This I Believe

I believe in the challenge to accomplish something out of the ordinary. I have ___41__ this belief from the Guinness Book of World Records. That book showed me the value of equal ____42__and competition. It proved to me, early on, that I could rise above anonymity and ___43___ remarkable things.

The Guinness Book of World Records taught me to believe in the “accessibility of the “___44__”. I was attracted by the descriptions in the book: the fastest, the longest, the widest, the most …whatever you can imagine. It opened up the possibility of what I might be able to do.

The Guinness Book of World Records taught me tenacity and perseverance and, more __45___, the desire to do something unexpected. So many people in the book were __46___ by family and friends for what they were doing. Yet they did it. I see them as success stories --- the ___47____ people who did something extraordinary.

I am not saving the world. I am not the best at what I do, but I am only 24 --- there is still time.

The Guinness Book of World Records helped give me a different ___48___ on the impossible, and encouraged me to try something unusual. I believe in making the “dream ” a ___49____, and I hope to someday break a few records myself.

Section B

Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

This I Believe

I believe in the challenge to accomplish something out of the ordinary. I have ___41__ this belief from the Guinness Book of World Records. That book showed me the value of equal ____42__and competition. It proved to me, early on, that I could rise above anonymity and ___43___ remarkable things.

The Guinness Book of World Records taught me to believe in the “accessibility of the “___44__”. I was attracted by the descriptions in the book: the fastest, the longest, the widest, the most …whatever you can imagine. It opened up the possibility of what I might be able to do.

The Guinness Book of World Records taught me tenacity and perseverance and, more __45___, the desire to do something unexpected. So many people in the book were __46___ by family and friends for what they were doing. Yet they did it. I see them as success stories --- the ___47____ people who did something extraordinary.

I am not saving the world. I am not the best at what I do, but I am only 24 --- there is still time.

The Guinness Book of World Records helped give me a different ___48___ on the impossible, and encouraged me to try something unusual. I believe in making the “dream ” a ___49____, and I hope to someday break a few records myself.

Section B

Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

This I Believe

I believe in the challenge to accomplish something out of the ordinary. I have ___41__ this belief from the Guinness Book of World Records. That book showed me the value of equal ____42__and competition. It proved to me, early on, that I could rise above anonymity and ___43___ remarkable things.

The Guinness Book of World Records taught me to believe in the “accessibility of the “___44__”. I was attracted by the descriptions in the book: the fastest, the longest, the widest, the most …whatever you can imagine. It opened up the possibility of what I might be able to do.

The Guinness Book of World Records taught me tenacity and perseverance and, more __45___, the desire to do something unexpected. So many people in the book were __46___ by family and friends for what they were doing. Yet they did it. I see them as success stories --- the ___47____ people who did something extraordinary.

I am not saving the world. I am not the best at what I do, but I am only 24 --- there is still time.

The Guinness Book of World Records helped give me a different ___48___ on the impossible, and encouraged me to try something unusual. I believe in making the “dream ” a ___49____, and I hope to someday break a few records myself.

Once upon a time, there were two men. One was hard-working and had a lot of  36  and perseverance (毅力), while the other was  37_ and never did any work. One night, they decided to have a competition between them. The contest was simple: the   38 _person to see daylight would be the winner, and the winner would__ 39_a prize. Both men agree to do it, and the competition started.

The hard-working man immediately_ 40   and ran towards the west after the sun, while the lazy man just sat there and_ 41__ . The hard-working man, looking at the competitor, _42__ at his foolishness and kept going at his quick pace. Running through the jungles, swimming   43 _the rivers and seas, and he kept running and running,  __44__ that he would reach his goal sooner or later. Meanwhile, the lazy man was still sleeping.

The hard-working man had been   45_ for 6 hours already, and he was surprised that he still had not   46__  daylight. Thinking it would be just around the corner, he  47_ on running until he finally came back to where he started, 24 hours  48 _. Upon arriving, he saw the lazy man seated there, smiling and waiting for him, holding the  49  he earned.

