I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely(模糊地) 　1　 the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see things again, 　2　 a disaster can do strange things to people. It happened to me the other day that I might not have come to love 　3　 as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I believe in life now. I am not sure that I would believe in it so 　4　. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I 　5　 mean that the loss of 　6　 made me enjoy more of 　7　 I have now.

Life asks us to keep making 　8　 to reality. If a person is able to get ready for anything changeable his world will 　9　 more meaningful. I became blind, but I was 　10　. My parents and my teachers saw 　11　 in me－a potential(潜力) to live, you might call it－which I didn’t see, and they make me fight it out with blindness.

The hardest 　12　 I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was what I had to do at least. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would become a chair rocker for the 　13　 of my life. When I say I believe in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase 　14　. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: A belief that I could deal with anything alone; that somewhere in the 　15　 there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

1. A. imagine       B. find             C. remember     D. guess

2. A. but           B. though               C. so           D. because

3. A. myself        B. life             C. eyes         D. blindness

4. A. that          B. therefore            C. happily      D. deeply

5. A. seldom        B. just             C. hardly           D. always

6. A. them      B. it                   C. blindness        D. light

7. A. that          B. what             C. which            D. where

8. A. moments       B. encouragements       C. improvements D. changes

9. A. become        B. change               C. look         D. end

10. A. brave        B. lucky                C. sad          D. wise

11. A. something    B. everything           C. nothing      D. anything

12. A. problem      B. experience           C. difficulty       D. lesson

13. A. rest     B. whole                C. need         D. last

14. A. lonely       B. alone                C. self         D. person

15. A. company  B. group                C. society  (社会)   D. family

Dear Alice,
I just received your letter. And I was very surprised to know that you decided to drop out of school and wanted to be a model （模特）.
Being a model for a living is not easy. In fact, a famous person like me has a lot of problems that you couldn’t see. I can’t eat what I like, even though I’m very hungry. Keeping thin makes me look more beautiful on the stage because no one would like to see a heavy model.
Besides, I have to wear a heavy coat in the hot sun, in a swimming suit in the cold air. And practicing walking nicely every day is tiring for me.
You might say I made much money from modeling. But my dear niece （侄女）, you have to know that money is, nothing, knowledge is everything. School is important and everyone should go to school for a certain period of time. The longer they stay at school, the better they will be. Very often, I hope I can give up my job and continue my studies at school. But it is very difficult for me to go back to school again. I am too old to go back to school now.
You are a pretty young girl with a bright future. You only have one year to finish your studies in high school. A year is really short. Please do consider my words carefully before you decide. Of course, there is only one thing I care about, and that is your happiness.
Love,
Emma
【小题1】What was Emma surprised about?