“Mum, I want to make you a bet,” I said. “If I go a whole year without TV, will you give me a hundred dollars?”　　
“Well, if you can   1  do it, …”
“Of course I can,” I replied, trying to convince   2 .
In fact, all this started from my   3  of a picture in the newspaper. I couldn’t bear to look at that boy. He said that he had   4  one year without TV for a hundred dollars,   5 me with mocking eyes. It seemed he was saying, “I did it,   6  you can’t!”. I glared at the boy’s face.
That year I did a lot of things. For example, my father taught me to   7 , which became my favorite sport.   8  winter afternoons snowball wars with my neighbors offered daily drama. I went on bike trips with my friends and swam as much as a fish.　　
It was unbelievable how much   9  I had without TV. I learned so many new games. I guess the   10  thing I learnt, though, was self-motivation(上进心).　　
I started to do my homework. I went from a D student to an A student within a couple of   11 .　　
I used to   12  reading if there were no   13 , but now I began to read and enjoy it. I could arrange off all the pictures just the way I wanted them—my own little TV, right   14  my head!
I’m surprised what I did. I got a lot more from the   15  than just the 100 dollars!

My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year. In this way he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him. Nothing worked.

One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and asked God for help. “Please God, I can’t do anything more for my son. I’m at the end of my rope. I’m giving the whole thing up to you.”

I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. “I want to talk to you about Karl’s absences.” Before he could say another word, I choked up（哽咽）and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. “I love my son, but I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It’s out of my hands. ” For a moment there was silence on the other and of the line. The headmaster seriously said, “Thank you for your time”, and hung up.

　　Karl’s next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he was even on the list of the best students at school. In his fourth year, I attended a parent –– teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were surprised at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, “Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?” I nodded. “That was me. I thought I’d play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That’s when I knew I had to make you proud.”

1.Which of the following has the similar meaning as the underlined word “withdrawn” in the  first paragraph?

2.There was silence on the other end of the line because _ _________.

3.Who was it that telephoned Karl’s mother that day?

4.From the passage we can learn that _____________.