My fiance (未婚夫) and I were excited about shopping for our first home. But our funds

My fiance (未婚夫) and I were excited about shopping for our first home. But our funds were  16  , and none of the houses in our price range seemed satisfactory.

One agent  17  a house in particular. Although her description sounded wonderful, the price was   18   our range, so we declined. But she kept urging us to have a look  19  .

We finally did and it was   20   at first sight. It was Our Home, small and charming, overlooking a quiet lake. Walking through the rooms and talking with the owners, a nice elderly couple, we felt the warmth and   21   of the marriage within that home. As perfect as it was, the price remained too high for us. But every day, we would sit by the lake, looking at the house and dreaming of   22  it would be like to live there.

Days later, we made a(n)   23   —far below the asking price. Surprisingly, they didn’t  24   us. They renewed their offer   25  . It was also much more than we could afford, but far   26   than the original asking price.

The next day, we got a   27  message that another buyer had offered a much higher price. Even so, we decided to talk with the   28   directly. We made our final offer, which  29   was thousands of dollars less than the other buyer’s bid. We knew it,   30   we had to try.

 “Sold!” said the owner. Then he   31   : He’d seen us sitting by the lake all those times; he knew how much we loved the place and that we’d   32   the years of work they had put into their home; he realized he would take a   33   by selling it to us, but it was worthwhile; we were the people they wanted to live there. He told us to consider the   34   in the price “an early wedding present.”

That’s how we found our home and how I learned that when people are   35   they are not strangers, only friends we haven’t yet met.

16.  A. needed                B. limited                     C. enough                          D. large

17.  A. recommended       B. decorated                  C. sold                            D. rented

18. A. below                  B. within                      C. beyond                          D. between

19. A. at least               B. at most                     C. at times                        D. at hand

20. A. relief                 B. concern                      C. love                               D. curiosity

21.  A. pride                 B. happiness                    C. challenge                      D. desire

22.  A. which                 B. why                              C. that                                D. what

23. A. effort                 B. offer                            C. promise                    D. profit

24.  A. come across           B. look after                            C. depend on             D. laugh at

25. A. instead                B. indeed                        C. aside                         D. apart

26. A. worse                  B. better                          C. less                      D. higher

27. A. relaxing               B. disappointing                 C. pleasant                      D. regular

28. A. agents                 B. buyers                            C. managers                  D. owners

29. A. already                B. still                                  C. generally            D. ever

30.  A. so                        B. or                                 C. for                               D. but

31.  A. apologized        B. complained               C. criticized             D. explained

32. A. check                  B. analyze                        C. appreciate             D. ignore

33. A. loss                       B. risk                                C. chance                          D. lead

34. A. increase               B. difference                              C. interest                     D. average

35. A. kind                   B. polite                             C. smart                        D. energetic

16. B

17. A

18. C

19. A

20. C

21. B

22. D

23. B

24. D

25. A

26. C

27. B

28. D

29. B

30. D

31. D

32. C

33. A

34. B

35. A

试题分析：文章大意：作者和未婚夫准备买房结婚，但是资金有限。一次作者对一个房子一见钟情，但价格仍然很高，但通过最后的努力，作者以很低的价格买到了此房。

16．B考查动词以及对语境的理解。A．needed需要的；B．limited有限的；C．enough足够的；D．large大的。根据下一句中的and none of the houses in our price range seemed satisfactory.”可知答案选B。

17．A　考查动词以及对语境的理解。A．recommended推荐；B．decorated装修；C．sold卖； D．rented租。根据后句Although her description sounded wonderful可知一个代理人特别向我们推荐一栋房子。选A。

18．C　考查介词以及对语境的理解。A．below在……下面；B．within在……里面；C．beyond超过；D．between在……之间。根据后句so we declined.可知价格超过了我们的范围。故选C。

19．A　考查短语以及对语境的理解。A．at least至少；B．at most至多；C．at times有时；D．at hand在附近。但她不停的催促我们至少去看一看。选A。

 22．D　考查名词性从句以及对语境的理解。A．which哪一个；B．why为什么；C．that那个；D．what什么。宾语从句中be like缺少宾语，故用关系词what。选D。

23．B　考查名词以及对语境的理解。A．effort努力；B．offer提供；C．promise许诺； D．profit利润。根据后句—far below the asking price 可知是make an offer出价。选B。

24．D　考查短语以及对语境的理解。A．come across偶然遇到；B．look after照顾；C．depend on依靠； D．laugh at嘲笑。令人惊讶的是，他们没有嘲笑我们。选D。

25．A　考查副词以及对语境的理解。A．instead相反B．indeed的确；C．aside在……旁；D．apart分开地。相反地，他们更新了他们的出价。选A。

26．C　考查形容词以及对语境的理解。A．worse更糟的；B．better更好的；C．less更少的；D．higher更高的。但比原来的要价要少得多。选C。

27．B 考查形容词以及对语境的理解。A．relaxing轻松的；B．disappointing令人失望的；C．pleasant令人愉快的；D．regular有规律的。第二天，我们得到一个令人失望的消息。选B。

28． D 考查名词以及对语境的理解。A．agents代理人；B．buyers买方；C．managers经理；D．owners物主。因此，我们决定直接跟房东谈。选D。

29．B　考查副词以及对语境的理解。A．already已经；B．still任然；C．generally普遍地； D．ever曾经。我们做出最终的价格，任然比其他买家出价少很多。故选B。

30．D　考查连词以及对语境的理解。A．so如此；B．or或者；C．for为了；  D．but但是。前后句为转折关系，故用连词but。选D。

31．D　考查动词以及对语境的理解。A．apologized道歉；B．complained抱怨；C．criticized指责；D．explained解释。后面为房主解释的内容。选D。

32．C　考查动词以及对语境的理解。A．check检查；B．analyze分析；C．appreciate感激；欣赏； D．ignore忽视。其原因是我们欣赏他们投入家庭多年的努力。 选C。

33．A　考查名词以及对语境的理解。A．loss损失；B．risk冒险；C．chance机会；D．lead带领。根据上下文可知把房子卖给我们他将会有损失，所以选A。