完形填空（15分）
阅读下面短文, 掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
I stood in the doorway, watching my elder brother carefully putting clothes into his bag. I coughed uneasily. Finally 　　36　　 that I was there, Rocky turned towards me with a sad smile.
“I’m 　　37　　 tomorrow,” he said.
“I know.” My __38____ was almost a whisper. I was 　　39　　 at myself for being so weak, but I wasn’t about to cry.
“My 　　40　　 is early, so there is still 　　41　　 time to come to the airport,” he said. Seeing the 　　42　　 look on my face, he quickly added, “I promise I won’t leave without saying goodbye.”
I tried to say 　　43　　 , but didn’t. It’s always 　　44　　 to keep quiet if you’re about to cry. “You promised you wouldn’t cry,” he said to me, thinking that I was close to 　　45　　.
I remember the day he taught me how to ride a bike. 　　46　　 I thought he was always right behind me, holding the seat to keep me from 　　47　　. I was happy with this, but he knew he couldn’t hold me up all my life. He told me that one day he would have to let go.
His coughing stopped my thinking. What was left to say? How could I say 　　48　　 to the person who taught me everything?
The next morning I 　　49　　 , looked at my alarm clock, and realized he had left　50　 ago. We never even said goodbye.
Goodbye, Rocky! Although he may have been many miles away, I knew he heard me, even if it was only an answer in his heart.

Several years ago, a television reporter was interviewing three of the most important people from local businesses. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York.
　　The reporter was talking to them about being important.
　　“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.
　　The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President is really important.”
　　The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.
　　The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President said he was too busy to answer it.”
　　The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”
　　“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that makes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”
　　“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked.
　　“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”
【小题1】This story happened in ________.
A. U.N.             B. U.S.A.               C. U.K.      D. P.R.C.
【小题2】There are________in this passage.