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 entered 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 for his 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                B. so              C. and            D. or

       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 seat, where my father's career could be more   45   and my brother and I could be better   46  .

42. A. agreement    B. friendship    C. gap             D. relationship
43. A. opinion      B. image         C. expectation     D. mind
44. A. begged       B. persuaded     C. ordered         D. invited
45. A. successful   B. meaningful    C. helpful         D. useful
46. A. treaded      B. entertained   C. educated        D. respected

        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, and I saw how it had already 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. My father became the   52   man in town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.
47. A. camera         B. radio            C. bicycle      D. typewriter
48. A. considered     B. suspected        C. ignored      D. appreciated
49. A. belief         B. request          C. criticism    D. description
50. A. teaching       B. writing          C. studying     D. reading
51. A. next           B. same             C. only         D. real
52. A. cleverest      B. wealthiest       C. strongest    D. healthiest

        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 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.
53. A. enthusiasm     B. sympathy       C. fortune          D. confidence
54. A. deliberately   B. happily        C. traditionally    D. constantly
55. A. win            B. match          C. reach            D. doubt