C. by some means                                                     D. by no means

13. Human beings ______ a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects.

A. oblige                                                                    B.owe

C. thank                                                                      D. gratitude

14. ______ , the worse I seem to feel.

A. When I take some medicine                                B. The more medicine I take

C. Taking more of the medicine                               D. The more medicine taken

15. He spoke so ______ that even his opponents were impressed by his words.

A. frankly                                                                   B. clearly

C. convincingly                                                         D. loudly

Ⅱ．完形填空。从A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出一个正确答案，并将“答题纸”的相应代码涂黑。错涂、多涂或未涂均无分。（本大题共1 5小题，每小题1分，共15分）

There is a workman in America who earns as much as a company director. He is Max Quarterman, a thirty-year-old plasterer（泥瓦匠）．

Max lives in an upper middle-class housing estate. His   16   are mostly bank managers, business executives, airline pilots and the like, but Max’s seven-bedroom house—   17   $

80,000—is the largest in the area.   18   outside the house are Max’s $7000 sports car and his wife’s Morris Mini.   19   is a 150 color TV set and the family’s pride— a circular bath with gold-plated taps. There are also many labor—saving   20   and luxury（豪华） furniture.

How can a plasterer   21   all this? The answer, says Max, is hard work. In partnership with another plasterer, Max does contract plastering jobs for a firm. The owner of the firm   22 

them as human machines, the best and quickest in the   23   , who can do as much in two days as any two-man team can in two weeks.

How do they   24   it? Not by working overtime. They work a normal eight-hour day, five days a week. The secret   25   in Max’s hod（桶） in which he carries the plaster(石膏) to the site of the job. Max’s is a superhod—it contains double the usual weight of plaster, and Max, a strong fellow, runs when he carries it. More time is thus   26   to get on with the plastering. Besides,   27   man wastes time smoking, and they   28   their lunch break to a   29   of an hour a day. Now Max earns over $800 a week which is four times the average weekly pay in America today, and if he gets as   30   as $150, it’s a disaster.

16. A. friends                                                             B. neighbors

C. relatives                                                                 D. colleagues

17.A.worthy