An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to  1  the house-building business to live a more  2  life with his wife and  3  his extended family. He would miss the paycheck（工资）each week, but he wanted to retire. They could  4 . 

The employer was  5  to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes,  6  over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He used bad workmanship and  7  materials. It was an unfortunate way to  8  a dedicated（献身的）career.

When the carpenter finished  his work, his employer came to  9 the house. Then he handed the front-door  10  to the carpenter and said, “This is your house... my  11  to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a  12 ! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

13  it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting  14  than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we  15  we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot  16 . You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or build a wall. Someone  17  said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your  18 ,  and the choices you  19  today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, build  20 !

1. A. continue          B. start        C. leave         D. find       

2. A. leisurely         B. lonely      C. orderly       D. friendly        3. A support            B. share           C. enjoy         D. care            4. A. go off            B. get by      C. pass on       D. work away       5. A. polite            B. nervous      C. proud         D. sorry         

6. A. but               B. while       C. which        D. before          7. A. perfect          B. inferior   C. superior      D. tough           8. A. satisfy           B. improve      C. meet          D. end              

9. A. buy               B. repair      C. inspect          D. sell             10. A. roof             B. window       C. key              D. design       11. A. gift             B. promise      C. salary          D. words   

12. A. disappointment   B. shame        C. pleasure         D. success      13. A. So               B. Yet         C. As               D. Such         14. A. worse            B. more         C. rather           D. less         15. A. realize          B. explain      C. think            D. admit        16. A. step forward     B. go back      C. come out         D. look around

Did you ask the teacher what _____ this afternoon?

My sister and I have been a headache for my mother, because my father was in the army, he was not around too often. __21__, my mother brought us up almost single-handedly and it must have __22__ real strength of mind to bring up such naughty and stubborn children who got out from one trouble only to get into another.
Bonus and I weren’t scholars either. __23__, we hated studying from the very beginning. We were __24__ to spend time with our schoolbooks---out of the fear of Mum’s scolding. I almost did not make it to 10th grade. That entire summer Mum __25__ that I read my schoolbooks from the very first chapter till the last.
I left __26__ college at 18. In my second year of college, while I was studying for my final exams, I got a phone call from Mum __27__ my sister had failed her 9th grade exams. Mum was heartbroken. My mother was an English teacher in a famous school in the city and it was a(n) __28__ for her.
Then started another __29__ for my Mum. There always seemed to be people who would come and talk about how well their children were doing __30__ my mother would be having a tough time making sure we stayed on the right path. Mum was __31__ that we would do well for ourselves. She never let my sister and me __32__ that we had lost out on something and always told us: “Let this be a lesson. We are going to work really really hard...__33__ will change.”
Things did change, but very slowly and __34__, one little step at a time. Last year I finished with law school and started working. My mother’s belief in me __35__. And just a few days ago I got a phone from Bonus. She had __36__ the exam with honors and was __37__ to the best university in the country. I was in tears. Later that night I __38__ Mum: “Mum, your two little failures didn’t do as badly as everybody thought.” Mum __39__ and said: “You are my daughters and I knew you the best. I always knew that you would succeed. It was just a __40__ of time.”

In a national spelling contest in America, an 11-year-old girl was asked to spell a certain word. But with her soft voice the judges were not sure if she spelled the word with the letter A or E.  71  By now, the girl knew she had misspelled the word. But instead of lying and telling the judges she had said the correct letter, she told the truth that she had said the wrong letter.  72 
As the girl walked off the stage, the entire audience stood on their feet clapping to applaud her honesty. Later, dozens of newspaper reporters wrote about this 11-year-old girl’s courage and honesty, even when it cost her the contest.  73 
Probably the biggest test of our character and honesty is what we would do if we knew we would never get caught.
This young girl could easily have lied, and nobody would have known it but her. But that’s just it: She would know she did wrong.  74 
This young girl was strong and smart enough to prize her own conscience and character more than the prize from a spelling contest. Her respect for herself was more important than any respect others might give her for winning a contest. She knew she would have to live with herself and the choice she made at the moment.
  75 

The foreign teacher suggested __________ more to improve our reading skills．

A．us to do             B．we would do      C．we practice      D．we practiced