When I started riding a bike a couple of years ago, I didn't think my involvement would ever be more serious than the occasional short ride. But as I built strength, my friends _______me to step up my training and try some longer trips, The first one to come along was a 150-mile trip, the MS-150, an annual _______ that raises money to fight AIDS.
When I registered，the idea seemed fantastic and I trained with ____.However，as the time for the ride approached，my self­doubts ____ beyond my endurance(忍耐)．I ____ wanted to raise money for the charity，but I didn’t really want to bike all those miles for two days straight.
The ride began on a beautiful Sunday morning in the Georgia countryside，and for the first few hours I felt ____.This was just the experience I had ____，and my spirits were high.__ __ by the end of the day，I felt tired out. If the body is ____ to the mind，here was evidence. Every ____ my brain pushed out seemed to travel right down to my legs. “I can’t handle this” became a leg cramp (抽筋)，and “Everyone else is a better rider” translated into ____ of breath. I was sure I’d have to ____.
As I topped the crest (頂) of a hill，the beautiful sunset kept me going for a few minutes more. Then in the distance，I saw a lone woman riding very slowly ____ the bright red sun. I ___ that the person looked different in some way，but I couldn’t tell why. So I pushed myself to ___.There she was，riding along slowly but ____，with a slight and determined smile on her face and she had only one leg.
My focus changed in that instant. For a whole day I’d been ____ my body. But now I knew it wasn’t the body，but the ___ that would help me reach my goal. It rained all the second day. I never saw the one-legged biker again，but I pushed on without ____，knowing she was out there with me somewhere. And at the end of the day，still feeling ____，I completed the 150­mile trip.

It’s known that the 62-year-old Jim Bevier has a great passion. This former FedEx pilot wasn’t ____ on his horse farm, teaching his grandkids to ____. In his spare time, Bevier helps distribute ____ for blindness around the globe.
Bevier now is a volunteer pilot for Orbis, a nonprofit organization which has fought blindness for over 25 years. One of ____ weapons is the Flying Eye Hospital, an old-fashioned DC-10 aircraft. Bevier’s mission is to land this giant sight-saving bird on runways that are most ____ not designed for it. “It’s not ____ flying for FedEx,” says Bevier. “We have to ____ the runway is long enough, figure out the fuel load, and find the ____ place to park in case of accidents.”
Once he gets the ____ to its destination, the aircraft becomes a place for local ____ to get training, so they can treat certain conditions and ____ blindness for people. The plane stays on location for weeks. ____ Bevier is free to return home, he likes to stay and ____ those who arrive for medical checks. “I’m glad to see them get on the airplane and come out the next day, and they can ____.” Bevier says. Many walk on dirt roads for miles; many are blind children.
____, the volunteer doctors can’t handle all the patients. “A Vietnamese boy was ever ____ away.” Bevier says. A pilot’s job involves hours and hours of boredom, so you learn to keep your ____ under control. But when the poor boy didn’t get picked, I ____ down.” he admits.
____ as the job may be, Bevier isn’t looking into retirement anytime soon. “I don’t play golf, and I tell my kids not to buy me tennis shoes,” he says. “But I ____ of my grandchildren back home, and all I want is for those kids to be able to see their own grandparents for the first time.”

I recently heard a story about a famous scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs（突破）. He was being interviewed by a reporter who asked him          he thought he was able to be so much more          than the average person.
He responded that it all came from a(n)        with his mother that occurred when he was about 2. He had been trying to         milk from the fridge when he          the slippery(光滑的) bottle, its contents running all over the kitchen floor.
When his mother came in,          shouting at him or giving him a lecture, she said, “Robert, what a great and wonderful          you have made! I have          seen such a huge pool of milk. Well, the damage has already been         . Would you like to get down and          in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”
Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge(海綿), a towel or a mop. Which do you prefer?” He chose the sponge.
His mother then said, “ You know, what we have here is a          experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two          hands. Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can       .” The little boy learned that if he          the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful         !
This scientist then said that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be         to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just          for learning something new, which is,         , what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment “doesn't       ,” we usually learn something          from it.

