It's a fantasy that goes back centuries: a message in a bottle, carried ashore from far-off lands. Authors, artists and children ___26___ have dreamed of such a gift from the sea.
This time, though, it's not a bottle that washes ashore. It's eggs—thousands of little toy eggs.
That's what happened on the German island of Langegoog this week.
Lying just off the North Sea coast, it found itself ___27___ by an invasion of colored plastic eggs-much to the ___28___ of local children, because the eggs contained toys.
Police ___29___ the eggs came from a freighter that lost part of its cargo during an unusually ___30___ storm, the worst to hit Germany's northeastern coast since 2006.
At any rate, what was lost has now been found by many of the community's littlest residents.
"The surprise eggs have found their way to freedom," said Mayor Uwe Garrels. However, the joy of the moment ___31___ off soon.
"At first I thought this was a wonder, because everything was so ___32___, but then we realized that this is a huge ___33___ in the end," said the mayor. He also noted the plastic bags and other materials that have washed ashore on the island can cause serious problems for ___34___.
Still, all these little eggs contained an extra treat with their toys. They ___35___ notes from afar.
There was just one problem for the German children who received them: They were written in Russian.
A) wore
B) wildlife
C) suspect
D) struck
E) similar
F) quantity
G) overthrown
H) mess
I) intense
J) human
K) effective
L) delight
M) colorful
N) bore
O) alike
26. O根据句子 "Authors, artists and children ______ have dreamed of such a gift from the sea."，空格处需要填入一个词来修饰前面的三个主语 "Authors, artists and children"。这个词需要表达“都，同样地”的含义，表示这三类人都做过同样的梦。选项中 alike 意为“同样地，都”，常放在名词或代词后作状语，符合句意和语法结构。所以选 O。
27. D根据句子 "it found itself ______ by an invasion of colored plastic eggs..."，这里描述的是岛屿被大量塑料蛋“袭击”或“冲击”的情景。空格处需要一个动词的过去分词，与 found itself 构成被动语态。选项中 struck 是 strike 的过去分词，意为“袭击，冲击”，常用于描述自然灾害或突发事件的冲击，如 be struck by a storm/wave 。 be struck by an invasion 形象地表达了“被……入侵/冲击”的被动状态。所以选 D。
28. L根据句子 "...much to the ______ of local children, because the eggs contained toys."，后半句“因为蛋里有玩具”解释了前半句的结果，说明当地孩子们对此事的态度是积极的。 much to the + 名词 + of sb. 是一个固定搭配，表示“令某人感到……的是”。因此，空格处需要一个表达“高兴，喜悦”的名词。选项中 delight 意为“高兴，快乐”，符合语境。所以选 L。
29. C根据句子 "Police ______ the eggs came from a freighter..."，这里描述的是警方对鸡蛋来源的推测。主语是 Police (警方)，他们对于此事的来源并非百分之百确定，而是一种基于证据的推断。选项中 suspect 意为“怀疑，猜想”，指对某事有猜测但不确定，符合警方调查时的口吻。所以选 C。
30. I根据句子 "...during an unusually ______ storm, the worst to hit Germany's northeastern coast since 2006."，空格处需要一个形容词来修饰 storm (风暴)。后面的同位语 "the worst to hit..."(自2006年以来袭击……最严重的一次)进一步说明了这场风暴的猛烈程度。因此，空格处需要一个表示“强烈的，剧烈的”的词。选项中 intense 意为“强烈的，剧烈的”，常用来形容风暴、情感等。所以选 I。
31. A根据句子 "However, the joy of the moment ______ off soon."，这句话由 however 转折，说明喜悦之情并未持续。空格处需要与 off 搭配构成一个动词短语。选项中 wore 是 wear 的过去式， wear off 是一个固定短语，意为“逐渐消失，减退”，常用来形容情绪、药效等的减弱。 the joy wore off 指“喜悦之情逐渐消退”。所以选 A。
32. M根据句子 "At first I thought this was a wonder, because everything was so ______..."，市长一开始觉得这是个奇迹，原因在于眼前景象的某种特质。前文提到过 "colored plastic eggs"(彩色的塑料蛋)，因此这里的景象应该是色彩斑斓的。选项中 colorful 意为“多彩的，鲜艳的”，与上下文描述的景象完全吻合。所以选 M。
33. H根据句子 "...but then we realized that this is a huge ______ in the end,"，由 but 转折可知，市长后来的看法与之前的“奇迹”相反，是一种负面的评价。后文还提到塑料袋等物品会造成问题，说明这实际上是一件麻烦事。选项中 mess 意为“混乱，一团糟”， a huge mess 指“一个大麻烦，一片狼藉”，符合语境。所以选 H。
34. B根据句子 "...the plastic bags and other materials that have washed ashore on the island can cause serious problems for ______."，这句话指出了塑料垃圾的危害对象。塑料垃圾冲上海岸，对环境造成的危害，首当其冲的是岛上的动植物。选项中 wildlife 意为“野生动物”，是环保话题中常见的受害者，与 plastic bags 构成典型的因果关系。所以选 B。
35. N根据句子 "They ______ notes from afar."，这句话描述了蛋里除了玩具还有什么。主语 They 指代 eggs ，蛋本身不能主动“写”或“带”纸条，这里需要一个动词来表达“(内壁)带有，刻有”的含义。选项中 bore 是 bear 的过去式， bear 有一个意思是“带有，显示”，例如 The coin bears a portrait of the queen. (这枚硬币上刻有女王的肖像)。 They bore notes 意为“它们(蛋)带有纸条”。所以选 N。
