第一节 完形填空（共20小题；每小题1．5分，满分30分）

　　Nine years ago around Christmas, I was on a Captiva Island beach at sunrise. I crouched low there and was lost in the false hope of finding a treasure larger than the small__1_on the shore.

　　A man ran slowly along the waves __2_my direction. When he came near me, he slowed to a walk. I didn't _3__him until he was almost standing over me. Too young to be _4_of strangers, I got on my feet and looked at him. It was then that I saw what was in his_5_, a beautiful bright cream-colored shell, the kind of thing that I was looking for. He smiled as I stared in _6__, and then, to my shock, he handed it to me. I held it _7__before me like a diamond, not _8__my eyes.

　　"I think you will like it," he said, and then continued his _9__down the beach. I do not _10_his voice, his clothes or even his face, _11_I do still have the shell, and the greatest lesson I've ever _12_. Now the shell sits on my bedside table, not as_13_as it was, but it is _14_ there, a reminder that there is quiet in the world.

　　That man saved my belief in the__15__of people, and he saved my belief that one can find what means something in life. I see my shell every day, and I know that I can _16_bad days because there are good things in my life. In the end, all that we have is __17_we have done for others. The shell is to me, as___18__as another man who returned to the plane to _19_me my lost jacket.

　　I know that _20__a difference in someone's life, no matter how big or small, is what truly matters, and that it is worth all the treasure in the world.

1.A. shell B. frog C. fish D. diamond

2.A. to B. in C. through D. for

3.A. recognize B. know C. follow D. notice

4.A. tired B. fond C. shy D. proud

5.A. clothes B. coat C. hand D. bag

6.A. despair B. fear C. disappointment D. amazement

7.A. formally B. calmly C. hopefully D. carefully