It was in my high school science class. I was doing a task in front of the classroom with my favorite shirt on. A        came, “Nice shirt,” I smiled from ear to ear. Then another voice said, “That shirt belonged to my dad. Greg’s mother works for my family. We were going to       that shirt away, but gave it to her      .” I was speechless. I wanted to hide.
I        the shirt into the back of the closet and told my mum what had happened. She then dialed her       , “I will no longer work for your family,” she told him. That night, Mom told my dad that she couldn’t clean anymore; she knew her life’s        was something greater.
The next morning she        with the personnel manager at the Board of Education. He told her that without a proper education she could not teach. So Mom decided to        a university.
After the first year in college, she went back to the personnel manager. He said, “You are       , aren’t you? I think I have a        for you as a teacher’s assistant. This opportunity deals with children who are mentally challenged with little or no chance of       .” Mom accepted the opportunity very       .
For almost five years, as a teacher’s assistant, she saw teacher after teacher give up on the children and quit, feeling       . Then one day, the personnel manager and the principal        in her classroom. The principal said, “We have watched how you       the children and how they communicate with you and admire your hard-working        over the last five years. We are all in agreement that you       be the teacher of this class.”
My mom spent more than 20 years there.       her career, she was voted Teacher of the Year. All of this came about because of the        comment（評論） made in the classroom that day. Mom showed me how to handle       situations and never give up.

A man was bitterly envious of his neighbour．He spent long hours in prayer，wanting to be      to his neighbour in every aspect of life．
One night，God appeared before him in a dream and said，“I am pleased with your    ．Ask for a gift．     your neighbour will get the same gift in double amount．”
He was glad but sad that his enemy would get a greater gift．He requested，“God，     the sight in one of my eyes．”
With his single eye，he peeped at his neighbour but was        to see his neighbour's sight was not lost! Confused，he        to God，“Why don’t you keep your word?”
God said，“Son，I always keep my word．      is not a gift，but a curse．You have the gift of sight in only one eye now，as asked by you．But your neighbour has sight in both of his eyes．I        the gift．”
He suddenly        from his dream and was sure that it was a message from God．Englightened by the dream，he went to his neighbour and begged his pardon for thinking and acting       him．They embraced each other and were good friends thereafter．

A Wonderful Christmas Gift

Ann and her mother had lived in a small cottage as long as Ann could         ．
Christmas was so close．Ann wished she could get a new         with lace as a wonderful Christmas gift．But Ann did not want to ask her Mom for a new dress．She knew how hard her mom worked to         both ends meet．Maybe she could make a         —maybe Santa Claus would come…
It was not just gift that         Ann．It was her mother．Nowadays she was working overtime and looked          and worn out．
The days passed and soon it was Christmas Eve．Ann went to bed with a         heart．She knew that there would be         gifts for her．
Ring…．Ring…Ann jumped，hearing alarm．
She suddenly remembered it’s Christmas day．Without much hope she looked          there were any gifts for her．Wonder of wonders! There lay a beautiful packet         with a red ribbon．
Ann         opened the package．It was a pretty frock with attractive lace．The material was soft and silky         the hard material of the dresses she usually wore．
She checked the gift carefully to         who gave her the frock．Suddenly a small piece of paper fell out．Ann         started to read the note．
“Dear Ann，
This frock is gifted to you for being a good girl．Hope you continue to do good things and help your mother．   
Yours，
Santa Claus”
Ann felt that there was something         about this note．She         the note carefully. Then it struck her．She realized this       is her mother's．Her mother had worked overtime to        money to buy this expensive sift．Ann was happy beyond         ．She knew that she is the          girl to have such a wonderful mother as a wonderful Christmas gift.

Professor Williams lived alone and he was very          ．He used to arrive at the university to give a lecture and find that he had forgotten to bring his notes．Or he would lose his spectacles and be unable to see the         ．He could never find any chalk to          with，and he often forgot the time and would ramble(漫談)on for hours because he had          his watch at home．But the most          thing of a11 about him was his          ．His overcoat was rarely           ，as most of the buttons were          ．His shoes were usually untied because he had lost the laces．He must have lost his comb as well because his hair was always standing on．His trousers were         by an old tie instead of a belt．He was a chain smoker．He would smoke          in class．Cigarette ash was liberally scattered over his waistcoat．

