A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans. There 1 my house, reduced to waist-high ruins, smelly and dirty.
Before the trip, I had had my car fixed .When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill, she 2 my Louisiana license plate. “You from New Orleans?” she asked .I said I was, “No 3 .” She said, and firmly shook her 4 when I reached for my wallet. The next day I went for a haircut, and 5 happened.
As my wife was studying in Florida ,we decided to move there and tried to find a(n) 6 house that we could afford while 7 paying off a mortgage（抵押贷款）on our ruined house .We looked at many places, but 8 was satisfactory. We had begun to accept that we would have to live in 9 reduced circumstances（条件）for a while, 10 I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kennedy in California. He had read some pieces I had written about our 11 for Slate, the online magazine and wanted to give us a new 12 across the lake for New Orleans.
It sounded too good to be true , 11 I replied ,thanking him for his exceptional generosity（大方）, 14 we had no plans to go back .Then a poet at the University of Florida offered to 15 his house to me, while he went to England on his one-year paid leave. The rent was rather 16 .I mentioned the poet’s offer to 17 , and the next day he sent a 18 covering our entire rent for eight months .Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to 19 my faith in humanity .It’s almost 20 losing your worldly possessions to be reminded that people are really nice when given half a chance.
1．A．stood B．lay C．went D．left
2．A．watched B．looked C．overlooked D．noticed
3．A．smoking B．problem C．charge D．damage
4．A．head B．body C．hand D．arm
5．A．a strange thing B．different things C．another thing D．the same thing
6．A．rental B．expensive C．perfect D．beautiful
7．A．ever B．never C．also D．only
8．A．little B．much C．nothing D．none
9．A．specially B．gradually C．extremely D．usually
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10．A．while B．when C．since D．after
11．A．happiness B．sufferings C．kindness D．fortune
12．A．house B．job C．field D．chance
11．A．so B．or C．as D．but
14．A．that B．which C．what D．why
15．A．sell B．present C．give D．let
16．A．terrible B．reasonable C．much D．high
17．A．my wife B．Katrina C．the university D．James Kennedy
18．A．note B．bill C．check D．letter
19．A．bring back B．bring down C．bring forward D．bring up
20．A．worthy B．worth C．useless D．good