Life is not easy，so I'd like to say，“No matter what happens，believe in yourself．”

When I was 14，I was too ___1___ to talk to anyone．My classmates often laughed at me．I was sad but could do nothing．Later，___2___ happened．It changed my life．It was an English speech contest．My mother asked me to take part in it．What a（an）___3___ idea! It meant I had to ___4___ in front of all the teachers and students of my school．

“Come on，boy．Believe in yourself．Yon are sure to ___5___．” she said．Then Mother and I talked about many different topics．At last I chose the topic “Believe in yourself”．I tried my best to remember all the speech and practiced it over 100 times．To my mother’s great joy，I did ___6___ in the contest，I could ___7___ believe my ears when the result came that I had won the first place．I heard ___8___ from the teachers and students．Those classmates who once looked down on me，now all said “Congratulations” to me．My mother hugged（拥抱）me and cried ___9___．

Since then，everything has ___10___．When I do anything，I try to tell myself to be sure that I wilt find myself．This is true not only for a person but also for a country．

1．A．brave                    B．shy                      C．excited                   D．1azy

2．A．something              B．nothing                C．anything                 D．everything

3．A．interesting               B．wonderful            C．awful                     D．sad

4．A．listen                     B．speak                   C．think                      D．write

5．A．succeed                 B．fail                      C．lose                       D．defeat

6．A．terribly                  B．badly                   C．good                      D．well

7．A．almost                   B．hardly                  C．nearly                    D．always

8．A．cheers                   B．noises                  C．thanks                   D．hopes

9．A．angrily            B．sadly                   C．quickly                  D．excitedly

10．A．changed               B．lost                      C．gone                      D．ended