It was the district sports meet. My foot still hadn’t healed(痊愈) from a (n)  1___ injury. I had   2   whether or not I should attend the meet. But there I was   3   for the 3,000-meter run.

“Ready…set…” The gun popped and we were off. The other girls rushed   4__   me. I felt   5   as I fell farther and farther behind.

“Hooray!” shouted the crowd. It was the loudest 6_ I had ever heard at a meet. The first-place runner was two laps(圈) ahead of me when she crossed the finished line. “Maybe I should   7  ,” I thought as I moved on.   8    , I decided to keep going. During the last two laps, I ran   9   and decided not to   10   in track next year. It wouldn’t be worth it,  _11__ my foot did heal.

When I finished, I heard a cheer－  12   than the one I’d heard earlier. I turned around and   13    , the boys were preparing for their race. “They must be cheering for the boys.”

I was leaving   14   several girls came up to me. “Wow, you’ve got courage!” one of them told me.

“Courage? I just   15   a race!” I thought. “I would have given up on the first lap,” said another girl. “We were cheering for you. Did you hear us?”

Suddenly I regained  16_ . I decided to   17_ track next year. I realized strength and courage aren’t always   18   in medals and victories, but in the   19   we overcome. The strongest people are not always the people who win,   20   the people who don’t give up when they lose.

1. A. slighter                     B. worse                   C. earlier                   D. heavier

2. A. expected                  B. supposed              C. imagined               D. doubted

3. A. late                          B. eager                    C. ready                    D. thirsty

5. A. ashamed                   B. astonished             C. excited                     D. frightened

6. A. cheer                       B. shout                    C. cry                          D. noise

7. A. slow down               B. drop out                C. go on                       D. speed up

8. A. Therefore                 B. Otherwise             C. Besides                    D. However

9. A. with delight              B. with fear               C. in pain                      D. in advance

10. A. play                       B. arrive                    C. race                         D. attend

11. A. even if                    B. only if                   C. unless                      D. until

12. A. weaker                   B. longer                   C. lower                       D. louder

13. A. well enough        B. sure enough          C. surprisingly enough  D. strangely enough 49. 14. A. while    B. when  C. as       D. since

15. A. finished                  B. won                     C. passed                     D. lost

16. A. cheer                     B. hope                     C. interest                     D. experience

17. A. hold on                   B. turn to                  C. begin with                D. stick with

18. A. measured                B. praised                  C. tested                       D. increased

19. A. sadness                  B. struggles               C. diseases                   D. tiredness

20. A. or                              B. nor                   C. and                          D. but