Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York--he in computers, she in special education. Teaching means everything to us, Tim would say. In April，1998, he learned he would need a heart operation. It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking about life's（1）
Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton' s foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee. “I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire, Tim recalls. He placed the brochure on his desk, as a （2）.
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim (3) on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and postage(4) .
The (5) of the books was of great concern to the Richters. (6) sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a look-see. “We didn’t want to give the children rubbish,” says Linda. The books-reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members-included classics such as Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama series.
(7) , the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to (8) in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: “This program introduces us to books I’ve never heard of .”
The Richters spend about ＄400 a month (9) books to 200 children. “Some people sit there and wait to die,” says Tim. “Others get as busy as they can in the time they have (10).”
命题思路：考查学生充分利用文章的上下文和前后句，找到对选择有提示作用的词或句的能力，所谓“瞻前顾后”。从短文的第三段的第一句“Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk,”得到提示，夫妇两人将“the brochure”一直放在桌子上作为提醒物“reminder”，因此答案选A 。此题D选项具有干扰性，B选项属于形近词。
命题思路：考查学生根据上下文的逻辑关系确定选项的能力。A选项free干扰性较强，一方面可以从词性不符合语法的角度排除A，也可以在最后一段的第一句找到根据“The Richters spend about ＄400 a month sending books to 200 children.”，可见邮资并不是免除的。另外，此处还考查了学生根据生活常识以及相关知识确定选项的能力，因为此举为公益事业，邮资相应会减少而不是提升。因此答案选择B。
( ) 5. A. cost B. quantity C. quality D. amount
命题思路：考查学生根据上下文的逻辑关系确定选项的能力。由于下文说“We didn’t want to give the children rubbish,”显然是对书的质量非常关注，而不是费用或数量。此处同时考查了学生形近词的辨析。答案选择C。
( ) 6. A. rather than B. less than C. more than D. other than
( ) 7. A. Excited B. Amazed C. disappointed D. Satisfied
命题思路：考查学生根据人物的态度，观点，情绪来确定相关选项的能力。句子中的信息是“…the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work.”,由此可以推断出人物的情绪是满意的。答案选择D。
( )8. A. babies B. preschoolers C. students D. learners
命题思路：考查学生根据上下文“瞻前顾后”的推理能力。第二段“…to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee.”，此句的信息提示接受赠书的对象是单亲家庭的学龄前儿童，即“preschoolers”，因此答案选择B。
( ) 9. A. selling B. buying C. sending D. giving
命题思路：考查学生充分利用文章的上下文和前后句，找到对选择有提示作用的词或句。这些词有时可能是同义词或反义词的能力。在第二段的句子“…a program started by Dolly Parton' s foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month…”中，“mail”是邮寄的意思，此处呼应同义词“sending”,使上下文信息一致。答案选择C。
( ) 10. A. gained B. received C. contributed D. left
命题思路：考查学生充分利用文章的前后句，“上下求索”，找到对选择有提示作用的词或句的能力。在短文的最后一段通过人物的语言对文章进行升华，前一句为“Some people sit there and wait to die,”，后一句与其进行语义上的对比，因此句子为“Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.”，句意为“而有的人却在他们的有生之年忙于（有意义的事业）”；此处同时考查了学生定语从句的识别能力。答案选择 D。
