完形填空（共12分，每小题1分）
阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选择最佳选项
　　I had my first job at the age of thirteen, when a friend of my mother’s who owned a book shop hired（雇佣） me for six hours a week to help her in the shop. I was very 　1　 　to earn my own pocket money and my parents 　2　 　interfered（干涉）with how I spent it, even when I was spending it foolishly. They believed that by earning money, spending it, and learning from the 　3　 , I would become more mature（成熟的） and responsible about how to handle work, relationships with others, and money.
　　Like many American parents, my parents also let me and my brothers do things over which they 　4 　　a great deal. When I was sixteen, for example, after I finished high school and before I entered university, I wanted to spend the summer months traveling around Europe. My mother was against the idea of my traveling alone at such a young age, but my father felt that it would be a great 　5　 　for me. In the end, my father won the argument（争论） on the 　6　 　that I limited（限定）my traveling to France, my mother’s home, where I had many uncles, aunts and cousins spread out through the country who could 　7　 　shelter（住处）and help if I needed them.
　　Three years later, my younger brother decided to 　8　 　a year off after his first year in university and travel through the United States and the Caribbean. Again my mother was very worried and not eager to see my brother leave school, but my father encouraged him and my brother had a(n) 　9　 　year working his way on trains and ships to 　10 　　passage to different ports and cities, and discovering many fascinating places and people.
　　These kinds of experiences are probably rare（稀少的）for children in many countries but in the US they are fairly common. Most parents start 　11　 　their children at a young age to do small things by themselves. By the time they have finished high school, many American kids have already had part-time jobs, traveled around the US or other countries on their own, have selected the university they plan to attend and maybe even 　12　 　on their future career, and so on.

“ __________ were you born?” “On May 12, 1985”.

A. What 　　　B. Which 　　C. When 　　　D. Where

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   3   him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak very well.”   4   the girl still kept saying, “No.” In the end the American boy could not understand and didn’t know   5   to say.
What’s wrong with the girl’s answer? She didn’t   6  a compliment (恭维) in the same way as the American people do. She should answer, “Thank you” instead of “No”. She   7  understood what the American boy had said, but she thought she should be modest. In the   8  , people will feel proud and 9   when they are praised . So if someone says the   10   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   11  being proud, so sometimes you should be confident   12  being modest.
   13  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 upon by  14 . 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   15   get it. So in the west, you should be brave to show your self-confidence.