In 1941, when my father joined the U.S. Army, he was told that, on a written test, he had showed ___36___ for preparing food. Army officials offered him a course in becoming a cook. My father ___37___ because he thought he could ___38___ the battles. As things turned out, he got good ___39___ and became head cook of an army kitchen.
All went well ___40___ he had to deal with spinach(菠菜). Because spinach is good for health, the army ___41___ it several times per week. ___42___, the soldiers refused ___43___ to look at spinach on their plates. After hours of cooking spinach, my father ___44___ that, at the end of the meal, he was throwing all of it away. To save time and effort, he decided simply to throw away the ___45___ vegetable before it was cooked.
One day an army officer saw the ___46___ spinach in the rubbish. He blamed my father, ___47___ that he was destroying government property(财产). ___48___ my father explained that he was simply ___49___ the army the trouble of cooking the unwanted vegetable, the army officer insisted on ___50___ him by taking five dollars from his pay for the next three months.
Later, one officer told him that fresh spinach was government property, but cooked spinach was not. ___51___if the spinach were cooked, it ___52___be thrown out. From then on, my father __53___ all the spinach and then immediately ___54___ it into a rubbish can to keep everyone ___55___. The government did not have its property thrown out, and the soldiers did not have spinach on their plates.
36. A. a skill B. an interest C. a gift D. an advantage
37. A. wondered B. understood C. accepted D. admitted
38. A. take part in B. carry on with C. catch up with D. stay away from
39. A. chance B. records C. experience D. grades
40. A. until B. as C. when D. so
41. A. prepared B. supplied C. checked D. ate
42. A. Carefully B. Unwillingly C. Certainly D. Unfortunately
43. A. even B. still C. only D. just
44. A. realized B. agreed C. allowed D. considered
45. A. favoured B. hated C. new D. expensive
46. A. dry B. clean C. cold D. fresh
47. A. saying B. telling C. warning D. punishing
48. A. While B. Since C. Although D. As
49. A. showing B. causing C. saving D. leaving
50. A. correcting B. punishing C. forgiving D. refusing
51. A. For example B. In this case
C. In other words D. Under this condition
52. A. could B. would C. had to D. should
53. A. bought B. kept C. hid D. cooked
54. A. turned B. made C. put D. knocked
55. A. happy B. healthy C. safe D. quiet
参考答案：
36. C 【解析】句意：他具有做饭的天赋。skill“技能，技巧”;interest“兴趣”;gift“天赋”;advantage“优势”。根据句意，故C正确。
37. C 【解析】句意：父亲接受了这一培训课程。通过全文我们知道这篇文章主要讲述了父亲做饭的事，可见父亲接受了这一培训课程。wonder“想要”;understand“理解”;accepted“接受”;admit“承认”，根据句意，故C正确。
38. D 【解析】句意：父亲接受了，因为他想这样可以远离战争。take part in “参加”;carry on with “继续干某事”;catch up with “赶上，追上”;stay away from “躲避，远离”，故D正确。
39. D 【解析】句意：事实证明，我父亲取得了好成绩并成为军队的厨师长。chance “机会”;record“记录”;experience“经验”;grade“成绩，等级”。根据句意，故D正确。
40. A 【解析】句意：在处理菠菜问题之前，一切进展得都很顺利。本题考查了连词的用法。until“直到”;as“依照，随着”;when“当……时”;so“因此”,故A正确。
41. A 【解析】句意：因为菠菜对身体有益，因此军队里每周要做好几次。根据后文士兵们甚至拒绝看盘子里的菠菜，菠菜最终还是被倒掉了，可知士兵们并没有吃，可排除D。supply “供应”和check “检查”均不符合语境，可排除B和C，prepare “准备”符合题意，故A正确。
42. D 【解析】carefully“仔细地，认真地”;unwillingly “不情愿地”;certainly “肯定地”;unfortunately “不幸地”，根据文章内容，故D正确。
