Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers urged, “Barbara, be enthusiastic! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience．”
How 1 they were！Enthusiastic people can turn a boring drive into an adventure, extra work into 2 and strangers into friends．
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson．It is the paste that helps you 3 there when the situation gets tough．It is the inner voice that 4 “I can do it” when others shout, “No, you can’t do it．”
It took years and years for the early work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be 5 accepted．Yet she didn’t stop doing her experiments．Work was such a deep 6 for her that she never thought of stopping．
We are all born with wide-eyed, enthusiastic 7 －as anyone knows who has ever seen an infant’s delight at the jingle of keys or the hurrying of a beetle．
It is this 8 wonder that gives enthusiastic people such a youthful air, whatever their age．At 90, cellist(大提琴演奏家)Pablo Casals would start his day by 9 Bach．As the music flowed through his fingers, his bent shoulder would straighten and joy would 10 in his eyes．Music, for Casals, was what made life a never 11 adventure．As author and poet Samuel Ullman once wrote, “Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the 12 ．”
We cannot afford to waste 13 on “might-have-beens”．Just as the saying goes, it’s no use crying over spilt milk．We need to live each moment 14 , with all our senses－finding pleasure in the fragrance of a backyard garden, the crayoned picture by a six-year-old, or the charming beauty of a rainbow．It is such enthusiastic love of life that puts a sparkle in our eyes and 15 the wrinkles from our souls．
We’ve heard it before－we’ve heard it on the news, from teachers, from parents－children and teenagers today are growing up too fast．There are not too many people that will 1 with that statement．Teenagers are faced with serious problems and decisions at an early 2 ．In fact most teenagers’ daily schedules are as 3 as those of an adult’s．
I have been working since I was thirteen, and always in 4 in which I was working with adults．I have had to learn to think and 5 like an adult to be taken seriously．So, I count myself as one who has grown up too fast．I just graduated from high school, and have recently spent some time reflecting(反思)on the 6 eighteen years-thinking about myself, what I have gained, and what 7 I have yet to achieve．
We are expected to work hard, get excellent 8 , be in a good relationship, and know what we want to do 9 ．The list goes on and on．But the 10 is clear：We live in a society today that is 11 our childhood．We no longer have many years to be careless and fancy-free．We are expected to 12 the strict school rules and to excel(擅长)in everything we do．I’ve known these things for a long time, and knew that they 13 me．But, I never really admitted it until last night, when I learned a 14 lesson, taught to me by my boss where I work．We had finished a job at a remote site．It was about 11∶30 at nig-ht, and we had 15 to his house．We were talking about the 16 he had been making to his home．One of the things he said was “I 17 my basketball hoop(篮圈)．” Then he threw a basketball to me．
I hadn’t 18 a basketball in five years．
We proceeded to shoot hoops for about 40 minutes．Both of us were terribly bad at it, but we spent the whole time 19 away like children．Then I realized something：I am still a child．Oh, the law says I’m an adult．But, we are still really and truly children．We all need to have 20 once in a while．
(1)
[ ]
A．
argue
B．
disagree
C．
satisfy
D．
discuss
(2)
[ ]
A．
age
B．
stage
C．
year
D．
grade
(3)
[ ]
A．
certain
B．
busy
C．
careful
D．
perfect
(4)
[ ]
A．
companies
B．
places
C．
positions
D．
offices
(5)
[ ]
A．
study
B．
speak
C．
work
D．
act
(6)
[ ]
A．
last
B．
other
C．
rest
D．
coming
(7)
[ ]
A．
purposes
B．
success
C．
goals
D．
jobs
(8)
[ ]
A．
textbooks
B．
grades
C．
teachers
D．
schools
(9)
[ ]
A．
in life
B．
in time
C．
for ages
D．
for ever
(10)
[ ]
A．
information
B．
message
C．
notice
D．
idea
(11)
[ ]
A．
ruining
B．
correcting
C．
envying
D．
shortening
(12)
[ ]
A．
respect
B．
accept
C．
learn
D．
follow
(13)
[ ]
A．
inspired
B．
disappointed
C．
affected
D．
frightened
(14)
[ ]
A．
valuable
B．
serious
C．
important
D．
useful
(15)
[ ]
A．
walked
B．
flown back
C．
gone back
D．
driven
(16)
[ ]
A．
furniture
B．
improvements
C．
equipment
D．
arrangements
(17)
[ ]
A．
moved
B．
fixed
C．
sold
D．
broke
(18)
[ ]
A．
played
B．
caught
C．
touched
D．
held
(19)
[ ]
A．
laughing
B．
shouting
C．
running
D．
shooting
(20)
[ ]
A．
a rest
B．
a talk
C．
fun
D．
sports
完形填空：
I was 15 when I walked into McCauley’s Bookstore in Ashland．As I was looking at titles(标题)on the shelves, the man behind the counter(柜台)， 1 , asked if I’d like 2 ．I needed to start 3 for college, so I said yes．I 4 after school and during summers for the lowest wages(薪金)，and the job helped 5 my freshman(or first)year of college．I would work many other jobs：I made coffee in the Students’ Union during college, I was a hotel maid(or waitress)and 6 made maps for the U．S．Forest Service．But selling books was one of the most satisfying(令人满意的)．
One day a woman asked me for books on cancer．She seemed fearful(or much afraid)．I showed her almost 7 we had at that time in store and found other books we could order(定货)．She left the store less 8 ．I’ve always remembered the 9 I felt in having helped her．
Years later, as a 10 in Los Angeles, I heard about an immigrant(移民) child who was born 11 his fingers connected(or joined together), web-like．His family could not afford(or pay for)a corrective(矫正；整形)operation, and the boy lived in 12 , hiding his hand in his pocket．
I 13 my boss to let me do the story．After my story was broadcast, a doctor and a nurse called, offering to perform the 14 for free．
I visited the boy in the recovery(康复)room soon after the operation．The first thing he did was to hold up his 15 hand and say, “Thank you．” I felt a sense(感觉)of 16 ．
In the past, while I was 17 , I always sensed(or felt)I was working for the customers(顾客)，not the store．Today it’s the 18 ．NBC News pays my salary(工资)， 19 I feel as if I work for the 20 , helping them make sense of(or find the meaning of)the world．
