Writing out all the invitations by hand was more time-consuing than we             .

will except

are  excepting

except

had excepted

考查时态。句意：手工写下所有的邀请函要比我们预料的花去更多的时间。根据句意可知我们预料是在实际上写之前发生的，而本句中实际写花去的时间使用了过去时was，所以expect用过去完成时。故D项正确。

 Is _______ three hours _______ the poor boy to come to school on foot?

it; that it takes

there; that it takes

there; when

it; that

考查强调句。强调句的结构为It’s + 强调部分 + that从句。本题强调时间状语three hours。句意：可怜的男孩步行到学校花了3个小时吗？故A正确。

I drink a cup of coffee           ; but usually I take tea.

frequently

often

constantly

occasionally

考查副词词义辨析。句意：我偶尔喝一杯咖啡，但我通常喝茶。A. frequently频繁地；B.often经常地；C.constantly连续不断地；D.occasionally偶尔地。but 表转折关系；根据后半句的usually,前面用occasionally,与usually意思相对。故选D项。

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。

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

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。

---Miss Yuan，you promised！

---Well，______.But it was you broke your word first.

so was I

so did I

so I was

so I did

考查强调句。句意：袁女士，你承诺过的！噢，我确实如此。但是是你先失言的。A和B是一类回答，C和D是一类回答。当别人说他自己怎么样，而你有跟他同样的情况时，用AB这样的形式回答。当别人说你怎么样，而你自己也确实是他说的那样时，用CD回答。至于用be动词还是do要根据具体语句定，谓语是be时就用be的相应形式，谓语是实意动词时就用do的相应形式。根据句意，故选D。

Don’t mention that at the beginning of the story, or it may             the  shocking end.

give out

give away

give up

give off

考查动词短语辨析。句意：不要在故事的开头提到它，否则会泄露令人震惊的结局。A. give out分发；B. give away泄露；C.give up 放弃；D. give off发出（光），根据“the shocking end”可知，此处表示“泄露”。故选B项。