9、“Today is the day I start the big diet （節(jié)食）,” I told my wife as I raised my hand and   1  , “No chocolate today!”

“Oh, has the hospital gift shop   2   selling it?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “I’ll just have to   3   my strong determination.”

But when I arrived at the hospital, my little friend Benton has been there   4  . I knew my promise would   5   disappear. Because if Benton had things his way, I’d always be eating a piece of candy from the  6   bag he often shared with me.

Benton was an eight – year – old boy who was  7   because of a kind of cancer, which cause him to live in the darkness, when he was fifteen  8   old. For the next twenty – six months, he was in and out of our hospital. For nearly four years, it seemed   9   Benton could beat the disease, until one Friday afternoon in April 2009, when he  10  a headache and lost   11   on his right side. His mom   11  him to the hospital.

Over the next several months, Benton came to our   13   many more times. Each time he came, we   14   say hello, while Benton answered the   15   by holding out a candy from his bag.

So, on that first day of my diet, I went to his room and found Benton lying in his bed, his eyes   16   but not looking into this world.

“We brought his candy bag with us. Would you like to have some?” his mother asked.

Without thinking of my diet, I   17   into the bag and pulled out the first piece my fingers touched. It was my favorite as if Benton had saved one last piece   18   me. At home that evening, I answered a phone about Benton’s   19  . As I   20   it up, I opened the candy and ate it.

1．A．shouted                 B．a(chǎn)nswered             C．stated                  D．promised

2．A．stopped                 B．continued            C．kept                    D．tried

3．A．base on                 B．depend on            C．insist on              D．keep on

4．A．one                       B．yet                      C．a(chǎn)gain                   D．early

5．A．suddenly               B．quickly                C．quietly                 D．shortly

6．A．bottomless            B．countless             C．endless                D．belt less

7．A．ill                         B．injured                 C．deaf                    D．blind

8．A．years                    B．seasons               C．months               D．days

9．A．even though          B．a(chǎn)s though            C．if only                 D．a(chǎn)s with

10．A．found                  B．developed            C．managed             D．provided

11．A．movement           B．touch                  C．motion                D．sight

12．A．hurried                B．brought               C．rushed                D．carried

13．A．home                  B．room                   C．office                  D．hospital

14．A．would                 B．could                  C．should                 D．must

15．A．meeting               B．greeting               C．encouraging         D．praising

16．A．closed                 B．glimpsed              C．glared                 D．opened

17．A．ran                     B．touched               C．reached               D．felt

18．A．a(chǎn)t                       B．for                      C．with                    D．on

19．A．illness                 B．blindness             C．death                  D．sadness

20．A．put                     B．hung                   C．set                      D．gave