The hard-working man was   50  how this lazy man could earn it—he hadn't done anything at all! Then the lazy man said," You are  51  a persevering and patient man, but you were running towards the  52  , running after the sun that kept moving away from your_ 53__ whereas I just waited for the sun to come to me. You were lucky. If I had decided to  54  you and not to tell you, you would be continuing this pursuit (追赶) till your death." The hard-working man knew in his heart that the lazy man was right.

Sometimes, perseverance can__ 55_ you from the truth that what you are doing is wrong.

1.A. hobbies              B. ideas                C. patience                D. money

2.A. lazy                  B. patient              C. kind-hearted             D. hard-working

3.A. last                   B. first                  C. second                D. only

4.A. accept                  B. keep                 C. win                  D. defeat

5.A. set in                  B. set aside            C. set up                  D. set out

6.A. worked                B. drank                C. slept                   D. played

7.A. laughed                B. glared               C. stared                  D. looked

8.A. across                 B. through             C. over                   D. past

9.A. representing            B. believing           C. emphasizing           D. complaining

10.A. swimming            B. jumping            C. resting                 D. running

11.A. admired              B. invented            C. found                  D. realized

12.A. commented           B. carried                     C. figured               D. depended

13. A. before              B. later                  C. next                  D. further

14.A. money             B. medal               C. prize                 D. gold

15.A. believing             B. recognizing              C. discussing               D. wondering

16.A. true                 B. indeed               C. certain                 D. hardly

17.A. west                  B. east                   C. north                 D. south

18.A. ears                   B. hands          C. sight                        D. mind     

19.A. hide from            B. learn from      C. keep from             D. come from   

20.A. make                 B. let             C. blind                      D. protect  

I graduated from a small public school in Michigan. One day，Mr. Ledy，our football coach，asked me to play football. I couldn’t help  36  ：me，play football? I was six feet tall and was not much __37__ a hundred pounds in weight. I thought that they might just need  38    fool to increase the number of the players. However，he was persistent(坚持的) and __39__I joined the football team. That           40  to be one of my best decisions as a kid.

Our worst game  __41__ was the one against Crystal Falls. They beat us 56 to 6. Yeah! That was a football not a basketball _42__. We played them again when we were seniors. They __43__ us again but the score was much more _44_，30 to 20.

Coach Ledy would not let that __45__ again. He encouraged us to beat them，to pay them back. And we did so in the last game we played before __46__. I had scored 6 points alone in the game. Coach Ledy praised me. It was a huge _47 for me.

Was I a football hero? Ha! Ha! No，I couldn’t __48__ it without our team. The thing I learned through football was __49__. We won as a team and we __50__ as a team.

I think Mr. Ledy would be __51__ of me if he knew that I had broken the athletic __52__ at the University of Michigan. I’m __53__to him as I would not have today’s honor without him. I’ll __54__life’s final war with pain to win the victory；I’ll seek the lights of glory wholeheartedly and I’ll __55__ working hard so as not to let him down.

21．A. shouting     B. screaming  C. laughing    D. applauding

22．A. up              B. over          C. more          D. out

23．A. another          B. other          C. some          D. any

24．A. immediately       B. secretly        C. personally D. finally

25．A. took out     B. turned out C. gave off       D. gave out

26．A. never      B. once     C. ever           D. again

27．A. game      B. team       C. story     D. score

28．A. won            B. met           C. beat     D. fought

29．A. accessible   B. comfortableC. sensitive     D. acceptable

30．A. happen              B. succeed        C. spread        D. develop

31．A. liberation    B. closing         C. graduation      D. school

32．A. honor      B. hope         C. success  D. surprise

33．A. take         B. manage        C. solve             D. explain

34．A. courage      B. devotion       C. teamwork      D. contribution

35．A. united     B. appeared       C. prepared D. lost

36．A. proud      B. fond          C. full      D. kind

37．A. time        B. record   C. date     D. ability

38．A. pleased       B. grateful        C. hopeful   D. loyal

39．A. fight          B. join           C. desire            D. enjoy

40．A. take on       B. put on   C. rely on    D. keep on