When I was 13 years old, a boy gave me an important gift. It was a   41 .
It was the early autumn of my   42  year at a junior high school, and my old school was far away.   43 , no one knew who I was. I was very   44 , and afraid to make friends with anyone.
Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt my heart   45 . I couldn’t talk to anyone about my problems. And I didn’t want my parents to    46  me.
 Then one day, my classmates talked happily with their friends, but I sat at my desk unhappily   47 . At that moment, a boy   48  the classroom. I didn’t know who he was. He passed me and then turned back. He looked at me and,   49  a word, smiled.
Suddenly, I   50  the touch of something bright and friendly.   51  made me feel happy and warm.
That smile   52 my life. I started to talk with the other students and made friends. Day by day, I became   53  to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.
One day I asked him why he smiled, but he couldn’t   54  smiling at me!
It doesn’t   55  because all the dark days have gone. Now I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think you are lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

【小题9】

A．in B．with C．besides D．without

One day, I heard an American boy say to a Chinese girl student, “You speak very good English.” But the girl answered, “No, no. My English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite   1  at the answer. Thinking he had not made   2   understood or the girl had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.” But the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know   3   to say.
What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   4   a compliment (恭维)in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She     5      understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the west, people will feel proud and   6  when they are praised(赞扬). So if someone says the dishes you have cooked are very delicious, you should say, “Thank you.”
In our country we think being modest is a virtue (美德) and being proud is a bad thing, but in my opinion, being confident does not   7  being proud, so sometimes you should be confident    8   being modest.
  9    you are modest and say, “No, I’m afraid I can’t do it well”, while working in a western country, the others may think that you really cannot do it. If you often say “No”, you will certainly be looked down on by others. When asking for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “Let me have a try ”, he or she will  10  get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.