阅读理解

　　It was Saturday when the entire summer world was bright and fresh．Tom looked at the fence, which was long and high, feeling all enthusiasm leaving him．He dipped his brush into the whitewash before moving it along the top board of the fence．He knew other boys would arrive soon with all minds of interesting plans for this day．As walking past him, they would tease him for having to work on a beautiful Saturday－which burnt him like fire．

　　He, putting his hands into his pockets and taking out all he owned with the expectation of letting someone paint, found nothing that could buy half an hour of freedom．At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea occurred to him, pouring a great bright light into his mind．He took up his brush and continued to work pleasantly with calm and quietness．

　　Presently, Ben Rogers came in sight－munching an apple and making joyful noises like the sound of a riverboat as he walked along．Tom went on whitewashing, paying no attention to the steamboat．

　　“Hello!” Ben said, “I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”

　　No answer．Tom moved his brush gently along the fence and surveyed the result．Ben came nearer．Tom’s mouth watered for Ben’s apple while he kept painting the fence．

　　Ben said, “That’s a lot of work, isn’t it?”

　　Tom turned suddenly saying “Here you are! Ben! I didn’t notice you．”

　　“I’m going swimming,” Ben said．“Don’t you wish you could go? Or would you rather work?”

　　Tom said, “Work? What do you mean ‘work’?”

　　“Isn’t that work?”

　　Tom continued painting and answered carelessly, “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t．All I know is it suits Tom Sawyer．”

　　“Do you mean that you enjoy it?”

　　“I don’t see why I oughtn’t to enjoy it．”

　　“Does a boy have a chance to paint a fence frequently” said Tom．

　　Ben stopped munching his apple．

　　Tom moved his brush back and forth－stepped back to note the effect－added a little paint here and there．Ben watched every move, getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed1．After a short time, he said, “Tom, let me whitewash a little．”

　　Tom seemed to be thinking for a moment before he said, “No, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect．If it was the back fence, maybe you could do it．But this fence beside the street is where everybody can see it．It has to be done right．”

　　“Oh, come on, let me try．I’ll be careful．Listen, Tom．I’ll give you part of my apple if you let me paint．”

　　“No, Ben, I’m afraid－”

　　“I’ll give you all the apple!”

　　Tom handed the brush to Ben with unwillingness on his face but alacrity in his heart．While the riverboat worked and sweated in the hot sun, Tom, an artist sat in the shade close by, munching his apple, and planning how he could trick more of the boys．

　　Before long there were enough boys each of whom came along the street; stopped to laugh but soon begged to be allowed to paint．By the middle of the afternoon, Tom had got many treasures while the fence had had three layers of whitewash on it．If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, he would have owned everything belonging to the boys in the village．

　　Tom said to himself that the world was not so depressing after all．He had discovered a great law of human action：in order to make a man cover a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain．

完形填空

　　It was the district sports meet．My foot still hadn’t healed(痊愈)from a(n)　　1　　 injury．I had doubted whether or not I should attend the meet．But there I was, ready for the 3000-meter run．

　　“Ready…set…” The gun popped and we were off．The other girls rushed ahead of me．I felt 　　2　　 as I fell farther and farther behind．

　　“Hooray!” shouted the crowd．It was the loudest cheer I had ever heard at a meet．The first-place runner was two laps(圈)ahead of me when she crossed the finish line．

　　“Maybe I should 　　3　　,” I thought as I moved on．However, I decided to keep going．During the last two laps, I ran in pain and decided not to 　　4　　 in track next year．It wouldn’t be worth it, 　　5　　 my foot did heal．

　　When I finished, I heard a cheer－　　6　　 than the one I’d heard earlier．I turned around and 　　7　　, the boys were preparing for their race．“They must be cheering for the boys．”

　　I was leaving when several girls came up to me．“Wow, you’ve got courage!” one of them told me．

　　“Courage? I just 　　5　　a race!” I thought．

　　“I would have given up on the first lap,” said another girl．“We were cheering for you．Did you hear us?”

　　Suddenly I regained hope．I decided to stick with track next year．I realized strength and courage aren’t always 　　9　　 in medals and victories, but in the struggles we overcome(战胜)．The strongest people are not always the people who win, 　　10　　 the people who don’t give up when they lose．