A flock of wild ducks were flying in formation, heading south for the winter. They formed a beautiful V in the sky, and were admired by everyone who saw them from below.
One day, Wally, one of the wild ducks in the formation, spotted something on the ground. It was a barnyard with a flock of _   ducks who lived on the farm. They were waddling around on the ground, quacking merrily and eating _   that was thrown on the ground for them every day. Wally liked what he saw. "It sure would be nice to have some of that corn," he thought to himself. "And all this flying is very tiring. I'd like to just __  around for a while."
So after thinking it over a while, Wally left the formation of wild ducks, made a sharp __ , and   for the barnyard. He landed _   the tame ducks, and began to waddle around and quack   . He also started eating corn. The formation of wild ducks continued their journey South, but Wally didn't care. "I'll __  them when they come back North in a few months," he said to himself.
Several months went by and __ enough, Wally looked up and spotted the flock of wild ducks in formation, heading north. They looked beautiful up there. And Wally was tired of the   . It was muddy and  he waddled, there was nothing but duck doo. "It's time to leave." said Wally.
So Wally _ his wings furiously and tried to get airborne. But he had gained some  from all his corn-eating, and he hadn't exercised his wings much either. He finally   the ground, but he was flying too _   and slammed into the side of the barn. He fell to the ground with a thud and said to himself, "Oh, well, I'll just wait until they fly __  in a few months. Then I'll rejoin them and become a wild duck again."
When the flock flew overhead once more, Wally again tried to   himself out of the barnyard. But he simply didn't have the strength. Every winter and every spring, he saw his wild duck friends flying overhead, and they would   to him. But his attempts to leave were all    .
Eventually Wally no longer paid any attention to the wild ducks flying overhead. He hardly even noticed them. He had  , become a barnyard duck.

A few days ago, my sister Liz and I talked about Dad, and we decided to get him a little something for Father's Day. We talked about the times when we were        up and how Mom and Dad used to play the ‘good cop, bad cop’ thing on us. Dad has been a person of few words since we were       . He raised us more by        than anything else. When he spoke, though we listened, he was always mysterious and difficult to understand. There was always a(n)        meaning that I never got, but Liz always        to decipher(破解) him. By the time I got to high school, I had wanted a skateboard and I        I was too old to ask money from my parents, so I worked at a burger joint (美式漢堡店). One day, I was really angry about annoying burgers. I came home huffing and puffing(氣喘吁吁). Dad saw me and asked me what was the       . I told him that I was fed up with annoying burgers. He said that we all have to start somewhere, that we may not know it now, but the skills we learn even in a burger joint might come in handy ______in life, ‘Who knows, you might end up having to run a        or even own one when you grow up,’ said Dad. He        me down and I kept what he said in mind, even though I really didn’t agree with it.
A couple of years later, when I got to college, I worked in a restaurant. During one of the really        days that we had, we were short on kitchen staff. Our customers were getting impatient and the        were getting delayed. We were sure any minute something terrible would        out. I couldn’t stand the        any more, so I rolled up my sleeves, got myself a hair net and helped out in the hot kitchen. We caught up with the orders       . The owner saw what I did and called me over around        time. He said that he was very       . He raised my salary and made me the assistant manager even though I could only go part-time. That was        I realized that what my dad said to me all those years before was absolutely true.
I’ve never forgotten what my dad said that day. And whenever I have to do something that requires new skills, no matter how insignificant or        it seems, I have a new perspective(看法) that it might really help me later on or even right now and I just don’t know it. Experience is everything and it        a lot when you take lessons from it. That’s my life’s philosophy.

Frank was walking down the 6th Street on a hot sunny day when he saw smoke coming out of the street. He could        the smoke, and it was getting thicker. Seeing the smoke coming out of a storm drain(雨水溝), Frank called the fire department immediately. “The storm drain is       fire!” he said. The fire department asked for his whereabouts and he said he was near the 6th and Main. They said they        be right there to investigate the situation. Frank needn’t to go anywhere, so he waited for the        to arrive. He was curious what could be burning beneath the street. As far as he knew, there wasn’t anything beneath the street        concrete(混凝土). And everyone        that concrete doesn’t burn.
A fire truck arrived a few        later. “Are you the man who     ?” asked the driver. “Yes. ” Frank answered. By now Frank could not only smell the        but also hear crackling sounds, just like wood burning. The firemen didn’t seem to consider it an emergency. “      do you think it could be?” Frank asked the driver. “Oh, we know what it is. We have to        a problem like this every few months. It’s the homeless people in their “     ”. ”
Homeless people have been living under the streets for years.       their knowledge of the storm drain system, they        their own “houses” beneath the streets. These living areas have tables, mattresses, chairs, and sofas. The settlers often “borrow” electricity by connecting to a live wire above ground to        their own lights and even TVs underground. Either this        electricity or a cigarette can cause an occasional fire.
Frank watched        some firemen lifted a manhole cover (井蓋) and went beneath the street with a fire hose (消防軟管). Then a few minutes later, the        smoke turned white. Shortly       , the firemen reappeared with a       person who seemed to have just been woken up.

