A 25-five-year student from Hubei was admitted into Tsinghua University, China’ most famous university, after an eight-year ___21___．Li Jun comes from a small village of Hubei Province．He first ____22____ going to college in year 2000 ___23__he was admitted by a local school after __24___ from a secondary technical school at 17．As a ___25___ art student, he passed the exam again the next year but __26_____ school due to economic pressure in September 2002．Life seemed ___27___ but Li didn’t give in．He earned a _28_____ by working part-time in Wuhan’s art rooms and tutoring students．But he never lost sight of his lifelong dream of __29___ the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University．Li __30____ the college entrance examination for five continuous years from 2003．____31___, he missed making the cut one mark last year．
In 2008, his fifth try, Li’s efforts ___32_____．He finished the qualifying exam in his province and was finally admitted as a sculpture major in Tsinghua University．Every year, Li took art __33___ in Beijing and took exams from December to March．He then took cultural courses in his school till June．The rest of the year he spent on __34____ work．Li said he hadn’t ____35___any money from his family since he graduated from the technical secondary school．Li said the reason he maintained for eight years was that he wanted to change his __36_____ through knowledge．
_____37___ by his contribution, Li Jun’s university __38____ him 9,000 yuan out of his tution fees of 11,450 yuan．An eight-year struggle may have come to an end for Li Jun, but a new ___39__ has now begun．Li said he would not worry about repaying loans at present．He wants to study well and __40___ more scholarships．

A farmer had some puppies（小狗）to   36  . He painted a sign advertising the puppies and   37__  nailing （钉）it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, a little boy came to him.
“Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.”
“Well,” said the farmer, as he   38  the sweat off his face, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost   39  money. Do you have enough money?”
The boy    40   his head for a moment. Then reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of   41  and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?” “Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he  42  a whistle (口哨声), “Here, Dolly!” he called.   43  from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly    44  by four little balls of fur. The little boy’ eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their   45  to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.   46    another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller.  Then in a somewhat    47   manner the little pup began hobbling（蹒跚） toward the others, doing its best to    48  .
“I want that one,” the little boy said,   49   to the smallest one. The farmer said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you   50  these other dogs would.”
With that the little boy   51  back from the fence, and began    52    up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he exposed a steel support running down both sides of his leg   53  itself to a specially made   54   . Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir, I don't   55   too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”

Directions: For each blank in the passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
Many years ago I was on a bicycle trip through some exceedingly picturesque (如画的) countryside. Suddenly, dark clouds piled up overhead and rain began to fall, but strange to ___50___, several hundred yards ahead of me the sun shone brilliantly. Riding, however, as rapidly as I could, I found it ___51___ to get into the clear. The clouds with their rain kept advancing faster than I could race forward. I continued this unequal contest for an exhausting half hour, ___52___ realizing that I could not win my way to the bright area ahead of me.
Then it dawned upon me that I was wasting my strength in unimportant hurry, while paying no attention whatsoever to the landscape ___53___ which I was making the trip. The storm could not last forever and the discomfort was not unendurable. Indeed, there was much to look at which might ___54___ have escaped me. As I gazed about with sharpened ___55___, I saw colours and lines and shapes that would have appeared differently under brilliant light. The rain mists (薄雾) which now ___56___ the wooded hills and the fresh clearness of the different greens were entrancing (迷人的). My annoyance at the rain was gone and my eagerness to ___57___ it disappeared. It had provided me with a new view and helped me understand that the ___58___ of beauty and satisfaction may be found close at hand within the ___59___ of one’s own sensibilities.
It made me think, then and later, about other matters to which this incident was related. It helped me realize that there is no sense in my ___60___ ever to flee from circumstances and conditions which cannot be avoided but which I might bravely ___61___ and frequently mend and often turn to good account. I know that half the battle is won if I can face trouble with courage, __62__ with spirit, and triumph with humility. It has become ever clearer to me that danger is far from disaster, that defeat may be the forerunner of final ___63___, and that, in the last analysis, all achievement is dangerously weak ___64___ based on enduring principles of moral conduct.

One day a very wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of  which  would be considered a very poor family. On their  return  from their trip, the father asked his son, “ How was the trip?”
“It was  great , Dad .”
“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.
“Oh yeah?” said the son.
“So what did you  learn  from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that  reaches  to the middle of our garden and they have a creek (小溪) that has  no  end. We have lanterns in our garden and they have the  stars  at night. We have a  small  piece of land to live on and they have fields that go  beyond  our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve  themselves . We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have  walls  around our property（财产） to protect us but they have friends to protect them.”
With this the boy’s father was  speechless .
Then his son  added , “Dad, thank you for showing me how  poor  we are.”
Too many times we  forget  what we have and concentrate on what we don’t have. What is one person’s  priceless  object is another’s prize possession. It’s all  decided  on one’s perspective (视角). Think about what would happen if we all gave  thanks  for what we have,  instead of  worrying about what we don’t have.
Be thankful for every single thing in your life, exactly as it is now–and  especially  your friends. Be sure to take the time to express your appreciation and gratitude for the people whom you are close to.

Nicola’s Love for Her Violin
Can love between partners with a 237-year age gap (差距) lead to the perfect match (绝配)? Nicola Benedetti thinks so. The 18-year-old   36  and her “partner, a 255-year-old Italian violin,   37  to China for the first time last weekend. She   38  in Beijing on September 15 and also performed in Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Nicola is from Scotland and   39  playing the violin when she was four years old.   40 , it was not something her parents   41  her do. She went with her sister to violin lessons and   42  it and improved very quickly.
“There are so many different things I am fond of about the  43 ,” she said. “I can’t really   44  it but I love giving live performances, I like the feeling of playing and communicating with the   45 . I love the feeling of the violin under my chin (下巴).”
However, playing violin six hours a day is not a/an   46  job. “I usually   47  in an upstairs bedroom when I’m at home.” she said. “But sometimes, when it’s   48  outside, it can be upset. The house is right on the   49  and I can see others having fun   50  I’m on my own.”[来源:学_科_网]
Although practising is sometimes lonely, Nicola   51   felt she was lucky. “You can’t have   52 . I am really lucky to do what I love doing,” she said. Her   53  paid off (终有回报). Nicola won BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004 at 16.
  54  her performing and recording activities, Nicola is a/an   55 of UNICEF (联合国儿童基金会). She said that she would travel to Lesotho in southern Africa at the end of this year to help poor kids there.