第二节：完形填空（共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）
请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后个题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
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 enterd our home in rural Virginia. My father__36__me to her with these words:“I would like you to meet the fellow who is___37 for being the worst boy in this county and will probably start throwing rocks at you no ___38 than tomorrow morning.”
My stepmother walked over to me, ___39 my head slightly upward,and looked me right in the eye.Then she looked at my father and replied,“You are ___40 .This is not the worst boy at all, ___41 the smartest one who hasn’t yet found an outlet（释放的途径）for his enthusiasm.”
That statement began a(n) ___42 between us.No one had ever called me smart,My family and neighbors had built me up in my ___43 as a bad boy . My stepmother changed all that.
She changed many things.She ___44 my father to go to a dental school,from which he graduated with honors.She moved our family into the county srat,where my father’s career could be more ___45 and my brother and I could be better___46 .
When I turned fourteen,she bought me a secondhand___47 and told me that she believed that I could become a writer.I knew her ernthusiasm,I___48
it had alreadly improved our lives.I accepted her ___49 and began to write for local newspapers.I was doing the same kind of___50 that great day I went to interview Andrew Carnegie and received the task which became my life’s work later.I wasn’t the ___51 beneficiary (受益者).My father became the ___52 man in town.My brother and stepbrthers became a physician,a dentist,a lawyer,and a college president.
What power __53 has!When that power is released to support the certainty of one’s purpose and is ___54 strengthened by faith,it becomes an irresistible（不可抗拒的）force which poverty and temporary defeat can never ___55 .
You can communicate that power to anyone who needs it.This is probably the greatest work you can do with your enthusiasm.
36.A.rushed B.sent C.carried D.introduced
37.A.distinguished B.favored C.mistaken D.rewarded
38. A.sooner B.later C.longer D.earlier
39. A.dragged B.shook C.raised D.bent
40. A.perfect B.right C.wrong D.impolite
41. A.but
