A city child’s summer is spent in the street in front of his home, and all through the long summer vacation I was watching enviously the other boys play baseball. I was never asked to take part even when one team had a member ________ because they thought I would be no good at it. They were ________, of course.
I would never forget the wonderful evening when my life as a(n) ________ changed. The baseball ________ about eight or eight thirty when it grew dark and it was the _______ of the boys to gather by a little stoop（门廊）and talked about the games. Then long silences would fall and the boys would ________ off one by one. I can no longer remember which boy broke the ________ with a question: but whoever he was, I nod to him _________ now. “What’s in those books you’re reading?” he asked without much _________.
Instead of ________ the question, I told them for two hours the story I was reading. They listened breathless. I must have told it ________, but I think there was a deeper reason that made them keep a(n) ________. Listening to a tale being told in the dark is one of the most ancient of man’s ________, but I was offering them a new and exciting experience.
The next night and many nights thereafter, I would take my ________ in the center of the stoop and begin the evening’s stories. Some nights, in order to taste my ________ more completely, I cheated. I would _______ at the most exciting part of a story, telling them that was as _______ as I had gone in the book and it would have to be _______ the following evening.
Other words of mine have been ________ to by larger and more fashionable audiences, but I have an unreasoning love for the ________ audience that sat close outside the candy store, and it will last forever.
1.A. missing B. playing C. waiting D. failing
2.A. cautious B. proud C. cruel D. right
3.A. outsider B. insider C. success D. loser
4.A. started B. ended C. paused D. came
5.A. honor B. order C. custom D. responsibility
6.A. drop B. fall C. wander D. take
7.A. record B. link C. promise D. silence
8.A. gratefully B. politely C. eagerly D. quickly
9.A. kindness B. doubt C. difficulty D. interest
10.A. asking B. answering C. raising D. keeping
11.A. directly B. simply C. well D. roughly
12.A. watch B. eye C. audience D. secret
13.A. entertainment B. permission C. focus D. reception
14.A. turn B. place C. chance D. step
15.A. peace B. bravery C. bitterness D. victory
16.A. stop B. argue C. laugh D. predict
17.A. long B. soon C. far D. much
18.A. polished B. continued C. shortened D. changed
19.A. related B. adjusted C. listened D. limited
20.A. clever B. greedy C. lazy D. athletic
---I like play basketball but this morning I wouldn’t like to.
---_________.
A. So it is with me B. So do I
C. Nor do I D. So am I
The information you give in the application is too general. You should __________ something special about yourself.
A. spy on B. rely on
C. cut back on D. focus on
Although a snowstorm is on the way, football fans are still looking forward _____ the football match between the two teams.
A. to calling off B. to not calling off
C. not to call off D. not to calling off
Some children are too ________ about their food, which is bad for their growth.
A. cautious B. curious
C. special D. particular
Bats are surprisingly long lived creatures, some ________ a life span of around 20 years.
A. having B. had C. have D. to have
