| 完形填空 。 | ||||
| Another person's enthusiasm was what set me moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother. I was nine years old when she entered our home in rural Virginia. My father 1 me to her with these words: "I would like you to meet the fellow who is 2 for being the worst boy in this county and will probably start throwing rocks at you no 3 than tomorrow morning." My stepmother walked over to me, raised my head slightly 4 , and looked me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and 5 , "You are wrong. This is not the worst boy at all, 6 the smartest one who hasn't yet found an outlet (释放的途径) for his enthusiasm." That statement began a(n) 7 between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my 8 as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that. She changed many things. She 9 my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the county seat, where my father's career could be more 10 and my brothers and I could be better educated. When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand 11 and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, I 12 it, and I saw how it had already improved our lives. I accepted her 13 and began to write for local newspapers. I was doing the same kind of 14 that great day I went to interview Andrew Carnegie and received the task which became my life's work later. I wasn't the 15 beneficiary (受益者). My father became the 16 man in town. My brothers and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president. What power 17 has! When that power is released to support the certainty of one's purpose and is 18 strengthened by faith, it becomes an irresistible (不可抗拒的)force which poverty and temporary defeat can never 19 . You can communicate that power to 20 who needs it. This is probably the greatest work you can do with your enthusiasm. | ||||
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