35. —Hey, Kelin. Happy new year! ______?
—Ok, I guess. My grandma kept cooking and cooking, so I just kept eating.

My first job was at a local restaurant, where I worked for seven years and learned so many lessons, especially from a fellow   36 .
Helen was in her 30s and had extraordinary（非凡的） self-confidence, something I was really  37 . I looked up to Helen  38  she was doing what she loved—  39 people better. She always made everyone, customers and co-workers（同事）  40 and feel good.
Being a waitress changed my life. One of my  41 customers was Fred Hasbrook. He always ate an omelet, and when I saw him _42 , I tried to have it on his table as soon as he sat down.
Thanks to the new found confidence I  43 __from Helen, I dreamed of having my own  __44 . But when I called my parents to ask for a loan（贷款）, they said, “We just don’t have the money.”
The next day, Fred saw me and asked, “What’s   45  ? You’re not smiling today.” I  46__my dream with him and said, “Fred, I know I can do more if somebody  47 just have faith in(信任）me.”
Before long he handed me checks  48 __$50,000—along with a note that I have to this day. It reads, “The only collateral（抵押品）on this loan is my trust in your  49 as a person. Good people with a dream should have   50  __to make that dream come true.”
I took the checks to Merrill Lynch, where the money was provided for me. I  51 working at the restaurant, making  52 for the restaurant I would open. My plans soured（破灭）, and I lost the  53 .
Later I decided to apply for a job at Merill Lynch. Even though I had no experience, I was__54 and ended up becoming a pretty good agent.   55 ，I paid back Fred the $50,000, plus 14-percent annual interest. Five years later, I was able to open my own firm.

A woman saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard, hungry. She did not know them but invited them in. “ We do not go into a house together,” they replied. And she asked why.

One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” pointing to one of his friends, “ and he is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “ Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”

The woman went in and told her husband what had happened. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!” he said. “Since that is the case, let Wealth come in and fill our home with wealth!” His wife disagreed, “My dear, why not invite Success?” Their daughter-in-law gave her own suggestion: “Wouldn’t it be better to invite Love? Our home will be filled with love then.” “Let’s heed our daughter-in-law’s advice,” said the husband to his wife. “ Go out and invite Love to be our guest.”

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the woman asked Wealth and Success: “ I only invited Love, why are you coming in?”

The old men replied together. “ If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out. But since you invited Love, wherever he goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!”

The underlined word “ heed” means “     ”.

A. give         B. refuse        C. follow         D. offer

What’s the best title of the passage?

A. The importance of Love.        B. An old couple and Love.

C. Which one is the best choice?    D. Wealth, success and love.

From the story, we can know that the daughter-in-law is full of     .

A. care         B. imagination    C. love         D. cleverness

Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Without love, there won’t be anything.  

B. Without wealth, the husband has nothing.

 C. Without success, you have to love others.

 D. Without carelessness, you will get everything.

That night, Joe came back home very late, pulling his heavy legs, obviously tired．He then sat down by the window, ­ 1  his head．
Hearing her husband back, Kay  2  out of the kitchen, but to her  3 , Joe sat still,
without  4 ．Usually, when he came back, he would greet her with a kiss or a hug．Immediately Kay 5 something unusual．She went over to Joe and asked, “Tell me, my dear, any 6 news?”
“Well, I have to say that things are not in our  7 ．It seems that I have no  8 to defeat my opponent (对手)．He’s much more 9 , for he’s been holding the position for nearly four years, and people think he’s done a 10  job．Many signs show that he’s in the 11．”
“Oh, really? But I still believe you have our own  12 ．You’re in your forties at the best age for a man．You’re new, so people have reasons to  13  you to do better．So let’s go to the voters and tell hem, ‘Give Joe Hart a chance, and he’ll show you who’s your better 14”
Their next three weeks were spent  15  different neighborhoods, going to all kinds of parties, and making speeches at universities and gatherings．Even Judy and Julie, their small children, went from door to door,  16  their “Please vote for our daddy, Joe Hart!”
The night before the 17 vote, the whole Hart family were too 18 to fall asleep．The moment before the final result was declared, their 19 were brought to their mouths, but at last they all 20 and burst into tears．
Joe Hart became head judge of the state of Texas, USA．