Question

When people hear that I’m the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, they all have the same question: How did a 22-year old woman row a 19-foot boat for 70 days through high winds and crashing waves? Well, the biggest   36   for me wasn’t physical. By the time I decided to do the   37   row, I had already biked 3,300 miles cross-country, run across the Mojave Desert, and   38   the 325-mile length of the Allegheny River. However, the tough part would be  39 : How would I handle the   40  , the boredom of the vast sea?

I   41   on January 3, 2010. I set my sights on (下决心) getting past the quarter-way

  42  , which would take about 20 days.

Day 20, January 22, was gray and cloudy. I could have done something to   43  , such as   44   myself to a chocolate bar.   45   I didn’t.

I was suffering from terrible loneliness. I hadn’t seen   46   over two weeks. Every day was beginning to feel the same. Eating, rowing, sleeping, watching the sky, watching the ocean.

Then, around sunset, I saw something move on the horizon. They were dolphins! They

  47   my boat. Suddenly I felt so grateful. They had come to help me celebrate, just  48 

I needed them. I rowed at full   49   for the next 20 minutes with the dolphins around. By the time we went our   50   ways, I was no longer lonely. Better yet, I knew I would be okay.

I did make   51  , all 2,817 miles. I hit the coast of Guyana, South America, on March 14, after 70 days and five hours at sea. My ocean row   52   $70,000 for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, which funds drinking water programs around the world. I know some athletes spend the entire journey imagining the end, and that helps them get   53  . But for me, the secret is to focus on the   54  , where you experience the personal growth — those moments of awareness of being connected to the sun, the weather, and the waves. And, on the best day of my life, those dolphins, which freed myself   55   terrible loneliness.

36. A. request        B. challenge                  C. thought                    D. promise

37. A. ocean                 B. river                         C. lake                         D. channel

38. A. measured            B. swum               C. dug                          D. proved

39. A. technical             B. practical                   C. environmental           D. mental

40. A. sickness              B. business                   C. loneliness                 D. weakness

41. A. set off                B. took off                    C. paid off                    D. broke off

42. A. rule                    B. port                         C. mark                        D. level

43. A. settle                  B. cerebrate                  C. bargain             D. interrupt

44. A. devoting              B. adapting                   C. pointing            D. treating

45. A. For                     B. So                           C. But                                 D. Or

46. A. rain                    B. sand                         C. flight                               D. land

47. A. circled         B. bit                            C. left                                 D. sank

48. A. till               B. when                       C. unless                      D. though

49. A. speed                  B. price                        C. size                                 D. length

50. A. separate              B. interesting          C. dangerous                D. useful

51. A. one                     B. it                             C. myself                            D. them

52. A. lacked          B. raised                C. needed                            D. cost

53. A. off                     B. through                    C. in                                   D. away

54. A. moment              B. week                        C. month                      D. year

55. A. below                 B. in                      C. on                                  D. from

Answer 1

BABDC   ACBDC   DABAA   BBBAD