When I was a teenager I volunteered to work at the water station at a 10,000m race. My job was to 36 water to the runners, I remember being so 37 to see all the different kinds of people who passed by and grabbed a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past. I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! So the next year I 38 up for the race.

That first 10,000m race was quite an 39 . I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked. 40 , I didn’t know if I could finish. Then came a defining(起决定性作用的) 41 .

At one point near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me, very, very fast, and I felt 42 because I was 15 years old, younger than him but I couldn’t even keep up with him. I felt 43 for a second.

But then I 44 something. He was running his race and I was running mine. He had 45 abilities, experience, training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my 46 was only to finish.

After a minute, it 47 me that this was a lesson I could draw from. I learned something about myself at that moment. I turned my embarrassment into 48 .

I 49 that I would not give up running races. In fact, I would run even more races and I would learn how to train and prepare 50 and one day I would be one of those 70-year-old persons who were still running. As I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my 51 .

In life we all have those moments when we 52 ourselves with others. It’s only 53 . Don’t allow those moments to 54 you. Turn them into motivation and let them inspire you. With the proper preparation and training, you can improve your result to 55 anything you want in life.

1.                A．bring out       B．pass out         C．take out  D．pick out

2.                A．excited         B．worried         C．concerned    D．anxious

3.A gave B. made    C. signed       D. dressed

4.                A．achievement    B．encouragement  C．interest   D．experience

5.                A．At times        B．In time         C．In all D．At all

6.                A．victory         B．decision        C．moment  D．conclusion

7.                A．embarrassed    B．annoyed        C．moved   D．thrilled

8.                A．relaxed         B．defeated        C．puzzled   D．inspired

9.                A．realized        B．lost            C．noticed   D．remembered

10.               A．necessary       B．evident         C．common   D．different

11.               A．motto          B．plan           C．goal  D．direction

12.               A．worried        B．hit            C．reached   D．hurt

13.               A．attraction       B．devotion        C．inspiration D．expectation

14.               A．hoped         B．promised       C．decided   D．suggested

15.               A．slightly         B．hardly          C．clearly    D．properly

16.               A．excitement      B．accomplishment  C．movement D．judgement

17.               A．introduce       B．relate          C．present   D．compare

18.               A．important       B．natural         C．strange    D．ridiculous

19.               A．weaken        B．wound         C．amuse D．cheer

20.               A．prevent        B．deliver         C．achieve   D．abandon

LONDON, England（CNN）--- The youngest person to sail solo around the world returned home Thursday from his 30,000-mile, 282-day ocean journey.
Mike Perham, 17, sailed into Lizard Point in Cornwall, the southernmost point in Britain, at 9:47 a.m., his race team said.
“It feels absolutely brilliant,” Mike told CNN by phone hours before crossing the finish line. “I'm really, really excited to be going across the line at last. It doesn't feel like long since I crossed it first.”
Mike set off on his round-the-world trip on November 18, 2008. He has been sailing his yacht single-handedly, though a support team has been sailing next to him along the way.
The teen has now achieved the title of Youngest Sailor to Circumnavigate the Globe Solo, according to the Guinness World Records.
Mike learned how to sail when he was seven years old from his father, Peter and at age 14, he sailed across the Atlantic alone.
The teenager's school --- which Mike describes as “highly supportive” of his trip --- has redesigned his coursework to fit in with his trip. It also gave him some coursework to do during “quiet moments,” according to Mike's Web site.
There haven't been many of those quiet moments. Repeated autopilot failures forced him to stop for repairs in Portugal, the Canary Islands, South Africa, and twice in Australia, according to his Web site.
Bad weather in the Southern Ocean --- between Australia and Antarctica --- forced Mike to battle 50ft waves and 57 mph winds. He said at one point, a “freak wave” picked up the boat and turned it on its side.
“My feet were on the ceiling at the time,” he told CNN. “That was a really hairy moment, and I was certainly thinking, ‘Why am I here?’ But we took the sails off and the day after I thought, ‘This is brilliant!’”
Mike describes his father as his biggest hero, always supportive of what he wanted to achieve. Peter Perham said he wasn't too worried about his son facing dangerous situations at sea, as long as he knew what to do and stayed safe.
49. Mike Perham returned to Britain in ________.
A. August      B. November      C. October          D. September 
50. Mike Perham is ________ that went on the round-the-world trip in the world up till now.
A. the first       B. the bravest     C. the luckiest     D. the youngest
51. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. the English school is the same as ours
B. the English school gives students a lot of course work
C. the English school has a humane management
D. the English school doesn’t care for students
52. The passage mainly tells us ________.
A. Mike’s exciting sail trip around the globe
B. how Mike’s father taught him to sail a boat
C. why CNN wanted to report the news to the public
D. the introduction of the Guinness World Records

It was one of those cold winter nights in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco . I was driving an eyesore（丑陋的东西）that could only be  36  as a “ car ” by someone who was either a shameless liar or a good friend .

