Every time I passed boys who were playing basketball, I stopped to silently watch them. I really envied them. But as a girl, I once thought that I could  16  play basketball.

I like playing basketball though I'm not good at it. I've had a basketball 17  I was a child. At first, I could play freely because no one  18  when I was just a kid. But as I grew up it seemed harder and harder for me to enjoy basketball.

At school, it was always the boys who played basketball during PE classes. The girls were 19  allowed to play volleyball or badminton.

My parents did not  20  me play basketball at home. "Basketball is not fit for girls," they said.   21  I went to play basketball with my friends, boys  22   at me on the court as if I were an alien.

I was feeling  23  and had lost hope of playing basketball. 24 , something changed the first day of high school. I made some friends who also enjoyed playing basketball. They  25  me to get back on the court.

One of them told me with a smile, "Go your own  26 , let others talk." This girl would always play basketball with me. Even the boy who sat next to me in class talked about  27  with me almost every day.

I was inspired by them. Confidence and passion  28 to my heart. I am ready to stand up and play. I will play as well as I can,  29  for me, even the sky is boundless (无垠的).

Basketball has become an important part of my  30 . I am interested in it. I watch matches and enjoy playing almost every day. Through basketball, not only do I feel happy and confident, but also 31  a lot.

I've heard the NBA star Tracy McGrady say, "Nothing is impossible." It is from an advertisement on TV. I have  32  to realize that life is just like playing basketball. You should have an  33 . After that, just be confident and  34  going. Never give up and you'll make it sooner or later.

I love the motto of the NBA. It can 35  my strong feelings for basketball, "I love this game!"

1.                A．ever           B．often           C．never    D．always

2.                A．when          B．before         C．after D．since

3.                A．struggled       B．cared          C．enjoyed  D．joined

4.                A．only           B．almost          C．hardly    D．not

5.                A．encourage      B．agree          C．let   D．permit

6.                A．Still            B．Yet            C．Just  D．Even

7.                A．looked         B．glared          C．glanced   D．stared

8.                A．up            B．down          C．excited   D．satisfied

9.                A．Unluckily       B．Naturally        C．Unexpectedly  D．Clearly

10.               A．encouraged     B．forbade        C．ensured   D．explored

11.               A．effort          B．way           C．business   D．direction

12.               A．basketball       B．sports          C．interests   D．dreams

13.               A．stuck          B．referred        C．turned    D．returned

14.               A．but            B．though         C．and  D．however

15.               A．wish           B．life            C．work D．study

16.               A．experience     B．grow           C．learn D．play

17.               A．come          B．turned         C．refused   D．happened

18.               A．idea           B．aim            C．opinion   D．effort

19.               A．insist          B．remain         C．keep D．last

20.               A．inform         B．express        C．ignore D．connect

    Homebuyers nationwide are watching housing prices going up, up, and up. “How high can they go?” is the question on everyone’s lips? “As long as interest rates stay around 5 percent, there’s no telling,” remarked one realtor in Santa Monica, California.
“It’s crazy,” said Tim, who is looking for a house near the beach. “In 1993, I bought my first place, a two-bedroom condominium in Venice, for $70,000. My friends thought then that I was overpaying. Five years later, I had to move. I sold it for $230,000, which was a nice profit. Last year, while visiting friends here, I saw in the local paper that the exact same condo was for sale for $510,000!”
It is a seller’s market. Homebuyers feel like they have to offer at least 10 percent more than the asking price. Donna, a new owner of a one-bedroom condo in Venice Beach, said, “That’s what I did. I told the owner that whatever anyone offers you, I’ll give you $20,000 more, under the table, so you don’t have to pay your realtor any of it. I was tired of looking.”
Tim says he hopes he doesn’t get that desperate. “Whether you decide to buy or decide not to buy, you still feel like you made the wrong decision. If you buy, you feel like you overpaid. If you don’t buy, you want to kick yourself for passing up a great opportunity.”
Everyone says the bubble(泡沫) has to burst sometime, but everyone hopes it will burst the day after they sell their house. Even government officials have no idea what the future will bring. “All we can say is that, inevitably, these things go in cycles,” said the state director of housing. “What goes up must come down. But, as we all know, housing prices always stay up a little higher than they go down. So you can’t lose over the long run. Twenty years down the road, your house is always worth more than you paid for it.”
60．If Tim had sold his flat last year, he could have earned          .
A．$ 510,000                B．$ 440,000                C．$ 280,000                D．$ 160,000
61．Donna paid another $ 20,000 to the owner secretly because          .
A．she felt like offering 10% more                    B．secret money made low price
C．the owner asked for the money                  D．she was bored with bargaining
62．We can infer from Tim’s words in paragraph 4 that           .
A．homebuyers feel hesitate facing rising house prices
B．buying a house is always a great opportunity
C．homebuyers never make the right decision
D．both sellers and buyers become desperate
63．What is the author’s opinion about the housing bubble?          
A．It is something everyone hates to see
B．Only experts know when it will burst
C．It is unavoidable in the regular circles
D．It usually stays for about twenty years