閱讀下面短文，從短文后所給的各題的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
As soon as I saw the cat in our yard, I knew he was a stray（流浪兒）.He looked
      -a wounded warrior with a badly scarred body.
I started putting out food for him each day, but he wouldn’t come near me if other people were      . Winter came, and he still wouldn’ t        us. Then, one day, a car hit him so we took him to the vets.
After a week, we were eager to bring him home to       our family. But when we went to take the cat home, the vet told us we should put him to        immediately because the cat was so fierce and mean that he would        become tame, let alone a pet.
But I have always had       in love’s power to      even the wildest beasts. I told the vet, "I want to take him home.” We         him Paws.
Three days went by, and we only knew Paws was         the bed because when we walked past it we heard deep growling.
1 wanted to somehow let him know he was      and loved. So I put on a hard hat and a pair of welding gloves. 1         under the bed toward Paws, with my face to the
      and only the top of my head facing him. 1       out to stroke (撫摩) him gently over and over again.
He growled and tried to      and bite me. It was scary but I knew he couldn’t         me, so I just kept going. Slowly, he began to        . Then I slid out from under the bed and left the room.
Several hours later. I noticed a cat on the bed. It was Paws all         on the pillows! I couldn’t believe it.
That dear cat became the        of our household. Although Paws finally died of cancer, his legacy (饋贈)-my        and firm belief in the power of love lives on.

Eleven-year-old Angela had something wrong with her nervous system. She was unable to ______. In fact, she could hardly make any ______. Although she believed that she had a______chance of recovering, the doctors said that ______, if any, could come back to normal after getting this disease. Having heard this, the little girl was not ______. There, lying in her hospital bed, she______that no matter what the doctors said, her going back to school was ______.
She was moved to a specialized health center, and whatever method could be tried was used. Still she would not ______. It seemed that she was ______. The doctors were all fond of her and taught her about______that she could make it. Every day Angela would lie there, ______doing her mental exercise.
One day,___ ___she was imagining her legs moving again, it seemed as though a miracle happened: The bed began to _____! “Look, what I’m doing! Look! I can do it! I moved! I moved! "she ______.
Of course, at this very moment everyone else in the hospital was ____. More importantly, they were running______safety.
People were crying, and equipment was ____. You see, it was an earthquake. But don’t____that to Angela. She has______that she did it, just as she had never doubted that she would recover. And now only a few years later, she’s back in school. You see, to such a person who can____the earth, such a disease is a small problem, isn’t it?

This was my grandmother's first Christmas without grandfather, and before he passed away we had promised grandfather that we would make this her best Christmas ever. When my parents and I       at her house, we found she had waited up all night for us. The house did seem a little      without grandfather.
Grandfather had always said that the Christmas       was the most important decoration of all. So we immediately set to work on the beautiful artificial tree that was stored in grandfather's closet (壁櫥). Through our efforts, we finally stepped back to      our handiwork. It looked beautiful.      something was missing.
"Where's your star?" I asked.
The star was my grandmother's favorite part of the tree.
"Why, it       be here somewhere," she said, starting to sort through the boxes again. "Your grandfather always       everything so carefully when he took the tree down."
As we emptied the boxes and      no star, my grandmother's eyes filled with tears. Grandfather had given it to grandmother some fifty years ago on their first Christmas together. It brought them great happiness. Now, on her first Christmas without him, the star was      , too.
"Don't worry, Grandmother," I       her. "We'll find it for you."
My mother and I formed a search     . "Let's start in on the closet where the ornaments (裝飾品) were," Mother said. "Maybe the star just fell out of the box."
That sounded    , so I began to search the closet. I thought I tried every    , but no star. I could see grandmother was     , although she tried not to show it.
"What’s in this wrapped box?” Mother suddenly called out. "It was at the bottom of father’s closet."
Grandmother took the box in     and opened it. Her face      when she unfolded the paper and pulled out a golden star. There was a(n)     attached.
Don't be angry with me, dear. I broke your star while packing the decorations, and I couldn't      to tell you. Thought it was time for a new one. I hope it brings you as much       as the first one. Merry Christmas!
Love,
Bryant
So grandmother's tree had a star after all, a star that expressed their everlasting love for one another. And we were glad we were able to make this Christmas      for her.