3. 【2011·金沙前中国际分校模拟】完形填空

A Happy Discovery

Antique shops have a special fascination to a great many people. The more expensive kind of antique shop, where rare objects are beautifully   36   in glass cases to keep them free from dust, is usually a forbidding place.   37   no one has to gather courage to enter a less pretentious(装腔作势的) antique shop. There is always   38   that a real rarity(珍品) will be found among the piles of junk in the dirty, dark,   39   rooms.

My old friend, Frank Halliday, is just such a person. He has often   40   to me how he picked up a masterpiece for a mere ￡50. One Saturday morning, Frank visited a(n)   41   antique shop in my neighborhood. As he had never been there before, he found a great deal to   42   him. The morning passed   43   and Frank was about to leave   44   he noticed a large packing-case lying on the floor. The dealer told him that it had just come in, but that he could not be   45   to open it. Frank   46   him to do so and the dealer reluctantly opened it. The contents were   47  . The box was full of crockery(陶器), much of it broken. Frank gently lifted the crockery out of the box and suddenly noticed a miniature painting at the bottom of the packing-case. As its composition and line   48   him of an Italian painting he knew well, he decided to buy it. Glancing at it   49  , the dealer told him that it was worth ￡50. Frank could hardly   50   his excitement, for he knew that he had made a real   51  . The tiny painting   52   to be an unknown masterpiece by Correggio and was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

No one discovers a rarity by chance. A truly dedicated bargain hunter must have   53  , and   54  , the ability to recognize the worth of something when he sees it. To do this, he must be at least as   55   as the dealer. Like a scientist bent on making a discovery, he must cherish the hope that one day he will be greatly rewarded.

36. A. displayed       B. put       C. played           D. placed

37. A. So      B. But        C. Unless D. And

38. A. certainty       B. luck       C. hope       D. promise

39. A. deserted     B. tidy     C. beautiful       D. disordered

40. A. smiled       B. described   C. talked   D. remarked

41. A. familiar   B. usual     C. common         D. casual

42. A. value   B. interest   C. fear         D. enjoy

43. A. rapidly     B. slowly     C. freely           D. happily

44. A. until     B. after   C. before         D. when

45. A. reminded   B. bothered       C. encouraged     D. interested

46. A. begged     B. demanded     C. recommended       D. forced

47. A. exciting B. disappointing   C. satisfying       D. annoying

48. A. reflected     B. told     C. informed     D. reminded

49. A. carefully     B. briefly     C. excitedly     D. blindly

50. A. hide     B. find     C. show       D. describe

51. A. difference     B. invention     C. discovery         D. expectation

52. A. proved   B. turned   C. happened     D. seemed

53. A. courage B. imagination     C. passion     D. patience

54. A. in all   B. after all     C. at all     D. above all

55. A. adorable     B. responsible   C. knowledgeable     D. respectable

36—55 ABCDB CBADB ABDBA CADDC