東西是在商店（store）。

15. B。這是一個(gè)決定（decide）。不給自己和家人買(mǎi)禮物，而購(gòu)買(mǎi)外衣、襪子等，是她決定要送給一個(gè)無(wú)家可歸的女孩的。

16. A。與上文呼應(yīng)，是在那個(gè)homeless shelter里的女孩子。

17. D。付錢(qián)的時(shí)候才發(fā)現(xiàn)（discover）錢(qián)不夠用了。Remind, promise, notice均不符合句子的意思。

18. B。因?yàn)殄X(qián)不夠，所以沒(méi)買(mǎi)，留在里面（leave behind）

19. C。這些禮物都是她精心挑選（selected）的。

20. D。因?yàn)閹椭藙e的人，她內(nèi)心充滿（be filled with）了快樂(lè)。