三、短文填空
请认真阅读下面短文，并根据各题所给首字母的提示，写出一个合适的英语单词完整的、正确的形式，使短文通顺。

Christmas and New Year are fun for many people. There are many parties and cab drivers and their horses have to work hard and often late at night. So it is not a 1. h for us. Sometimes we have to wait for 2. h in the cold while their clients(客户) are inside eating and 3. d to the music.
We had a lot of evening work during Christmas week, and Jerry had a bad cough. One evening, when we got home, Jerry's cough was so bad that he 4. c speak. The doctor came and said it was serious. Jerry was very ill.
Jerry was ill for three days. Harry looked after me, but he didn't sing or laugh as he 5. u did. And he always hurried back inside to his father. On the 6. t day Jerry began to get better but the doctor said that he must not work on the cab again.
One afternoon Harry was in the stable cleaning me. A few minutes later Dolly danced into the stable. “Harry, I've got 7. w news!” she cried. “Mrs Fowler says we can go and live near her in the country. There is a cottage there, 8. w a garden and apple trees! Mother is laughing and crying, and Father looks very happy!”
And so the Barkers 9. d to sell the cab and horses and move to the country as soon as Jerry was well. This was sad 10. n for me. My life in London with Jerry was a happy one. But they promised to find a good place for me.
—Taken from *Black Beauty*

【语篇解读】本文是一篇记叙文。文章节选自《黑骏马》，主要从马的角度讲述了车夫这个行业的艰辛，以及 Jerry 改行回乡下的经过。
1. holiday 2. hours 3. dancing 4. couldn't 5. usually 6. third 7. wonderful 8. with 9. decided 10. news

【分析】
本题为短文填空题，需结合上下文语境、首字母提示及语法规则填写正确单词。解题思路：先通读全文把握主旨（节选自《黑骏马》，讲述车夫的经历），再逐句分析：1. 根据圣诞新年有派对但车夫需工作，判断不是假期；2. 车夫等客户的时长，结合首字母填对应名词；3. 与eating并列的动作，用现在分词；4. 咳嗽严重导致不能说话；5. 对比往常的状态；6. 对应生病的天数；7. 描述消息的性质；8. 表示小屋附带的事物；9. 表示做出的决定；10. 指代前文提到的搬家相关的消息。
【解析】
1. 前文提到圣诞新年有很多派对，车夫却要辛苦工作，因此此处指“对我们来说不是假期”，首字母为h，故填holiday；
2. 车夫需在寒冷中等待客户，通常等待数小时，首字母为h，故填hours；
3. 客户在屋内吃饭并随音乐跳舞，与eating并列，需用现在分词形式，首字母为d，故填dancing；
4. Jerry咳嗽严重到无法说话，首字母为c，故填couldn't；
5. Harry不像往常那样唱歌、大笑，首字母为u，故填usually；
6. Jerry生病三天后，第三天开始好转，首字母为t，故填third；
7. Dolly带来好消息，首字母为w，故填wonderful；
8. 小屋带有花园和苹果树，用介词with表示“带有”，首字母为w，故填with；
9. Barker一家决定卖掉车和马，首字母为d，故填decided；
10. 搬家对“我”来说是悲伤的消息，首字母为n，故填news。
【答案】
1. holiday 2. hours 3. dancing 4. couldn't 5. usually 6. third 7. wonderful 8. with 9. decided 10. news
【知识点】
词汇运用、语境理解
【点评】
本题节选自经典名著《黑骏马》，以短文填空的形式考查学生对词汇、语境及语法的综合运用能力，需结合上下文逻辑和首字母提示准确作答，难度适中。
【难度系数】
0.6