“ Are you too stupid to do anything right？”These words—said by a woman to a little boy who was obviously her son—were spoken   21   he had walked away from her．They boy returned, his eyes down-cast.
Not a   22    moment, perhaps,   23    small moments sometimes last a very long time．And a few words—though they mean   24   at the time to the people who say them—can have great   25   .
I recently heard a story from a man named Malcolm Dalkoff．For the last 24 years he has been a professional   26   ．Here is what he told me:
As a boy in Rock Island, Dalkoff was terribly   27   ．He had few   28   and no self-confidence．One day, his English teacher, Ruth Brach, gave the class an assignment（作业）．The students had been reading To Kill a Mockingbird．Now they were to write their own chapter that would   29    the last chapter of the novel.
Dalkoff wrote his chapter and turned it   30  ．Today he can not recall anything   31 
about the chapter he wrote, or what   32   Mrs．Branch gave him．What he does remember is the four words Mrs．Brach wrote in margin（空白处）of the paper：“This is   33  writing.”
Four words．They   34    his life.
“   35    I read those words, I had no idea of who I was or   36  I was going to be.”he said.“After reading her note, I went home and wrote a short story, something I had always been   37   of doing but never believed I could do.”
Over the rest of that year in school, he wrote many short stories and always brought them to school for Mrs．Brach to evaluate．She was   38    , tough and honest.“She was just what I
  39  .”Dalkoff said.
His confidence   40  ．Dalkoff believes that none of this would have happened if that woman had not written those four words in the margin of his paper.

【小题9】

A．follow B．match C．decide D．improve

When my oldest son was in high school, he planned to attend a Christian contemporary concert with the youth group from our church. To my    36  , Aaron invited me to go along.  I    37   accepted; however, by the time the date of the concert arrived, my youngest son had been ill, and I was    38  about him. My husband    39   me to attend the concert, promising he would take care of our youngest. I hesitated.
Finally, it    40   me. Aaron was sixteen years old. How many    41   would I have to do something fun with him    42   he went away to college? And how many youth actually    43    their mothers to attend a concert with them that was clearly for  teens?  The    44   was made. I would not miss this opportunity.
At the concert, I sat with Aaron in the third row, stuffing (填塞) cotton in my ears to block out the    45  , ear-splitting music of the first performer. I stood when the kids stood, clapped when they clapped, and never let anyone know how    46   I was to feel  the  floor  vibrate (震动) beneath my feet. Aaron and his friends were    47   at my enthusiasm.
By the time we left the concert, my ears were ringing, but it quickly passed.    48   did my son's teenage years.    49   he was in college and away from home. I missed him more than I could say. On days when I was especially    50   for his ready smile and his teasing manner, I would think back to the concert we attended and be thankful once again  that  I  didn't    51   an opportunity to spend time with my son.
Aaron is now grown and has a family of his own, but we are still very    52  . Some days he calls just to    53   and tell me about his day. I drop everything and    54  the moment, knowing these times too shall    55  .

When you think of American culture, what first comes to your mind? McDonald’s? Coca Cola? Levi’s? Disneyland? Michael Jordan? Julia Roberts? Many people   【小题1】  American culture is a   【小题2】 of popular symbols like these. Actually, these symbols are only one    【小题3】  part of American culture—pop culture.
What is pop culture? Well, pop is   【小题4】   for popular. The origins of pop culture can often be traced to popular movies, television shows, music stars and sports figures. Pop culture is   【小题5】  promoted by business and advertising. The most   【小题6】  examples of American pop culture appear among high school and college students. Trends (趋势)   【小题7】  by famous personalities quickly become part of young people’s    【小题8】 .
American pop culture has spread around the world. One major reason for its  【小题9】  is that English is a universal language. English is the language of diplomacy, international business and transportation.   【小题10】  language and culture go together, learning English means becoming   【小题11】  of English-speaking cultures. Besides, America is a world   【小题12】  in movies, music and magazines. The kind of American culture   【小题13】  in those media is pop culture. Finally, pop culture is easy to package and to   【小题14】 . For that reason, it is easy to “sell” to the world.
Many people believe that American pop culture is what American is all   【小题15】  . Does pop culture   【小题16】   the true culture of America? Yes and no. Pop culture does 【小题17】  a portion (比例) of American society — especially the   【小题18】  young people that are tuned in to the media. But American pop culture is faddish (流行一时的) and    【小题19】   . If you want to learn about real American culture, you’ll have to go a little    【小题20】    than McDonald’s.

When you think of American culture, what first comes to your mind? McDonald’s? Coca Cola? Levi’s? Disneyland? Michael Jordan? Julia Roberts? Many people   1  American culture is a   2 of popular symbols like these. Actually, these symbols are only one    3  part of American culture—pop culture.
What is pop culture? Well, pop is   4   for popular. The origins of pop culture can often be traced to popular movies, television shows, music stars and sports figures. Pop culture is   5  promoted by business and advertising. The most   6  examples of American pop culture appear among high school and college students. Trends (趋势)   7  by famous personalities quickly become part of young people’s    8 .
American pop culture has spread around the world. One major reason for its   9  is that English is a universal language. English is the language of diplomacy, international business and transportation.   10  language and culture go together, learning English means becoming   11  of English-speaking cultures. Besides, America is a world   12  in movies, music and magazines. The kind of American culture   13  in those media is pop culture. Finally, pop culture is easy to package and to   14 . For that reason, it is easy to “sell” to the world.
Many people believe that American pop culture is what American is all   15  . Does pop culture   16   the true culture of America? Yes and no. Pop culture does  17  a portion (比例) of American society — especially the   18  young people that are tuned in to the media. But American pop culture is faddish (流行一时的) and    19   . If you want to learn about real American culture, you’ll have to go a little    20    than McDonald’s.

When my oldest son was in high school, he planned to attend a Christian contemporary concert with the youth group from our church. To my    36  , Aaron invited me to go along.  I    37   accepted; however, by the time the date of the concert arrived, my youngest son had been ill, and I was    38  about him. My husband    39   me to attend the concert, promising he would take care of our youngest. I hesitated.
Finally, it    40   me. Aaron was sixteen years old. How many    41   would I have to do something fun with him    42   he went away to college? And how many youth actually    43   their mothers to attend a concert with them that was clearly for teens?  The   44  was made. I would not miss this opportunity.
At the concert, I sat with Aaron in the third row, stuffing (填塞) cotton in my ears to block out the    45  , ear-splitting music of the first performer. I stood when the kids stood, clapped when they clapped, and never let anyone know how  46   I was to feel the floor vibrate (震动) beneath my feet. Aaron and his friends were  47   at my enthusiasm.
By the time we left the concert, my ears were ringing, but it quickly passed.  48   did my son’s teenage years.   49  he was in college and away from home. I missed him more than I could say. On days when I was especially  50  for his ready smile and his teasing manner, I would think back to the concert we attended and be thankful once again that I didn’t  51  an opportunity to spend time with my son.
Aaron is now grown and has a family of his own, but we are still very  __52 __ . Some days he calls just to __53__ and tell me about his day. I drop everything and   54  the moment, knowing these times too shall    55  .