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第三节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分, 满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Once there was a king who liked pictures very much. One day, he    21   a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists    22  . The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he    23    liked, and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect    24    for peaceful towering mountains all around it.    25   was a blue sky with fluffy (蓬松的) white clouds. All who saw this    26    thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
27    picture had mountains, too. But these were large, rough and    28   . Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning    29  . Down the side of the mountain   30    a foaming (起泡沫的) waterfall. This did not look    31    at all.
But when the king looked    32   , he saw behind the waterfall a tiny    33   growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her    34   . There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest —    35  perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize? The king    36    the second picture. Do you know why?
“Because,”   37  the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place    38  there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and    39    be calm in your heart. That is the real    40   of peace.”
21. A. afforded                B. offered                C. accepted            D. canceled
22. A. collected             B. planned             C. tried                 D. directed
23. A. hardly                B. slightly         C. really                D. generally
24. A. bowl                  B. mirror               C. plate                 D. cover
25. A. Outward             B. Indoors             C. Overhead          D. Downhill
26. A. prize                  B. result                C. artist                 D. picture
27. A. The one                     B. Another             C. Other                D. The other
28. A. bare                   B. fresh                 C. green                D. distant
29. A. played                B. screamed           C. wandered          D. cheered
30. A. connected           B. floated                     C. fell                   D. rose
31. A. hopeful               B. peaceful            C. successful          D. careful
32. A. regularly             B. suddenly           C. closely                     D. casually
33. A. flower                B. ground                C. tree                   D. bush
34. A. house                 B. business            C. nest                  D. relationship
35. A. of                      B. in                            C. by               D. for
36. A. protect                B. forced               C. depended           D. chose
37. A. explained            B. described           C. reminded           D. persuaded
38. A. which                 B. where               C. whose               D. that
39. A. thus                    B. even                 C. also                  D. still
40. A. story                  B. meaning            C. source               D. history