Another person’s enthusiasm was what set me moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.
I was nine years old when she entered our home in rural Virginia. My father_____me to her with these words: “I would like you to meet the fellow who is___ for being the worst boy in this county and will probably start throwing rocks at you no ___ than tomorrow morning.”
My stepmother walked over to me, ___my head slightly upward, and looked me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and replied, “You are ___  .This is not the worst boy at all, __ the smartest one who hasn’t yet found an outlet（釋放的途徑）for his enthusiasm.”
That statement began a(n) ___  between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my ___ as a bad boy . My stepmother changed all that.
She changed many things. She ___ my father to go to a dental(牙科) school, from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the county seat, where my father’s career could be more ___and my brother and I could be better_ .
When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand___  and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, I______it had already improved our lives. I accepted her __ and began to write for local newspapers. I was doing the same kind of__that great day I went to interview Andrew Carnegie and received the task which became my life’s work later. I wasn’t the __ beneficiary (受益者). My father became the __ man in town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.
What power __has! When that power is released to support the certainty of one’s purpose and is _____strengthened by faith, it becomes an irresistible（不可抗拒的）force which poverty and temporary defeat can never ___ .
You can communicate that power to anyone who needs it. This is probably the greatest work you can do with your enthusiasm.

【小題15】

A．teaching B．writing C．studying D．reading

One sunny afternoon, a seven-year-old girl went for a walk. She crossed a large area of grassland into the woods __ __ she realized that she was lost.
Sitting on a rock and ____ what to do, she began crying. After a while, she____ to walk along a wide path lined with tall trees and thick bushes. ____ it was getting dark, she saw a small, dark wooden house. She opened the door and ____ stepped in. Suddenly, she heard a strange noise, and she ran out the door and back to the ____. Cold and tired, she fell asleep near a ____.
The girl’s parents were out and her dog, Laddy, was at home. Laddy ____ that his Mistress（女主人）was in danger. He jumped ____ a window, breaking the glass. He looked in the fields. But he couldn't find his mistress anywhere. However, from the ground came a ____ scent (氣味) as he lowered his head. He ____ the scent and walked across the grassland. Barking ____ into the air, the dog ____ through the woods until he found the ____ . But the girl was not there, so he headed back to the woods. Much to his ____ , he saw his mistress’ blue shirt in the distance. He ____ over some bushes and saw the little stream, where the girl was ____.
When she opened her eyes and       her dog standing beside her, the girl said, “You     me, Laddy,” and she kissed him several times. Seeing their daughter and dog coming back, the parents burst into tears of        . That night Laddy had a Hero's supper: a huge meal of steak.

A couple of years ago, I decided it was time to take a break. I was about to       ,and I wanted to reward myself for all those college years.
As I was curiously      different websites and guidebooks, getting ready for my little adventure, I        that besides getting all the necessities, I also needed to get a sun        .
When I got to the shop, it        occurred to me that in the middle of planning my      ,I somehow hadn’t paid much attention to the calendar. It was Feb.14, and Valentine’s fever had         the whole shopping center.
I finally       a rack(貨架) with summer hats hanging on it .I walked over and tried on a couple. I really liked one        .I just couldn’t decide whether I wanted to get the one with a pink ribbon or a blue ribbon      decoratively around it.
“You looked really great on those hats, ”a middle-aged man        there waiting to be helped…and said to me.
“Oh, thank you.” I        answered and increased my pace. I was in no mood to have a        with a stranger. I stopped by a sale rack and looked through colorful shirts.
“Excuse me.” A voice suddenly        my dreamy state of mind. I turned around and that man was standing right behind me. He looked         but determined.
Before I could do or say anything, he continued with what he wanted to say. “I’m sorry to         you, but those hats looked really nice on you. You see, I don’t         anybody to buy a Valentine’s gift for this year, so I got you one of the hats. I         you don’t mind.” he said while handing me a plastic bag and disappeared immediately.
“Thank you!” I finally breathed out ,feeling quite surprised. Who would imagine that a        would walk up to you and give you a present?
I do hope the man found his Valentine        .And most of all--I no longer feel blue on Valentine’s Day, even when I’m alone, because I remember my hat story.

Mr. and Mrs. Moore were invited to a Christmas party at a hotel one year. They     their car outside and went in. Mr. Moore had never got drunk (醉) before, so he was     not to drink too much,        his friends asked him to drink more       .
　　 During the party, Mrs. Moore found that she had     to bring her bag, so she asked her husband to go out to the car and       it for her. He      so, but on his way back to the hotel gate, he heard a car horn(喇叭) blowing near his own car. He thought        might be in need of help and went over to the car with the     . He found a small black bear sitting in the driving-seat and blowing the horn.
　　 When Mr. Moore        the party, he told several people about the bear, but of course they did not believe him and thought he was drunk. When he took them out of the hotel to        that his story was     , he found that the car with the       in it had gone. There were so many____about Mr. Moore's black bear during the next week that he at last put an advertisement(廣告) in the newspaper;“If anyone saw a black bear blowing the horn in a car outside the Century Hotel       the evening of Christmas Day, please tell…”
　 Two days later     Mrs. Richards called him and said that she and her husband had left their pet (寵物) bear in their car outside the Century Hotel for a few minutes that evening, and that       he had blown the horn.
Mrs. Richards did not     to think there was anything    about that.“Our bear likes blowing car horns,”she said,“and we don't       when we are not driving the car.”

