阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题后所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出最佳选项。

　　I was born and brought up in the town of Pineville， which I left at the age of sixteen．Twenty years 　　1　　 I found myself back on a visit．I went to see my old friend Tom Clark，who， 　　2　　 as ever，was chairman of the local（本地的） club．He was busy preparing to welcome 　　3　　 writer，who had been 　　4　　 to come to give a talk on modern literature （文学） at the public library 　　5　　 evening．Since I happened to have 　　6　　 a book or two by the famous writer，when Tom invited me to go with him I 　　7　　 accepted．

　　Tom was going to 　　8　　 the speaker to the audience（听众）．So we went to the library a little early to greet him．As the speaker had not yet 　　9　　 ， I left Tom and went into the main reading room 　　10　　 a large crowd had already gathered．I was 　　11　　 to find that I knew nobody there．So I found a seat in the corner and 　　12　　 patiently waiting．

　　When it was just about time for the 　　13　　 to begin．I saw Tom standing at the doorway making a sign for me to come out．He looked 　　14　　 about something， so I got up and went out to him．He 　　15　　 that he had just had a telephone call from the writer．Our speaker had 　　16　　 his flight（航班） and would not be arriving！While we were thinking about the problem．Tom suddenly asked me 　　17　　 mind filling in as speaker．I 　　18　　 had time to think about the matter when suddenly I found I was being 　　19　　 back into the reading room to make a speech to the 　　20　　 audience！

1．A．ago

B．later

C．earlier

D．before

2．A．active

B．lazy

C．brave

D．shy

3．A．a well-known

B．an unknown

C．the well-known

D．the unknown

4．A．noticed

B．invited

C．refused

D．made

5．A．last

B．some other

C．the other

D．that very

6．A．interested

B．written

C．mentioned

D．read

7．A．gladly

B．sadly

C．had

D．was

8．A．direct

B．move

C．describe

D．introduce

9．A．spoken

B．arrived

C．rested

D．eaten

10．A．where

B．although

C．after

D．there

11．A．expected

B．disappointed

C．unexpected

D．disappointing

12．A．sat

B．stood

C．lay

D．hid

13．A．party

B．show

C．talk

D．dinner

14．A．pleased

B．worried

C．frightened

D．satisfied

15．A．suggested

B．explained

C．apologized

D．insisted

16．A．taken

B．made

C．missed

D．lost

17．A．whether to

B．not to

C．that I should

D．if I would

18．A．sent

B．driven

C．carried

D．led

19．A．hardly

B．still

C．already

D．quickly

20．A．familiar

B．waiting

C．shouting

D．ready