四、语法填空

　　When Jack was a small boy, he was once asked to give a speech about "A Big Challenge in My Life"．To talk before the whole class, he was 1.________ (terrible) shy the moment he thought of so many eyes 2.________ (stare) at him. He had no other 3.________ (choose), though. First Jack was to draft the speech, which was just a piece of cake for him because he was a good writer. But the hard part 4.________ (lie) in his oral presentation, for it was not allowed to read from the paper. He had to give the speech 5.________ his memory and in front of such a big audience!

　　A real trial began when Jack stood on the platform with his legs trembling and his mind blank. He didn't know how much time had passed by. His listeners were still waiting patiently and without any signs of laughing. Gradually he found himself back, 6.________ (give) out his speech without much difficulty. After what seemed to be a hundred years, he found the audience applauding. He made 7.________！From then on, his fear of talking before the audience disappeared. Actually with his confidence 8.________ (build) up, Jack now turns out to be a great speaker. As we know, the greater difficulty we meet on our way to 9.________ (succeed), the 10.________ likely we will achieve our goals.

【答案】1. terribly 2.staring 3.choice 4.lay 5.from

6.giving 7.it 8.built 9.success 10.more　

【解析】本文是一篇记叙文。杰克小时候非常害羞，不敢在公开场合演讲。一次题为"人生中的一次大挑战"的演讲经历，帮助他战胜了胆怯，赢得了自信，并使他最终成为一名优秀的演说家。

1.terrible在句中用来修饰形容词shy，需用其副词形式。故填terribly。

2.stare在句中做eyes的后置定语，且与其逻辑主语eyes之间为主动关系。故填staring。

3.根据"no other＋名词单数"结构可知，应填choice。

4.lie在句中做谓语，意为"在于"，又由语境可知时态应用一般过去时。故填lay。

5.根据上文"for it was not allowed to read from the paper"可知，演讲的时候不允许照着稿子念，所以本句意为"他不得不在这么多听众面前凭借记忆来演讲"。由上句中"from the paper"可知填from。

6.give所在部分在句中做状语，与句子主语he之间是主动关系，并与谓语动词所表示的动作同时发生。故填giving。

7.根据上句"he found the audience applauding"可知，本句意为"他成功了"。make it是固定习语，意为"获得成功"。故填it。

8.本句考查"with＋宾语＋补语"结构。因为本结构中宾语"confidence"与其补语之间是被动关系，并且补语动作已经发生，故填built。

9.在固定短语"on one's way to"中"to"为介词，所以此处填success。

10.本句使用了"the＋比较级，the＋比较级"的结构，意为"越......，越......"，故填more，构成likely的比较级。

五、阅读理解

　　At your next meeting, wait for a pause in conversation and try to measure how long it lasts.

　　Among English speakers, chances are that it will be a second or two at most. But while this pattern may be universal, our awareness of silence differs dramatically across cultures. What one culture considers a confusing or awkward pause may be seen by others as valuable moment of reflection and a sign of respect for what the last speaker has said. Research in Dutch (荷兰语) and also in English found that when silence in conversation stretches to four seconds, people start to feel uneasy. In contrast, a separate study of business meetings found that Japanese people are happy with silence of 8.2 seconds-nearly twice as long as in American meetings.

　　In Japan, it is recognized that the best communication is when you don't speak at all. It's already a failure to understand each other by speaking because you're repairing that failure by using words.

　　In the U．S., it may originate from the history of colonial (殖民地的) America as a crossroads of many different races. When you have a couple of difference, it's hard to establish common understanding unless you talk and there's understandably a kind of anxiety unless people are verbally engaged to establish a common life. This applies also to some extent to London.

　　In contrast, when there's more homogeneity, perhaps it's easier for some kinds of silence to appear. For example, among your closest friends and family it's easier to sit in silence than with people you're less well acquainted with.

1. Which of the following people might have the longest silence in conversation?

A. The Dutch. B. Americans. C. The English. D. The Japanese.

2．What might the Japanese agree with in conversation?