二、根据首字母提示填空，补全短文
In a family’s vegetable garden, there was a big rock that people often tripped (绊倒) over and got hurt. One day, the son asked, “Dad, why don’t we d 1 out that annoying (烦人的) stone?” The father replied, “That rock has been there since your grandfather’s time. It’s huge, and I have no idea how long it would take to dig it out. I 2 of wasting time trying to remove it, it’s better to just be careful about it and let it teach you to think smarter.”
Years later, the boy g 3 up, got married and became a father himself. One day, his d 4 said to him, “Dad, I really hate that big rock in the vegetable garden. Let’s hire someone to move it someday.” The father said, “No way! That rock is really h 5. If it could be moved, it would have been gone when I was a kid.”
The daughter was upset b 6 she’d tripped over it many times. So she decided to s 7 the problem. One morning, she grabbed a hoe (锄头) and a bucket of water. She poured water a 8 the rock to soften the soil and waited for 10 minutes. Then, she used the hoe to loosen the soil. She thought it would take all day to dig it out, but to her s 9, it only took a few minutes. The rock wasn’t as big as they had thought. They had all been fooled by how big it seemed.
This shows that the things we think are holding us back are often made bigger by our own worries. Sometimes, it is the “stubborn stones (顽石)” in our minds that s 10 us from finding new solutions and opportunities.
1.
dig
2.
Instead
3.
grew
4.
daughter
5.
heavy/huge
6.
because
7.
solve
8.
around
9.
surprise
10.
stop
解析：
【分析】
做首字母填空需先通读短文把握主旨（花园石头的哲理故事），再结合上下文语境、固定搭配、语法规则及首字母提示逐一推导：1. 由儿子想移除石头的语境，结合固定搭配dig out（挖走）及首字母d确定单词；2. 爸爸表达“而非浪费时间移石头”，用固定短语instead of及首字母I确定单词；3. 表示“长大”的固定搭配grow up，结合时态及首字母g确定单词；4. 后文提到女儿言行，结合his及首字母d确定单词；5. 爸爸认为石头难移，结合首字母h确定符合的形容词；6. 表女儿难过的原因，用连词because及首字母b确定单词；7. 结合“解决问题”的固定搭配及首字母s确定单词；8. 表“在石头周围”的介词及首字母a确定单词；9. 固定短语to one's surprise及首字母s确定单词；10. 固定搭配stop sb from doing sth及首字母s确定单词。
【解析】
1. 由前文“人们常被石头绊倒”可知儿子想挖走石头，固定搭配dig out意为“挖走”，结合首字母d，填dig；
2. 爸爸认为移石头耗时，instead of表示“而不是”，符合“不要浪费时间移，而是小心”的逻辑，结合首字母I，填Instead；
3. 固定搭配grow up意为“长大”，此处用一般过去时，结合首字母g，填grew；
4. 后文提到女儿的言行，结合his（他的）及首字母d，填daughter；
5. 爸爸认为石头难以移动，结合首字母h，可填heavy（重的）或huge（大的）；
6. 女儿难过的原因是多次被石头绊倒，表原因用连词because，结合首字母b，填because；
7. 固定搭配solve the problem意为“解决问题”，结合首字母s，填solve；
8. 为软化土壤，把水倒在石头周围，结合首字母a，填around；
9. 固定短语to one's surprise意为“令某人惊讶的是”，结合首字母s，填surprise；
10. 固定搭配stop sb from doing sth意为“阻止某人做某事”，符合“阻碍我们找新方法”的语境，结合首字母s，填stop。
【答案】
1. dig 2. Instead 3. grew 4. daughter 5. heavy/huge 6. because 7. solve 8. around 9. surprise 10. stop
【知识点】
英语首字母填空、固定搭配、语境理解
【点评】
本题以哲理故事为载体，考查学生对词汇、固定搭配及语境的综合运用能力，是初中英语常见题型，需结合上下文逻辑分析，难度适中。
【难度系数】
0.5
