An elderly carpenter was ready to retire．He told his employer of his  36  to leave the house-building business to  37  a happier life with his wife and enjoy his extended family．He would  38  the salary each week，but he wanted to  39  ．They could get by．The employer was  40  to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal  41  ．Thinking for a moment，the carpenter said yes，but  42  his heart was not in his work．He used some materials with poor quality and  43  it with poor workmanship．It was a （n）  44  way to end a devoted career．When the carpenter finished his work，his employer came to  45  the house．Then he handed the front-door key to the  46  and said，“This is your house… my  47  to you．”When the carpenter heard these words，he was  48  ! What a shame! People all could not help saying：  49  he had known he was building his own house!

So it is with us．We  50  our lives，reacting rather than acting，often  51  less energy and time to the building．Then，with a shock，we  52  we have to live in the house we have built．If we could do it again，we would do it  53  ．

Someone once said，“Life is a do-it-yourself  54  ．”Your attitude and the choices you make today help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow．  55  ，build wisely!

第二节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
An elderly carpenter （木匠） was ready to retire．He told his employer of his __36___to leave the house building __37__ and live a more leisurely life with his wife, ___38___ time with his extended family．He would ___39___the pay, but he needed to retire．They could ___40___．
The employer was ___41____to see such a good worker leave and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal___42___．The carpenter said yes, but in time it was ___43___ to see that his heart was not in his work．He built the house ___44___ and used poor materials．It was an ___45___ way to end his career．
When the carpenter ___46___ his work, the employer handed the front – door key to the carpenter．“This is your house,” he said, “a ___47___ to you．”
What a shock! What a ___48____! If he had only known he was building his __49___house, he would have done it all so __50__．Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well．
__51___it is with us．We build our __52___in a distracted （心不在焉）way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best．At __53___points we do not give the job our best effort．Then with a shock we look at the situation we have __54_____ and find that we are now living in the house we have built ．If we had ___55___, we would have done it differently．
36．A．retirement     B．problem   C．purposes  D．plans
37．A．business  B．site   C．teams      D．workers
38．A．spending B．dividing   C．enjoying  D．sparing
39．A．consider  B．miss  C．raise D．save
40．A．get by     B．get alone  C．get back  D．get around
41．A．ashamed  B．anxious    C．frightened      D．sorry
42．A．favor       B．bargain   C．present    D．reply
43．A．frank      B．probable  C．easy  D．content
44．A．sadly       B．carelessly      C．slowly      D．proudly
45．A．unfair     B．unhappy  C．unfortunate    D．unlucky
46．A．checked   B．discovered      C．prepared D．finished
47．A．gift  B．salary      C．memory   D．punishment
48．A．quality    B．prize C．shame      D．surprise
49．A．final B．best  C．everlasting      D．own
50．A．differently      B．quickly    C．hard D．happily
51．A．Then       B．So    C．But  D．Whatever
52．A．houses     B．bodies      C．glories     D．lives
53．A．difficult  B．main C．strong     D．important
54．A．created    B．faced       C．improved D．avoided
55．A．known    B．noticed    C．realized   D．previewed

第二节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

       阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

An elderly carpenter （木匠） was ready to retire．He told his employer of his __36___to leave the house building __37__ and live a more leisurely life with his wife, ___38___ time with his extended family．He would ___39___the pay, but he needed to retire．They could ___40___．

The employer was ___41____to see such a good worker leave and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal___42___．The carpenter said yes, but in time it was ___43___ to see that his heart was not in his work．He built the house ___44___ and used poor materials．It was an ___45___ way to end his career．

When the carpenter ___46___ his work, the employer handed the front – door key to the carpenter．“This is your house,” he said, “a ___47___ to you．”

What a shock! What a ___48____! If he had only known he was building his __49___house, he would have done it all so __50__．Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well．

__51___it is with us．We build our __52___in a distracted （心不在焉）way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best．At __53___points we do not give the job our best effort．Then with a shock we look at the situation we have __54_____ and find that we are now living in the house we have built ．If we had ___55___, we would have done it differently．

36．A．retirement     B．problem   C．purposes  D．plans

37．A．business  B．site   C．teams      D．workers

38．A．spending B．dividing   C．enjoying  D．sparing

39．A．consider  B．miss  C．raise D．save

40．A．get by     B．get alone  C．get back  D．get around

41．A．ashamed  B．anxious    C．frightened      D．sorry

42．A．favor       B．bargain   C．present    D．reply

43．A．frank      B．probable  C．easy  D．content

44．A．sadly       B．carelessly       C．slowly      D．proudly

45．A．unfair     B．unhappy  C．unfortunate    D．unlucky

46．A．checked   B．discovered      C．prepared D．finished

47．A．gift  B．salary      C．memory   D．punishment

48．A．quality    B．prize C．shame      D．surprise

49．A．final B．best  C．everlasting      D．own

50．A．differently      B．quickly    C．hard D．happily

51．A．Then       B．So    C．But  D．Whatever

52．A．houses     B．bodies      C．glories     D．lives

53．A．difficult  B．main C．strong     D．important

54．A．created    B．faced       C．improved D．avoided

55．A．known    B．noticed    C．realized   D．previewed