On my daughter Norah’s fourth birthday, we stopped at the supermarket after school. Norah waved at a man a couple of steps away, “Hi, old person! It’s my birthday today!”_____16_____I could ask the earth to___17___ me whole, he turned to us and his rigid expression ___18___as he replied, “Well, hello, little lady! And how old are you today?” They chatted and he told us to call him Dan. We were___19___other shoppers and we said sorry, but they didn’t care. There was___20___happening in the supermarket that day.
I posted the story and a photo on my Facebook later that night. Soon I received a message from a___21___reader who ___22___Mr. Dan. I asked for Mr. Dan’s phone number and called him a few days later. He had been___23___since his wife had gone. I was certain his heart was___24___by my little girl and that he needed that___25___.
We visited Mr. Dan’s tidy house—___26___of his wife still___27___displayed everywhere. He was patient and kind with my talkative, constantly moving girl. He___28___a child’s table, blank paper and crayons for Norah to draw some pictures for him to display on his refrigerator.
Norah asks about Mr. Dan every day. She wants him to feel___29___. Mr. Dan thinks about Norah, too. After another recent visit, he ___30___ that he hadn’t had an___31___night’s sleep since his wife died. He told me that he had slept___32___every night since meeting my girl. “Norah has___33___ me,” he said.
That left me___34___and my cheeks wet with tears.
He has been___35___into my family, and just as Norah said, we're going to love him all up.
16. A. When B. Before C. Once D. Although
17. A. swallow B. cover C. chew D. hide
18. A. strengthened B. weakened C. softened D. toughened
19. A. avoiding B. gathering C. inviting D. blocking
20. A. magic B. friction C. panic D. glory
21. A. practical B. local C. critical D. typical
22. A. recognized B. appreciated C. discovered D. admitted
23. A. merry B. annoyed C. stubborn D. lonely
24. A. shaken B. switched C. touched D. broken
25. A. caution B. connection C. unrest D. separation
26. A. decorations B. designs C. reminders D. materials
27. A. randomly B. proudly C. casually D. loosely
28. A. set out B. left out C. let out D. made out
29. A. moved B. protected C. loved D. respected
30. A. related B. swore C. yelled D. joked
31. A. impressive B. unbelievable C. incomparable D. uninterrupted
32. A. constantly B. soundly C. thoroughly D. quietly
33. A. controlled B. protected C. inspired D. healed
34. A. restless B. sleepless C. helpless D. speechless
35. A. classified B. equipped C. absorbed D. released
【答案】16. B 17. A 18. C 19. D 20. A 21. B 22. A 23. D 24. C 25. B 26. C 27. B 28. A 29. C 30. A 31. D 32. B 33. D 34. D 35. C
【解析】
【分析】
本文是一篇记叙文，女儿Norah四岁生日的时候遇见了Mr. Dan；妻子去世以后他一直都很难入睡，Norah的出现治愈了他心里的创伤，他慢慢地恢复，睡眠质量也有了很大的好转。
【16题详解】
