I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a car and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of __36____ and what color red is. It would be ___37____ to see again, but a(n) __38____ can do strange things to people. I don’t mean I would __39___ to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate more what I had _40_____.
My parents and my teachers saw something in me ----- a __41____ to live ---- which I didn’t see, and they made me want to fight in out with _42____.
The __43___ lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. I am not talking about simply the kind of __44____ that helps me down so unfamiliar staircase alone. I __45___ something bigger than that: a confidence that I am, despite being __46____, a real, positive person; that there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this confidence. It had to start with the easy and simple things. __47____ a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was laughing at me and I was __48____. “I can’t use this,” I said. “Take with you,” he urged me, “and roll it around.” The words __49___ in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could _50_____ where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought _51____ before playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I _52___ a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.
I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to be clear about my _53____. It was no good crying for something that I knew at the start was __54___ out of reach because that only invited bitterness of failure. I would fail something anyway, __55___ on the average I made progress.

The trip to that city was eye-opening for everyone, and near its end, all the young people in our group began to reflect on what it had meant． We   41  the first night we had arrived． We had all gone into the markets of the city   42  the young people could experience its energy． But what we actually saw simply   43  us all --- the rundown houses, the children in rags, the people begging for money… Walking home,   44  under a low bridge, we came across   45  families of homeless people seeking a bit of dry ground to sleep on   46  the night． We had to step over bodies as we found our way through the darkness．

The poverty was   47  than anything my young companions had ever imagined． Back in the hotel, an air of sadness settled over the group． Many   48  and cried． Spending time in this   49  moves a person to care about humanity．

That evening, our group spent hours talking about what we had   50 ． Gently, I encouraged everyone to talk about the difficult   51  that day’s discoveries had inspired． Sitting together   52  a circle as everyone had a chance to speak, we all began to realize that  53  of us was alone in our struggle to cope with our reactions．

Based on my   54  in poverty-stricken areas, I suggested that   55  the emotions we had were painful, they could also be important in helping us to move forward． We all   56  that we had seen things that should never be allowed to happen．   57  , what could we do about it? Together, we began to brainstorm ways we could help to ease the   58  we had seen． As I encouraged group members to focus on   59  they could do, a sense of determination  60  the previous sadness． Instead of despair, these young people began to feel a call to action．

第三部分：阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中(A、B、c和D)00，选出最佳选项，并在答卡上将该项涂黑。
Ryan  and Lowry had been friends  since high school，  but it wasn’t until after college
that they hit on the idea of a home—care-products company．“We were shocked to learn how  toxic  cleaning  products  were，”  says  Ryan．  Why  couldn’t they  create  green products that would be just as environmentally pure as Aveda’s skin—and—hair—care lines?
When Ryan’s mom heard about the plan，she stared at him blankly: “I’ve never even seen  you  clean your room!” Not discouraged，Lowry experimented with  nontoxic ways to clean．  while  Ryan  focused on marketing．  In  February 2001，they  mixed their first four   cleaning  sprays  and  convinced the  managers  of  20  grocers to try them·  Once  they had their  approval，they tapped  friends  and  family  and pooled their  savings to  come  up  with $90，000 in seed money．
From the start，“Go big or go home’’was their mantra(口头禅)．Their first financing— that $l million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001. By the time they got it, two months later，says Ryan, "we had$16 in the bank and personally owed$300，000·”
Seeking a national retailer(零售商)proved just as troublesome．The friends set their sights on Target，known for its trendy，affordable goods．“But Target didn’t like the product or the brand，”recalled Ryan．“We thought the deal was dead，but then a new buyer saw that even though we weren’t selling big volumes, we were  profitable, just on a smaller scale．”They won over Target．
Consumers  were  hooked  on the  natural things  and  wonderful  fragrance. Today，the partners sell 130 products in more than 8,000 stores，and taxes are over$100 million. Such  rapid  growth has  at times  stressed the  men’s  friendship． “Eric  and  I  agree on ‘what’  but  never  on‘how，’”  says Lowry．  “Although  we  are  willing to  challenge  each  other，we come up with interesting and smarter solutions．There’s little fire and ice between us·
56．The underlined word“toxic”in Paragraph 1 most probably means——·
A．poisonous    B．dirty    C．expensive   D．troublesome
57．When Ryan told his mom his plan, ___________.
A．he knew his mom was sure to support him
B．his mom asked him to clean his room
C．his mom suspected his ability
D．he was discouraged by his mom
58．We can learn：from the third paragraph that __________________．
A．Ryan and Lowry wanted to gave up and go home at first
B．their plan didn’t go smoothly at the very beginning
C．they made profit two months later after their first financing
D．$1 million was not enough as their seed money
59．The partners’cleaning products are sold very well because——．
A．the products are made of natural material and smell nice
B．their friends and family offered to use their products
C．they cooperated with a well—known national retailer
D．they convinced 20 grocer managers to try them
60．It can be inferred from the—passage that——．
A．Aveda’s skin—and—hair-care lines are not so successful as Ryan and Lowry’s
B．Target is a famous environment-friendly cleaning brand
C．The friends "cooperation with Target was very successful
D．The partners get on well with each other in their business