Birthdays are strange things. The more you have, the more you try and pretend they don’t matter, and the more     1    . I’m not really sure why they think so. It’s true that you are getting older, but as     2     , “Who isn’t getting older every day?” The problem may be that a birthday reminds people of all the things    3    , but have not. I certainly understand that feeling, though I think     4     that I most want to do — a kind of personal re-ordering （重新排序） of the to-do list. What makes you depressed（郁悶） on your birthday is that you realize your re-ordered to-do list is exactly the same as it was last year. That makes you feel     5     , and not been anywhere. I have not had that experience this year. I look back at where I was last year and find things have changed since then.

    Life is not easy．so I’d like to say“When anything happens，believe in yourself．”

    When I was 14．I was  1  nervous to talk to anyone．My classmates often  2  me．I was sad but could do nothing．Later， 3   happened．It changed my life．It was an English speech contest．My mother asked me to take part in it．What a(n) terrible idea! It meant I had to  4  in front of all the teachers and students of my school!

   “Come on．boy．Believe in yourself．You are sure to will.”Then，Mother and I talked about many different topics(題目)．At last I  5   the topic“Believe in yourself”．I tried my best to 6  all the speech and practiced it over 100 times. With my mother’s great love，I did well in the contest．I could  7  believe my ears when the news came that I had won the first place．I heard the  8  from the teachers and students．Those  9  who once looked down on(瞧不起)me，all said "Congratulations!" to me．My mother hugged me and cried excitedly．

    10  then．everything has changed for me．When I do anything，I try to tell myself to be confident and I will find myself．This is true not only for a person but also for a country．

1．A．so                                B．too                             C．very

2．A．made faces at                B．caught up with              C．laughed at

3．A．something                     B．nothing                       C．everything

4．A．speak                           B．tell                              C．say

5．A．brought                        B．chose                                C．thought

6．A．remember                     B．see                             C．spell

7．A．a(chǎn)lmost                          B．nearly                         C．hardly

8．A．cheers                          B．thanks                        C．wishes 

9．A．teachers                       B．classmates                         C．boys

10．A．Since                          B．From                         C．Before

補全對話

A．No，I haven't. In fact I haven't had it.

B．Yes. But when I was climbing, suddenly someone shouted, “Catch the thief!”

C．Left leg? Let me see. How did it happen?

D．I thought it was too dangerous.

E．There is nothing serious but you'd better have a good rest.

F．Why not go in through the front door?

G．How poor you are!

（D: Doctor　　T: Tom）

D: What's wrong with you?

T: My left leg hurts.

D: 1 .

T: Well, it's an accident. I tried to get out of the window.

D: 2 .

T: Because I couldn't find the key to the front door.

D: Have you lost it already?

T: 3 .

D: What do you mean?

T: I mean that's not my house.

D: Whose is it?

T: My brother's. But he has gone to another city.

D: So you had to climb the window?

T: 4 .

D: What happened then?

T: I fell off the window, and hurt my left leg.

D: I see. But you are lucky. 5 .

T: I will do as what you told me. Thank you.

Maria likes thrillers，________ she doesn't like comedies．

A．a(chǎn)nd          B．so          C．but          D．then