When I was thirteen, my family moved from Boston to Tucson, Arizona.  36  the move

  When I was thirteen, my family moved from Boston to Tucson, Arizona.  36  the move, my father  37  us in the living-room on a freezing January night. My sisters and I sat around the fire, not   38  that the universe would suddenly change its course. "In May, we're  39  to Arizona."

     The words, so small, didn't seem  40  enough to hold my new life. But the world changed and I awoke on a tram moving across the country. I watched the  41_  change from green trees to flat dusty plains to high mountains as I saw strange new plants that  42  mysteries(奥秘) yet to come. Finally, we arrived and  43  into own new home.

     44  my older sisters were sad at the loss of friends, I   45   explored(探索) our

new surroundings.

     One afternoon, I was out exploring  46  and saw a new kind of cactus(仙人掌). I crouched (蹲) down for a closer look. "You'd better not  47  that."

     I turned around to see an old woman

     "Are you new lo this neighborhood?" I explained that I was,  48 , new to the entire state.

     "My name is Ina Thorne. Have you got used to life in the  49 ? It must be quite a   _50  after living in Boston."

     How could I explain how I  51  the desert? I couldn't seem to find the right words.

     "It's vastness," she offered. “That vastness  52  you stand on the mountains overlooking the desert -- you can  53  how little you are in comparison with the world.  _54 , you feel that the possibilities are limitless.”

     That was it. That was the feeling I'd bad ever since I'd first seen the mountains of my new home. Again, my  55  would change with just a few simple words.

     "Would you like to come to my home tomorrow? Someone should teach you which plant you should and shouldn't touch."

36.D 

解析：从文中看出，五月要搬家，在元月来告诉孩子们，当然就是Before the move。

37.A 

解析：父亲把孩子们聚集（gather）起来，告诉他们搬家的决定。另外，后文父亲的话也未表示出什么warn（警告）或comfort（安慰）

38.C 

解析：十几岁的孩子不会意识到搬家对他们生活的影响。

39.B 

解析：由前文第一句可以看出，他们是要搬家。Move是一个表示位置转移的动词，它的进行时态就可以用来表示将来要发生的事情。

40.C 

解析：此处用not big是对前半句so small的进一步的解释。

41.C 

解析：横穿美国的火车之旅，对孩子们感官的刺激是很大的。随后的描述很快就证明了这一点。

42.A 

解析：因为既然是奥秘，必然是隐含的，暗示的。

43.A 

解析：settle有“安家，定居”之意。符合后半部分文章的意思。

44.D 

解析：此处需要一个词来引导时间状语从句，而While引导的从句可以表示主句和从句的动作同时发生，且有互相对比之意，正符合文章意思。

45.D 

解析：迁移新居之后，作者急于去了解新环境，这种心情从上文中和姐姐们苦闷心情的对比就可以看出来。所以选择eagerly（渴望地，急切地）来描述小作者此时的心情。

46.B 

解析：此处需要一个方式状语，as usual（像往常一样）恰好可以和过去进行时态配合使用。

47.D 

解析：对应文章的最后一句，可知此处必是touch。

48.B 

解析：此处考察了几个短语，表示强调和程度的加深，用in fact（事实上）。

49.A 

解析：从前文可知，小作者一家已迁移到了西部的沙漠地带。

50.C 

解析：东部的城市生活和西部的沙漠生活的反差是巨大的，一般人都会感到shock（震惊）

51.A

解析：邻居问到作者对两种生活对比后的感受，作者一时语塞。举家西迁是父亲的决定，小作者自己又怎能找到沙漠。

52.B 

解析：此处是一个主句不完整的主从复合句，空格后面应是一个时间状语从句，所以要用when。

53.C 

解析：站在高山之颠，感觉自身的渺小。这是一种内心的感受，所以应用 sense 

54.D 

解析：用并列连词Meanwhile（同时），引出另一种感受。如用其他连词，则不会在前后两种感受之间达成一种并列关系。

55.B 

解析：纵观四个选项，通过和前文的比较，只用几句话就引起改变的，还是作者的生活。