"What's it like to have a gap between your teeth?" a girl asked me one day.
Nobody had ever _. 36 _  before. My hand unconsciously rose to cover my mouth. But, as she looked at me, sincerely waiting for__ 37__, 1 realized she was not trying to be rude. "I never think about it," I truthfully replied. She nodded and turned away. I was left wondering if people _38__ me and saw only gappy teeth.
Later that day at home, I began to __39 __ my teeth again. I felt upset. I thought my life would be somehow better if my teeth were not gappy. How I wanted the perfect teeth that everyone else seemed to have!
Of course, Mom   40  everything . She has lived her entire life with gappy teeth, and tried to convince me that there was nothing to __41__. When I refused to listen, she told me I could get the surgery to close the gap if it was that important. "Let's be   42__, though," she said. "If everyone got surgeries to become pretty, everyone would be exactly the same. There is beauty in differences."
Her __43__ made me consider my teeth seriously. The thought of losing my gap was more terrible than the reality that people were going to notice it. I realized how important it was to me. It is part of my  44 _.
Nowadays many people do ridiculous things to realize their dream of "perfection." The__45_ is that no one is perfect. When all potential for ugliness is removed, so is all of the potential for   46__.
So if that girl ever asked about my teeth   47___, I would truthfully answer. "You know? It's really cute."

She appears ________ the news. Listen, she is crying in her room.

1. A.
   to know
2. B.
   to have known
3. C.
   to be knowing
4. D.
   to be known

—“ Neal, listen,” she said, looking straight at him．”I ask you not to get        ____in this kind of matter．

—It’s none of your business”．

阅读下面的短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A teacher teaching maths to seven-year-old Laiq asked him, “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

Within a few seconds, Laiq      confidently, “Four!”

The confused teacher was expecting a(n)       correct answer, three. She was disappointed. “Maybe the child did not listen      ” she thought. She     “Laiq, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

 Laiq had seen the      on his teacher’s face. He     again on his fingers. But within him he was also      the answer that would make the teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, “Four.”

The disappointment stayed on the teacher’s face. Suddenly she    that Laiq liked strawberries. She thought maybe he didn’t like apples and that was why he couldn’t answer the question. This time with an excitement in her     she asked, “If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?”

Seeing the teacher   , young Laiq calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him. But a little on the teacher. She wanted her new    to succeed.    a hesitating smile young Laiq replied, “Three?”

The teacher now had a      smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to      herself. But one last thing remained.      she asked him, “Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?”

Confidently Laiq answered, “Four!” The teacher was     , “How Laiq, how?” she demanded in a little impatient voice.

In a voice that was      and hesitating young Laiq replied, “Because I already have one      in my bag.”

The story tells us:      someone gives you an answer that is      from what you expect, don’t think they are wrong. There shall be an angle that you may not have thought about yet.

1.A. told            B. added C. replied D. wrote

2.A. worthless   B. effortless       C. careless         D. selfless

3.A. possibly         B. actively       C. attentively     D. strictly

4.A. repeated         B. ordered   C. whispered     D. complained

5.A. satisfaction       B. disappointment          C. punishment  D. determination

6.A. recognized       B. discovered        C. calculated     D. insisted

7.A. searching for     B. waiting for          C. arguing about        D. talking about

8.A. decided         B. noticed           C. expressed        D. remembered

9.A. eyes            B. hands            C. mouth       D. nose

10.A. sad            B. happy          C. pitiful    D. lovely

11.A. invention       B. system       C. reform             D. approach

12.A. On             B. In               C. With              D. By

13.A. victorious       B. precious   C. lasting            D. appealing

14.A. thank           B. congratulate     C. help              D. enjoy

15.A. Above all        B. In vain           C. On purpose        D. Once again

16.A. annoyed         B. concerned         C. amused           D. relaxed

17.A. high            B. low               C. easy             D. clear

18.A. strawberry       B. apple       C. coin       D. box

19.A. Before          B. After             C. Until        D. When

20.A. absent           B. free             C. different         D. safe