1. She didn’t want to go to the party, so she ____ an excuse.

2. Lili and Lucy are twins, and they ___ much ____.

3. ______ his teacher, he had made greater progress in his English.

4. The new teacher is fresh from university, he really doesn’t know how to ____ his badly behaved students.

5. Well, the story is too much for Mary. She can’t understand, ___, she’s only two.

6. As time ______, the little girl is getting prettier and prettier.

7. ________, his biology has improved, but there is still a long way to go.

8. They told me it would be cheap, but _____ it cost me nearly $500.

9. He was _____ angry _______ he left the room without saying a word.

10. The driver hurt in the accident _______ in hospital all the time by the doctor yesterday.

On the first day of the sixth grade, I noticed one little girl called Amy on the school bus. “ Don’t  16  her,” warned Lauren, who sat beside me. “or they will make fun of you.”

Amy had many  17  differences － lots of reasons for other kids to make fun of her. Her eyes weren’t straight. Her glasses were an inch thick. And she had really uneven teeth.

Every day  18  we drove to and from school, kids would shout insults(侮辱) at Amy. “God，what a strange face! Stop  19  me!” “Mr. Rolland (the driver)! Amy took off her glasses, and now her eyes are frightening me.  20  her put them back on!” For a while I shouted my   21  of insults, just so I’d fit in.  22 , I didn’t want them to treat me the same way they treated Amy.

But while I was insulting her, my heart  23  for the girl. I could see that the insults were making her look uglier, because she was so  24  and alone. Then I wanted to  25  her. I just didn’t know how to stop my schoolmates －  26  the night of our class roller-skating party.

Our whole class was there,  27  Amy. Amy didn’t know how to skate, but I could see how much she wanted to have  28  like the rest of us. So I skated over to her and took her by the hand.  29  we began the journey together around the skating rink. She just smiled, and every once in a while she would laugh in excitement.

On the school bus the next morning, there was much  30  about Amy and me skating together. But  31  insulted her or me. And they didn’t do that for the rest of the year. I  32  heard from Amy again after the school year. But I’ve always  33  that I changed her life for the better.

She changed my   34 . After becoming her friend, I no longer tried to impress people by trying to  35  like them. I became myself.