第二节完形填空  (共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分)
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36至55各个题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The moment I knew my mother had incurable lung cancer, I realized for the first time that time will one day run out for us all.
I have determined to be with my mother as much as I possibly can. This is not out of a sense of
36  , but because I really want to be near her. But making the time to   37   with my mother has been my greatest   38   . I have a husband, a four-year-old son and a home to nm. I also hold down a(n)    39    job as a radio announcer at the BBC.
I arrived at work one day to be told we would be doing a radio series exploring “time poverty”. I’ve    40    been taken with the idea that we are time-poor. How can I - who have so many labor-saving machines and an only child – have   41   time than my mother who had six children and no  42  ?
I put this   43   a professor. He pointed out that it is because I try to keep my home much cleaner than my mother did. I admit I like to   44   to my friends. My husband says  45   that I remove all traces (痕迹) of human life    46    anyone arrives.
The professor said    47   has become the new religion. We expect work to provide us with a sense of identity and a means to secure our future. And because we   48   so much time in our working lives, we like to reward ourselves with material things. Frequently, we spend our money before it’s earned.   49  is an annoying worry, keeping us 50  to the work treadmill (跑步机).
The same professor suggested we    51   a Buddhist concept -- to enjoy each moment and activity for its own sake,   52  try to do lots of things at once. Since then I have been   53   the art of “living in the moment” whenever I get the chance. I have cleared my schedule of nonessential tasks,   54   house and garden plans, and turned down some extra work.
It is my mother’s illness, a once-in-a-lifetime event, that sets me   55   on the fact that we forget that time is a limited resource.
36. A. duty           B. guilt              C. sorrow             D. sympathy
37. A. live            B. be                 C. chat                D. go
38. A. concern         B. challenge           C. chance              D. trouble
39. A. demanding         B. critical             C. boring              D. amazing
40. A. almost          B. seldom            C. never               D. often
41. A. better          B. worse             C. less                D. more
42. A. tape-recorder    B. washing machine    C. air-conditioner       D. television
43. A. with           B. for               C. in                         D. to
44. A. show off       B. draw attention       C. look forward        D. get close
45. A. angrily          B. surprisingly         C. jokingly            D. seriously
46. A. after           B. when              C. as                 D. before
47. A. time           B. entertainment        C. work              D. family
48. A. invest         B. contribute          C. give               D. devote
49. A. Pressure        B. Expense           C. Life                D. Debt
50. A. led             B. chained            C. relied              D. focused
51. A. adopt          B. advocate            C. adapt               D. acquire
52. A. more than       B. instead of           C. rather than          D. other than
53. A. exercising      B. practicing           C. believing            D. holding
54. A. fixed          B. conducted          C. postponed           D. made
55. A. reflecting      B. thinking            C. considering          D. wondering