考查连词辨析。A. When当…时；B. Before在…之前；C. Once一旦；D. Although尽管；在我尴尬地想打个地洞钻进去之前，我的女儿就已经叫出来了。故B项正确。
【17题详解】
考查动词辨析。A. swallow吞没；B. cover覆盖；C. chew咀嚼，消化；D. hide躲藏；动词短语ask the earth to swallow me whole字面意义是大地把我整个吞噬，此处暗指我感到难为情，想钻进地洞。故A项正确。
【18题详解】
考查动词辨析。A. strengthened加强；B. weakened变弱；C. softened变得温柔；D. toughened变得健壮；C项指语气变柔软，指Mr. Dan在见到little girl时变温柔了，后文be touched有所暗示，他被触动了。故C项正确。
【19题详解】
考查动词辨析。A. avoiding避免；B. gathering聚集，采集；C. inviting邀请；D. blocking阻挡；我们挡住其他购物者的路，向对方道歉但是他们并不介意。故D项正确。
【20题详解】
考查词义辨析。A. magic有魔力的，美妙的；B. friction摩擦力；C. panic恐慌的；D. glory光荣；本句是指那一天在超市里发生了一些美妙的事情。故A项正确。
【21题详解】
考查形容词辨析。A．practical实际的；B. local 当地的；C. critical批判的；C. typical典型的，都不符合文章含义，此处指一个当地的读者。我收到了当地读者的信息。故B项正确。
【22题详解】
考查动词辨析。A. recognized认出； B. appreciated感激，欣赏；C. discovered发现；D. admitted承认；动词recognize指认出…，在Facebook上有人认出了Mr. Dan。故A项正确。
【23题详解】
考查形容词辨析及生活常识。A. merry愉快的；B. annoyed恼怒的；C. stubborn固执的；D. lonely孤独的；失去妻子的人通常都会感觉很孤独。根据下文可知他的妻子去世了，因此他很孤单。故D项正确。
【24题详解】
考查动词辨析。A. shaken颤抖；B. switched转换，改变；C. touched触摸，打动；D. broken折断；此处touch指感动，触动，他被我的女儿所触动。故C项正确。
【25题详解】
考查名词辨析。A. caution谨慎；B. connection联系，关系；C. unrest动荡不安；D. separation分别，分开；此处connection指人际关系，他失去了妻子，见到我的女儿时有所触动，他需要这样的感情关系的慰藉。故B项正确。
【26题详解】
考查名词辨析。A. decorations装饰物；B. designs设计；C. reminders提醒物；D. materials材料；本句中reminder指起提醒作用的东西，即妻子的一些纪念物。故C项正确。
【27题详解】
考查形容词辨析。A. randomly随意地；B. proudly自豪地；C. casually随意地；D. loosely松散地；ACD都是指随意地，但此处上下文可见Mr. Dan是非常思念他的妻子的，自豪地摆放着那些纪念物。故B项正确。
【28题详解】
考查动词短语辨析。短语set out拿出，开始做某事，leave out遗漏、冷落，let out 放宽，放大，泄露秘密，make out辨认。本句中set out指“摆桌子”，他摆好桌子，白纸和蜡笔让Norah开始画。故A项正确。
【29题详解】
考查动词辨析及上下文串联。A. moved移动，感动；B. protected保护；C. loved 爱；D. respected尊重；根据文章最后一句“He has been___20___into my family, and just as Norah said, we're going to love him all up”可知他想让Mr. Dan感到被爱。故C项正确。
【30题详解】
考查动词辨析。A. related提及，与…有关；B. swore咒骂，发誓；C. yelled大喊，大叫；D. joked开玩笑；在某次来访以后，他提到自从妻子去世以后，他从来都没有未被打断的睡眠。故A项正确。
【31题详解】
考查形容词辨析。A. impressive印象深刻的；B. unbelievable难以置信的；C. incomparable无可比拟的；D. uninterrupted指不间断的、未被打断；在遇见我女儿之前他很少有没有中断的睡眠，而现在Mr. Dan的睡眠状态好转。故D项正确。
【32题详解】
考查副词辨析。A. constantly不断地；B. soundly状态好地；C. thoroughly彻底地；D. quietly安静地；本句中soundly指状态好的，此处指状态好的睡眠。在遇见我的女儿以后，他的睡眠质量有很大的好转。故B项正确。
【33题详解】
考查动词辨析。A. controlled控制；B. protected保护；C. inspired鼓励，激励；D. healed治愈； Mr. Dan 认为“Norah治愈了我”，让他能够睡得更好。故D项正确。
【34题详解】
考查形容词辨析。A. restless不安宁的，焦虑的；B. sleepless无法入睡的；C. helpless无助的；D. speechless无言的；本句指我默默无言地掉下眼泪。故D项正确。
【35题详解】
考查动词辨析。A. classified分类；B. equipped装备，配备；C. absorbed吸收，吸引…的注意，理解；D. released释放；此处absorb指Mr. Dan慢慢融入我的家庭，成为我家庭的一部分。故C项正确。
【点睛】本文小题8考查了生活常识，生活常识也是完形填空中考查较多的内容。在完成完形填空时，我们可以联系生活常识，再现相关情景。完形填空题所选的文章多是具有一定故事情节和教育意义的记叙文或叙议结合、富有哲理的论说文，这些语篇非常贴近学生生活。考生在解题时，可以根据生活常识或结合常识充分地想象当时的情景，从而达到去“伪”存“真”的目的。
例： the girl was able to lead her birds to run across the grass, but she could not teach them to__45__.（全国卷I）
45. A. fly B. race C. swim D. sing
析： 根据常识，人类可以race、swim或sing，但是不会直接像鸟一样振翅飞翔，因此小女孩不能教给鸟儿“飞翔”，故答案为A。