In the middle of the night, Peter's wife suddenly fell ill. She couldn’t help crying,“Oh, my stomach (胃)! Get the      !”
Peter, awaking from a deep sleep, thought his wife was only having a       dream.
“Stop that noise.” he said to her. He turned over and tried to go to        again, but his wife still cried out, “Oh, help! Help! I'm sure I'm       !”
Peter got out of bed and started       , but he could not find him any clothes.
“Where is my shirt?” he asked. His wife was       ill to tell him, and she could only cry, “Oh, my        stomach!”
As soon as he had put his clothes       , he said, “Now, my dear, are you quite 44that you need the doctor? Surely you can wait       morning, can't you?”
“No, I can't. Go, go, go.” his wife shouted,“       you will find me dead       the morning.”
So Peter went out into the dark street. He had only gone a few meters      he heard his wife calling him again.
“I'm       again now, and I shall not want the doctor.” she said softly.
Hearing this, he started running as       as he could towards the doctor's. When he arrived there, he knocked at the door loudly enough to wake       around.
The doctor put his sleepy head out of the bedroom window and said, “Er? Who's there?”
“Oh, Doctor.”Peter said to him, “I've very       news for you. My wife       ill with a terrible stomachache (胃疼). I was on my way to bring you to her, but she called me back to say the trouble had suddenly       her. So you need not come. Go back to       now, and sleep well!”

I am a social worker. I wanted to tell everyone about my very dear friend who passed away a few months ago.
I met him many years ago while doing my internship （實習(xí)）in the county prison. He was   __    a program he had designed to help prisoners with drug and alcohol problems. He was always        new ways to bring hope and help to these men and their       .
One of his favorite        was the Toy Drive he would run every Christmas for the children of the prisoners. He did this for twenty years        his sudden death. As last Christmas       , I decided that this tradition had to be       , for the children as well as the        of my friend.
But the file where he kept the names of the people who had helped him over the years had gone       . I had to start anew（重新）and with very little       ! I started making phones calls, explaining about the project and my       . I prayed every night that the event would,       , be worthy of my friend.
To my great       , individuals, churches and businesses began to come on board and,  __   , I had enough toys to give to all the children of the prisoners with some left over for the local community       !
When Christmas Eve finally arrived, I felt very happy, thinking I had done all I could do and reflecting on what a（n）      it had been for me. I was bagging up the remaining toys        if there was anyone left who might like them. Then my phone rang.
It was my daughter. She        to explain about a woman she knew in Kentucky who had five children, one seriously ill, no husband, no heating in the home, no toys!
Ohh--how could we not?
My daughter and I drove all night, from New York to Kentucky, and those children woke up in a nice warm house with plenty of       !
My friend’s        of kindness lived on that year, reaching all the way to Kentucky!

When an NBA player is young, he thinks he can win the championship by himself. It is only later ______ he has aged and been through many battles that he learns an important lesson: there is no “I” in “team”.
There is no better example of the value of ______ than the Boston Celtics. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were all superstars on three different teams. ______, none of them had any titles（頭銜） to show for it. Then, last season, they decided to play together, caring little ______ money and fame. Garnett and Allen ______ Pierce on the Celtics and changed the NBA in the process.
It started in simple ways. Garnett and Allen are two of the best athletes in the world. They treat every second of every ______ as it is the NBA championship. If you want to play alongside them then you will have to do the same. Therefore, the young guys on the Celtics started giving their ______ effort too.
Pierce had been the star of the Celtics for many years. He used to shoot the ball many times a game. But with the addition of Allen and Garnett he shot less and ______ defense（防衛(wèi)）. His selflessness showed the young players that doing what made the team better was the only thing that _______. When the Celtics were winning and the game was almost ______, Garnett, Pierce and Allen would come out of the game. But they wouldn’t just sit on the bench. ______, they stood and cheered and screamed for their teammates. They wanted to ______ their friends and teammates.
Now, the guys who don’t play know they can still affect the game by cheering, so they scream and cheer when Garnett, Allen and Pierce are playing. The Celtics have ______ a strong relationship. They are ______ just teammates. They are brothers.
The result: the Boston Celtics won the 2008 NBA championship and are considered the favorites to win the Eastern Conference championship again this year. There is a saying that goes, “A successful team beats with one ______.” If that is the case, the Celtics may have the biggest heart in the NBA.