When Mark left school, he did not really know what he wanted to do. He 36  worked in an office but he found that it was very boring. He did the   37  things day after day. This was also the trouble with his second   38  in a car factory. He then decided he would like to work out of doors and got a job  39  a gardener working in one of London’s    40 .
He now works much harder than he   41  in the office or at the factory, but his work is quite different. There are, in all,   42  seasons in a year and each has its own special jobs for a   43  . He works harder in the autumn and winter keeping the park tidy and   44  for the spring and summer. In the summer he can relax(休息) and feel proud(自豪的) that he has helped to   45  the park so beautiful. Many people   46  the park then and he is always pleased   47  he hears them say how lovely it looks.
Mark has made a lot of friends during his four   48  at the park. Many office workers come every  49 to eat their lunchtime sandwiches and feed the ducks. They often have talks with him and are  50  to find that he once worked in an office.

When I was a girl of 10, I joined the school cross-country team and practiced twice a week, on the 1,8-km course I'd never really run before and I thought the course would be easy. It was a real shock I ran out of breathe(喘气)within the first few minutes. I never realized how tiring running could be but I didn’t t think about give up.
Over time,I did get a little bit faster. However, I was really slow. In races, I would finish close to last. I'd always have to stop more than once, especially in the longer races, which were 2. 5 to 2. 8 km. After every race, I'd go home and cry. But 1 still didn't stop running, holding onto that picture of crossing the finishingline and finally doing well.  
Then one of my friends joined the team, too. She could run easily and even came in the 18^th in a big race! I felt so slow and my confidence(自信) was lower than ever. I became so nervous when I thought of the races that I wanted to give up badly.
Still. I refund to. Finally. 1 realized that the reason I was to nervous was that I was always worried that I wasn't ready for them. So a few weeks before the next 2. 8-km race. I practiced running almost 3 km every day. which helped me improve my pace(步伐).
When the time came for the big race, all that practicing really paid off. I stopped only once and my pace was so much better.
I realized that I’d finally gotten happiness with running. But the funny thing was. It didn't come from doing better, Instead, it came from the fact that I hid tried harder and never given up.
【小题1】 Before she took the 1.8-km course, the writer________.