Steve, a twelve-year-old boy with alcoholic parents, was failing．Surprisingly, he could read, yet, 1 his reading skills, Steve had been failing since first grade．Steve was a big boy, yet, he went unnoticed… 2 Miss White．
Miss White was a smiling, beautiful, young lady．For the first time in his 3 life, Steve couldn’t take his eyes off his teacher; yet, 4 he failed．In the middle of the first term, the entire seventh grade was 5 for basic skills．Steve hurried through his tests, and 6 to dream of other things, as the day passed slowly．One day, Miss White’s 7 voice broke into his daydreams．“Steve!” Startled(吓了一跳), he 8 to look at her．“Pay attention!” She began to 9 the test results．“You all did pretty well,” she told the class, “ 10 one boy, and it breaks my 11 to tell you this, but…” She hesitated, pinning Steve to his seat with a sharp 12 ．“…The smartest boy in the seventh grade is failing my class!”
After that, Steve still 13 do his homework．“Just try it,” Miss White said one day．“Steve! Please! I care about you!” Wow! Suddenly, Steve got it! Someone cared about him? Someone, so beautiful and perfect, cared about him! Steve went home from school, 14 , that afternoon．
The following Monday he arrived at school on time, and waited for Miss White to enter the classroom．She walked in, all sparkle and smiles! Immediately, she gave a 15 on the weekend homework．Steve was the first to 16 his paper．With a look of 17 , Miss White took his paper．Steve walked back to his desk, his heart beating strongly within his chest．
Miss White’s face was in total 18 ! Suddenly, her face broke into a bright smile．The
smartest boy in the seventh grade had just 19 his first test! From that moment 20 was the same for Steve．
ON receiving my learner driver license a couple of months ago, I started driving lessons straight away．In New Zealand, the 1 driving age is 15．
However it wasn't 2 two days ago that Dad finally allowed me to drive on the motorway．Our 3 was Orewa, a seaside town about 60 kilometers away from my home in Auckland．That morning I 4 sure I had enough to drink and went to the toilet about three times 5 we left．I thought I was totally 6 for the journey, but nothing could have prepared me for my family's 7 ．“Relax!Don't hold the steering wheel(方向盘)so 8 ．The car is going zigzag(弯弯曲曲的),”called a nervous voice from the 9 ．“Speed up．70km/h isn't fast enough．You are holding up the traffic,”another voice ordered from the seat next to mine．
How 10 !My parents were really starting to get on my nerves．To satisfy them I sped up and within a second, an angry voice began to yell again．“Stop! 11 !Are you crazy?”
Everything did not go fine until I pulled off the motorway and drove into the city, 12 the speed limit was only 50km/h．My family seemed relieved(放心的)and 13 telling me what to do．They all looked out of the windows and enjoyed the scenery． 14 , that silence didn't last very long．My mum suddenly cried out,“Look at those 15 above us．Aren't they lovely?”
How did she expect me to look up in the 16 ?As the driver I had to 17 ．Who knows what would have happened if I had taken my eyes off the 18 ?Four hours later we drove home．This time the journey was much 19 than before as everyone else 20 fast asleep．So, I just took my time and enjoyed the drive．
ON receiving my learner driver license a couple of months ago, I started driving lessons straight away．In New Zealand, the 1 driving age is 15．
However it wasn't 2 two days ago that Dad finally allowed me to drive on the motorway．Our 3 was Orewa, a seaside town about 60 kilometers away from my home in Auckland．That morning I 4 sure I had enough to drink and went to the toilet(厕所)about three times 5 we left．I thought I was totally 6 for the journey, but nothing could have prepared me for my family's 7 ．"Relax! Don't hold the steering wheel(方向盘)so 8 ．The car is going zigzag(弯弯曲曲的)," called a nervous voice from the 9 ．"Speed up．70km/h isn't fast enough．You are holding up the traffic," another voice ordered from the seat next to mine．
How 10 ! My parents were really starting to get on my nerves．To satisfy them I sped up and within a second, an angry voice began to yell again．"Stop! 11 ! Are you crazy?” Everything did not go fine until I pulled off the motorway and drove into the city, 12 the speed limit was only 50km/h．
My family seemed relieved(放心的)and 13 telling me what to do．They all looked out of the windows and enjoyed the scenery． 14 , that silence didn't last very long．My mum suddenly cried out, "Look at those birds above us． 15 they lovely?"
How did she expect me to look up in the 16 ? As the driver I had to 17 ．Who knows what would have happened if I had taken my eyes off the 18 ? Four hours later we drove home．This time the journey was much 19 than before as everyone else 20 fast asleep．So, I just took my time and enjoyed the drive．
On receiving my learner driver license a couple of months ago, I started driving lessons straight away．In New Zealand, the 1 driving age is 15．
However it wasn't 2 two days ago that Dad finally allowed me to drive on the motorway．Our 3 was Urawa, a seaside town about 60 kilometers away from my home in Auckland．That morning I 4 sure I had enough to drink and went to the toilet(厕所)about three times 5 we left．I thought I was totally 6 for the journey, but nothing could have prepared me for my family's 7 ．"Relax! Don't hold the steering wheel(方向盘)so 8 ．The car is going zigzag(弯弯曲曲的), called a nervous voice from the 9 ．"Speed up．70 km/h isn't fast enough．You are holding up the traffic," another voice ordered from the seat next to mine．
How 10 ! My parents were really starting to get on my nerves．To satisfy them I sped up and within a second, an angry voice began to yell again．"Stop! 11 ! Are you crazy?” Everything did not go fine until I pulled off the motorway and drove into the city, 12 the speed limit was only 50 km/h．
My family seemed relieved(放心的)and 13 telling me what to do．They all looked out of the windows and enjoyed the scenery． 14 , that silence didn't last very long．My mum suddenly cried out, "Look at those birds above us． 15 they lovely?"
How did she expect me to look up in the 16 ? As the driver I had to 17 ．Who knows what would have happened if I had taken my eyes off the 18 ? Four hours later we drove home．This time the journey was much 19 than before as everyone else 20 fast asleep．So, I just took my time and enjoyed the drive．
Directlons：For each blank in the following passage there are four wordes or phrases marked A, B, C andD．fill in each blank, with the word or phrase that best fits the context．
People in communities have slowly been pushed apart through the years, mostly because people simply aren't taking the time to say a simple “hello,” After considering this phenomenon, I decided I was going to 1 the way I was doing things．
My 2 came one morning when I was in the community library．I passed by a girl who 3 her books out of her locker．Thinking like most that someone else would help her pick them up, I continued my way.
However, when I had to 4 because I stupidly forgot my book, I noticed she had just finished packing them up by herself.
No one had stopped to 5 her．
“OK” I thought to myself,” this is where I should have changed．”
My best opportunity came a few days later whcn I saw a man 6 by himself waiting for the library to open, so I sat down next to him and began a 7 ．It was difficult to get started, and even when I had to say goodbye, almost every 8 from my new friend had a tone(语气)of doubt in it, And who could blame him?
People aren't used to making an 9 chat with a stranger．But a change, no matter how 10 it is needed, doesn't just happen, It takes people like us to make it possible．I 11 you to take a small step out of your comfort zone and try to make someone's day a little brighter, Together, we can really make come 12 as a whole．