When I was eighteen, I couldn’t wait to get my first job, which meant I made the first step toward adulthood.
But it was difficult to get a work permit. One day I was dropped off by my parents at the ____16____, where applicants took their physical tests for work permits. Although I had night blindness, my vision was clearer during the day, which helped me walk ____17____ by myself. Then the doctor began the ____18____. He looked into my eyes with a bright light. “I suggest your parents take you to an eye specialist,” he said, “I ____19____ you have a retinal(视网膜) disease. If you do, you’ll never ____20____ a day in your life…”
My parents did take me to specialists. After much time and money spent seeking an ____21____ result, it was determined that I had an eye disease that slowly ___22___ a person of sight. But still, during daylight, I could walk without ____23____. I could read, but not for hours. My eyes began to tear and words slipped off the page when I read more than a few pages. However, no matter how ____24____ my eyes became, I never gave up reading. I knew the _____25_____ of great writers as well as the most popular music stars. Their words were powerful, which ____26____ me to try writing. Soon writing brought me a lot of _____27_____ each time I completed a paper.
Then an important phone call from an editor changed my life. An article I _____28_____ appeared in a local newspaper. The newspaper, to my _____29_____, continued to print my work. Next, a book series published several of my essays. I got interested in writing and _____30_____ up with each acceptance. On the pages, readers never knew of my blindness _____31_____ I chose to present it. For me, finding my voice through writing gave me the pride and satisfaction I began to _____32_____ so many years ago. Now, I have numerous essays and articles in _____33_____.
Should I be thanking that misguided doctor? By falsely predicting that I could never work a day, he fueled my _____34_____ into success. He set the bar too _____35_____ and focused on what I wouldn’t be able to do. Yet I proved what I could do.
16. A. station B. clinic C. company D. lab
17. A. silently B. suddenly C. proudly D. easily
18. A. operation B. examination C. argument D. treatment
19. A. suspect B. order C. suggest D. command
20. A. rest B. live C. work D. sleep
21. A. urgent B. obvious C. ordinary D. accurate
22. A. robs B. warns C. reminds D. informs
23. A. medicine B. allowance C. balance D. assistance
24. A. excited B. confused C. tired D. moved
25. A. houses B. names C. addresses D. habits
26. A. asked B. forced C. encouraged D. permitted
27. A. trouble B. pleasure C. stress D. worry
28. A. admitted B. wanted C. described D. penned
29. A. delight B. admiration C. disappointment D. shame
30. A. gave B. came C. lit D. put
31. A. unless B. although C. since D. after
32. A. fear B. bring C. seek D. reject
33. A. print B. time C. use D. mind
34. A. imagination B. motivation C. responsibility D. personality
35. A. far B. long C. close D. low
