There once was a boy who loved eating sweets. He ___36____ asked for sweets from his father. His father was a ____37____ man and they lived in a very old house. He could not always ___38____sweets for his son. But the little boy did not ___39___ this, and demanded sweets all the time. 

The boy’s father thought hard about ____40____ to stop the child asking for so many sweets. There was a very holy(神圣的) man living nearby at that time. The boy’s father had a(n)____41___.He  decided to take the boy to the great man who might ____42____ persuade(说服) the child to stop asking for sweets all the time. The boy and his father went along to the ____43____ man. The father said to him, “Oh, great saint, could you ask my son to stop asking for sweets which I cannot afford?” The great man was in ____44_____, because he liked sweets himself. How could he ask the boy to give up asking for sweets? The holy man told the father to ____45____ his son back after one month. 
      During that month, the holy man gave up eating sweets, and when the boy and his father ____46____after a month, the holy man said to the boy “My dear child, will you stop asking for sweets which your father cannot afford to give you?” ____47_____ , the boy stopped asking for sweets.

The boy’s ___48_____ asked the saint, “Why did’t you ask my son to give up asking for sweets ____49____ we came to you a month ago?” The saint replied, “How could I ask a boy to give up sweets when I loved sweets myself. In the last month I gave up eating sweets.”

A person’s ____50___ is much more powerful than just his words.

(   )36. A. always           B. never        C. hardly        D. seldom

(   )37. A. rich              B. honest       C. kind         D. poor

(   )38. A. make             B. accept       C. afford        D. find

(   )39. A. ignore            B. understand    C. remember     D. change

(   )40. A. what             B. where        C. why         D. how

(   )41. A. excuse            B. surprise      C. idea         D. proverb

(   )42. A. can              B. was able to    C. be able to     D. could

(   )43. A. young            B. strong        C. great        D. ugly

(   )44. A. difficulty          B. peace        C. danger       D. tears

(   )45. A. call               B. turn         C. get          D. bring

(   )46. A. returned           B. asked        C, left         D. disappeared

(   )47. A. Up to now         B. Sooner or later  C. In other words  D. From then on

(   )48. A. sister             B. brother        C. father        D. mother

(   )49. A. when             B. because       C. until         D. though

(   )50. A. success           B. history        C. future        D. example

A true friend is always helpful. I didn’t believe it   36  one thing happened to me when I was in Grade 7.

Li Jie was one of my classmates. He and I were also neighbours. He always listened to his mother   37  I didn’t like listening to my mother. I didn’t think it was necessary for  38  to teach me anything. Li Jie knew all about that but he said   39  to me.

One weekend, Li Jie invited me to watch a film. I liked films very much so I went to the   40  with him happily. The film was about the love between a   41  and her son. After watching it, I began to know how great the love of the mother was. I felt   42  that I didn’t listen to my mother before. I decided to think more about my mother than about   43 . After I told that to him, Li Jie smiled and said, “It’s really necessary for you to watch such a film. That was a good choice (选择) for both you and me.”

Suddenly, I knew   44  he invited me to watch the film. Just at that time, I knew a true friend is always   45 .

I was now five, and still I showed no much interest in things except with my toes（脚趾）. I could not look after myself,   35  my father took care of me. I used to lie on my back all the time in the kitchen. I was   36 , imprisoned（监禁） in a world of my own, unable to communicate with others.
Then, suddenly, it happened on the afternoon of a cold December day. All the family were gathered round the big kitchen fire. Mona and Paddy were drawing funny animals, using a bright piece of yellow chalk. It was the chalk that   37  me so much. I had never seen anything like it before.
Suddenly, I wanted to do what my sister was doing. Then without thinking or knowing exactly what I was doing, I   38  out and took the chalk out of my sister’s hand, with my left foot. It is a puzzle（迷惑）to many people as well as to   39 . I held the chalk tightly between my toes and made a wild scribble（乱涂）with it on the board. Next moment I stopped, not knowing what to do with the chalk next, hardly knowing how it   40  there. Then I looked up and realized that everyone was looking at me   41 . My mother came in. Her eyes looked from my face down to my   42 , then she took another piece of chalk from Mona, and drew the single letter “A” on the floor in front of me. “Copy that, Christy.” She said. I tried to do the same action, but I   43 . “Try again, Chris.” she whispered in my ear. I tried another two more times. I drew one side of the letter, then the other. It looked ugly, but I   44  to make it finally. I had done it! True! I couldn’t speak with my mouth, but now I would speak through something more   45  than spoken words. That one letter was my   46  to a new world, my key to mental freedom.