“Do you want to come with me?” Sally asked her brother. “I’m going to meet some friends at the bike course（赛道，路线）down the block. We’re going to practice for the race next week.”

“No, thanks,” Mark replied. “Sam’s coming over to play basketball.”

Sally rode off on her bike while Mark waited for his friend. Mark was fast,   35   he usually did well in most sports. He didn’t think it would   36   if he practiced the course. It could be hilly or sandy, and Mark knew he would   37   speed along.

The race day finally arrived. “My stomach feels like I ate some butterflies,” Sally told Mark when she saw so many kids around. Then they   38   the other riders at the start line.

“Sally is always nervous,” Mark thought. “Don’t worry.   39   will do fine,” he said. As soon as the starter shouted “Go!”, Mark’s legs pumped up and down like two machines. He moved   40   to the front.

A few minutes later, there wasn’t anyone ahead of him! Mark raced along the course. He rode past some pine trees. Then the path looped(环绕)around a pond. Mark was surprised that the course was so   41  .

His tired legs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. All at once, a flash of color caught his eyes. There was a line of bike riders on the course ahead of him! “How could this be?” Mark said to himself. “I must have taken a wrong   42   and made one more loop in the course,” he thought.

Mark pushed his achy muscles(肌肉)harder. He realized his   43   alone wouldn’t be enough this time;   44   the course was just as important. He managed to ride past a couple of bike riders, but he couldn’t   45   the riders who were in the lead.

After the race Mark saw his sister. “Wow, you must have done a good job in the race. What place did you get?” Mark asked.

“Third place!” Sally answered excitedly.

“That’s great! I came in ninth place. But I’ll do better next year because I’ll be     46   enough to practice the course with you,” Mark made a face at his sister and replied.

35. A. but                           B. as                        C. and                      D. or

36. A. help                          B. move                   C. care                     D. come

37. A. just                           B. even                     C. never                   D. still

38. A. joined                       B. passed                  C. visited                  D. invited

39. A. I                              B. You                      C. They                    D. She

40. A. quickly                     B. quietly                  C. clearly                  D. carefully

41. A. hard                         B. wide                    C. long                     D. tidy

42. A. chance                      B. turn                     C. step                     D. ride

43. A. patience                    B. spirit                    C. speed                   D. imagination

44. A. accepting                  B. changing              C. knowing               D. finishing

45. A. leave                         B. touch                   C. face                     D. reach

46. A. honest                      B. smart                   C. brave                   D. confident

Maybe you have seen this in schools: some students are Studying nearly all the time but they just pass their exams, while some others may spend much less time on their books but do much better in exams．How could this happen? People used to think that hard work is the only way to success．But now they have understood that smart work can make them succeed, too．

     Hard workers don't mind working for long hours, while smart workers always think of several different answers to these questions, "Why should I suffer this?  Isn't there a better way to do this?" Thanks to these people, we can use computers instead of the abacus now．Progress in every field is the direct result of "try to find a better way" by smart workers．

There was a large soap factory in Japan． Once it received an unusual letter from someone who complained that there was no soap in the soapbox he bought．

How could empty soapboxes go out of the factory? The engineers checked the producing and packing The producing was fine, but in about one in ten thousand cases, the packing machine （机器）let an empty soapbox go．There was no need to spend a lot of money repairing the machine for such a small problem．The engineer soon worked out a solution: he put a huge X-ray （X光射线） machine and two large computers to find out the empty soapboxes．After teaching the workers how to use it, he sat down in his seat, exhausted．

     "Sir, we could have solved the problems in a much simpler and cheaper way," a worker said．

     "Really? How? "

     "We can put a huge fan （风扇） near the packing machine． The wind coming from the fan will blow away the empty boxes, leaving the other boxes with soap．There would be no need for an X-ray machine, two computers, and operating by workers．"

     See, this is smart work． In order to succeed, we should not only work hard like the engineer, but also think smart like this worker．

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。

1．Some students spend much less time on schoolwork but do much better in exams _______.

A．because of their hard work

B．because of different education

C．because they try to find a better way

D．because they study for a much longer time

2．Someone wrote to the soap factory and complained that _______.

A．the soapbox he bought was empty

B．their soap was too expensive

C．the soap he bought was terrible

D．their service was very bad

3．The soap factory could only _______ near the packing machine to solve the problems in a much simpler and cheaper way．

A．set some soapboxes

B．set an X-ray machine

C．put two large computers

D．put a huge fan

4．The phrase "blow away" here in Chinese means _______.

A．停止                   B．吹走                     C．熄灭                      D．逃脱

5．The article mainly tells us that we should _______ in order to succeed．

A．think of different answers to our questions

B．spend much less time on our schoolwork

C．work hard like the engineer and think smart like the worker

D．spend enough money repairing the machine for any problem