It was  37  to drive the car because you had to keep your fingers and toes crossed to keep the engine running . I tried to imagine I was driving a huge clumsy  38  ; that way I didn’t  39  the slow speed .

That night I must have uncrossed my fingers to scratch something . The car  40  in the middle of a four-lane stretch of Oak Street . I  41  for a place to turn off（拐弯）, but the street was lined with parked cars .

There I sat , in  42  traffic , as tons of vehicles screamed by . In my rearview mirror（后视镜）I saw a car  43  behind me . I knew what was coming . Soon the horn would start and someone would be  44  at me . But I was  45  .

A stranger got out of the car and came to my  46  . He asked , “ Do you want a  47  ?”

I was surprised but  48  . And then he  49  to his car and two teens piled out to help push my car . When I was  50  delivered to a side street , they got back into their car and rejoined the sea of  51  . I didn’t get to  52  them .

Over the years I’ve realized something about the  53  who stopped to help . I’ve noticed that every time I’m in  54  , he appears . The one true thing in this world is an unasked  55  provided by a stranger .

When I was a teenager, I volunteered to give out water at a marathon. Watching the different runners who passed by and grabbed a cup was 36 . The next year I signed up for the race. I did little preparation and my only goal was to finish. On the day of the race, it was 37  hot. I remember struggling at about the 5^th mile, thinking, “I am never doing this again!”

Have you ever felt that way about something? You eagerly choose a goal 38     soon realize it is 39 to achieve than you imagined it would be. That first 10 km race was quite an experience. I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked. Then 40 a decisive moment. Near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me. I felt 41  that I was younger than him but I couldn’t keep up with him. I felt defeated for a second but then I realized 42 . He was running his race and I was running mine. He had different experience, training and goals and I had mine. 43  in life do we 44  ourselves with others and feel disappointed in ourselves when we really shouldn’t? I decided, then, that one day I would be one of those 70-year-olds who were still running. 45  I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my achievement. Since then I have run several races and run purely for fun.

In life we all 46  compare ourselves with others, which is only natural. But don’t let them weaken you. 47 , you should use them to inspire you and show you what is possible. Then you are a true winner.

1.                A．pleasing        B．interesting      C．inspiring  D．amazing

2.                A．extremely       B．strangely        C．sadly D．certainly

3.                A．and            B．but            C．while D．or

4.                A．easier          B．harder         C．better    D．worse

5.                A．went           B．flew           C．happened D．came

6.                A．exhausted      B．disappointed     C．embarrassed   D．annoyed

7.                A．something      B．anything        C．everything D．nothing

8.                A．How many      B．How much       C．How often D．How old

9.                A．cooperate      B．compare        C．combine  D．compromise

10.               A．When          B．Because        C．Since D．Until

11.               A．hardly         B．sometimes      C．always D．never

12.               A．Furthermore    B．Therefore       C．Meanwhile D．Instead

My bookshelves are full of dust — and with good reason. When it comes to cleaning that part of my home, I suffer from the most serious case of avoidance (回避反应症).
The thing is this: when I do set out to clean and re-organize my books, which seldom happens, I place myself into a really bad situation. No sooner do I take a title from the shelf, blow off the dust, and wipe down the cover than I find myself sitting on the floor with legs crossed and my back against the wall. Pretty soon books get piled up on my legs as I am reunited with old friends.
It is as if these books have voices, and each wants to say its piece. “Remember me? I was given to you when you went into the Navy, so that you would never lack for companionship,” one whispers. Another says, “I was your first book of poems, given to you before you learned to love poetry.” And a third, “I was the book that made history so attractive to you.”
Perhaps the greatest pleasure of re-organizing my books are the surprises — or better said, reunions — that occur. During my latest book-cleaning adventure, I found one that had fallen behind the shelf: “Tales of Edgar Allan Poe.” Not an unusual title, but the words written on the first page made it very special: “With Love from Mom and Dad, Christmas 1965.” What’s this? A book on the physics of lasers（激光）. It is filled with mathematical statements, and I had bought it at a library sale when I was 12, not long after the laser had been invented. I couldn’t understand a bit of it, but I did learn what “laser” meant.
What I end up with when I empty my bookshelves is a cross-section (横剖面) of my personal history. It’s like a road cut where one sees all the layers of rock going back through time to the beginning of the simplest life forms. The books I’ve read — and kept — are not just old friends. They are my résumé.
【小题1】What could be said about the author?