阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　Bertha Ingram had been collecting them for more than 40 years．Every once in a while she would bring home a new book．She'd sit with it on her leg, looking at the meaningless black marks without moving the eyes and cry．

　　She was not stupid．She simply had not had the 　　1　　 to learn to read．Her parents were sharecroppers in Florida in the 1920s．Sharecroppers did not own the 　　2　　 they farmed．Instead, they gave a part of their crops(plants grown on farms for food)to the owner．It was quite a hard way to 　　3　　 , and both of Bertha's parents worked hard in the fields．Often Bertha had to leave school to help．Before she was a teenager, Bertha's schooling was 　　4　　．

　　Bertha Ingram didn't learn to read 　　5　　 her early married life, 　　6　　．She wanted to, but she was always too busy．She worked all day．

　　Bertha Ingram's mind was sharp(敏锐地)．　　7　　 a housekeeper for other people, she had to memorize telephone messages．She became a good cook too, but she had to 　　8　　 everything she did because there was no cookbook she could read, and she couldn't write down what she had done．

　　In 1978 Bertha Ingram became very ill with a stroke(中风)．This illness 　　9　　 her to lose the use of one arm and both legs．It also weakened her ability to speak．　　10　　 she began to get better, she had a 　　11　　 thought for the first time in her life．Because she couldn't work, she had the time to learn to read．

　　In her town there was a special program that taught adults to read, but Bertha Ingram was quite 　　12　　．Would people laugh at her? Would they 　　13　　 to teach her? It didn't happen that way．She had a teacher who worked very hard with her．

　　After the first day Ingram could 　　14　　 wait to get to the library．As she learned to read, Ingram got more and more confidence in herself．She became a reader at religious(宗教的)services, joined neighborhood groups, and 　　15　　 at meetings in city hall．Finally she wrote a book telling about her life．At age 63, Bertha Ingram proved that learning never comes too late．

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