閱讀填空

I have found that spreading kindness is not always about 1.you do for someone, but it can also be what you say．One day I was standing in line at the gas station．Ahead of me were 2. other people． 3.of them had a smile on their face and they all seemed to be in a hurry ．After the cold ,snowy winter, we were having a warm, sunny day．I wanted to cheer them up, so I spoke up and said, “I don’ t know 4.one of you ordered this fantastic day for us, but l want to say I really appreciate 5.and thank you ．”After that, the five of us smiled 6. we started talking to each other．What I had said made7. big difference to everyone’s day．You can see that it is much easier to spread kindness8. words．

Chinese parents are very generous when it comes to educating their children．Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the US or Australia． They also want their children to take extra course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a head start in life．The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is．So parents will spend unreasonable amount of money on education．Even poor couples will buy computers for their sons or daughters．

However, what most parents fail to see is that the best education they can give to their children is usually very cheap．

Parents can see that their children’s skills vary, skilled in some areas while poor in others．What most parents fail to realize though, is that today’s children lack self respect and self confidence．

The reasons are that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills: they need to be confident, happy and clever．

Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework．

Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life．Cooking demands patience and time．It is an enjoyable but difficult experience．A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully．His result, a well cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and a lot of confidence．These activities are not only teaching a child to work, but rather to think, and to use his mind． And that is more important．

The scientist does not study nature ________ it is useful to do so. He studies it because he takes pleasure in it.

A． until B． though

C． because D． Unless

They eat only plant foods, and take care to ________ animal products from other areas of their lives．

A． contain B． maintain

C． exclude D． Include

— Did you stay at the party until the very end last night？

— No，I left as early as was ________ with politeness．

A． content B． consistent

C． patient D． Permanent

Believe it or not，your ship isn’t quite sunk，as there are some ways to ________ a new career even if it’s something you’ve never done before．

A． burst into B． get through

C． break into D． comb through

Maury Brown of Forbes reports that Major League Baseball’s annual ________ for 2014 will top $9 billion．

A． allowances B． revenues

C． rates D． Accounts

— Alan seems a lot taller than when I last saw him．

— He ________．He’s grown a foot since you saw him in Shanghai．

A． is B． will be

C． has been D． Was

Personal space is the region surrounding a person ________ they regard as psychologically theirs．

A． who B． where C． when D． Which

On two occasions he was accused of stealing money from the company，but in neither case ______ any evidence to support the claims．

A． was there B． there was

C． had there been D． there had been