完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分） 阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Once upon a time, there were two men. One was hard-working and had a lot of   31   and perseverance (坚定不移), while the other was   32   and never did any work. One night, they decided to have a competition between them. The contest was simple: the   33  person to see daylight would be the winner, and the winner would  34   a prize. Both men agree to do it, and the competition started.
The hard-working man immediately  35  and ran towards the west after the sun, while the lazy man just sat there and   36 . The hard-working man, looking at the competitor,  37  at his foolishness and kept going at his quick pace. Running through the jungles, swimming  38   the rivers and seas, and he kept running and running,  39  that he would reach his goal sooner or later. Meanwhile, the lazy man was still sleeping.
The hard-working man had been   40  for 6 hours already, and he was surprised that he still had not   41   daylight. Thinking it would be just around the corner, he  42  on running until he finally came back to where he started, 24 hours   43  . Upon arriving, he saw the lazy man seated there, smiling and waiting for him, holding the  44  he earned.
The hard-working man was   45   how this lazy man could earn it ---he hadn't done anything at all! Then the lazy man said," You are   46  a persevering and patient man, but you were running towards the   47  , running after the sun that kept moving away from your  48   whereas I just waited for the sun to come to me. You were lucky. If I had decided to  49   you and not to tell you, you would be continuing this pursuit (追赶) till your death." The hard-working man knew in his heart that the lazy man was right.
Sometimes, perseverance can   50  you from the truth that what you are doing is wrong.
31. A. hobbies            B. ideas                      C. patience               D. money
32. A. lazy                B. patient                 C. kind-hearted             D. hard-working
33. A. last                B. first                         C. second                D. only
34. A. accept                B. keep                       C. win                   D. defeat
35. A. set in               B. set aside               C. set up                 D. set out
36. A. worked              B. drank                      C. slept                  D. played
37. A. laughed               B. glared                    C. stared                D. looked
38. A. across               B. through                 C. over                   D. past
39. A. representing         B. believing                C. emphasizing            D. complaining
40. A. swimming            B. jumping                 C. resting                 D. running
41. A. admired             B. invented                C. found                  D. realized
42. A. commented          B. carried                            C. figured                 D. depended
43. A. before               B. later                       C. next                  D. further
44. A. money             B. medal                     C. prize                  D. gold
45. A. believing             B. recognizing           C. discussing               D. wondering
46. A. true                B. indeed                    C. certain                 D. hardly
47. A. west                  B. east                        C. north                 D. south
48. A. ears                   B. hands         C. sight                           D. mind     
49. A. hide from             B. learn from      C. keep from              D. come from   
50. A. make                  B. let             C. blind                          D. protect