People           about what our future will look like for thousands of years.

have been wondering

wonder

wondered

will wonder

考查动词时态。句意：数千年以来人们一直想知道我们未来是什么样子。根据时间状语 for thousands of years可知，描述从过去开始一直持续到现在的动作，用现在完成进行时。故选A项。

It was along the Mississippi River _________ Mark Twain spent much of his childhood.

how

which

that

where

此处构成It was...that...强调句式，句中强调了介词短语along the Mississippi River。故选C。

We shouldn't take         for granted that we still have a lot of time before the Entrance Examination.

this

that

it

such

考查代词。句意：我们不应该想当然地认为在高考前我们还有很多时间。这里涉及了一个固定句型take it for granted that 认为.....是理所当然的，该句型中it 作形式宾语，真正的宾语是后面that引导的从句。故选C项。

There are 24 solar terms in a year. Grain Rain often starts in Apirl,the           month of the year.

Third

fourth

fifth

sixth

考查数词。句意：一年有24个节气。谷雨通常在一年中的四月开始。空格前有定冠词the,与可数名词单数month，要用序数词。根据

Grain Rain often starts in Apirl，可知四月份是一年之中的第四个月，要用序数词fourth。故选B项。

Tom looks so pale today. He ______ ill.

must be

had to be

should be

shall be

[翻译]汤姆看起来脸色不好，他一定生病了。[解析] A 试题解析：情态动词must表示推测。题目中表示肯定的推测。

I think it           that she should be knowledgeable about Music for her present job.

urgent

normal

essential

gifted

考查形容词词义辨析。句意：我认为她对音乐的了解对她目前的工作是必要的。A. urgent紧急的；B. normal普通的；C. essential基本的、必要的；D. gifted有天赋的。根据句意以及后接宾语从句为

Though it is a          job, he  still devotes much time and energy to it.

poor-paying

poorly-paying

poorly-paid

poor-paid

考查构词法。本题中考查了复合形容词的构词法，“使用副词+过去分词” 构成新的形容词，如“newly-discovered”最新发现的；本句中“poorly-paid报酬极少的”。句意：尽管这是一份报酬极少的工作，但他仍然花了很多时间和精力做它。故选C项。

Mary and her friend          a plan and gathered forty people from my company to help the homeless people at the Christmas party.

came up with

put up with

caught up with

kept up with

考查动词短语辨析。句意：玛丽和她的朋友想出了一个计划，在圣诞节聚会上，从我的公司聚集了四十几个人来帮助无家可归的人。A. came up with 提出；B. put up with 忍耐；C. caught up with追上，赶上；D.kept up with 跟上。下文“聚集人帮助无家可归的人”是想出的计划。故选A项。