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 36 because they thought I would be no good at it. They were 37 , of course.
I would never forget the wonderful evening when my life as a(n) 38 changed. The baseball 39 about eight or eight thirty when it grew dark and it was the 40 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 41 off one by one. I can no longer remember which boy broke the 42 with a question: but whoever he was, I nod to him 43 now. “What’s in those books you’re reading?” he asked without much 44 .
Instead of 45 the question, I told them for two hours the story I was reading. They listened breathless. I must have told it 46 , but I think there was a deeper reason that made them keep a(n) 47 . Listening to a tale being told in the dark is one of the most ancient of man’s 48 , but I was offering them a new and exciting experience.
The next night and many nights thereafter, I would take my 49 in the center of the stoop and begin the evening’s stories. Some nights, in order to taste my 50 more completely, I cheated. I would 51 at the most exciting part of a story, telling them that was as 52 as I had gone in the book and it would have to be 53 the following evening.
Other words of mine have been 54 to by larger and more fashionable audiences, but I have an unreasoning love for the 55 audience that sat close outside the candy store, and it will last forever.
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36. A. failing
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B. playing
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C. waiting
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D. missing
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37. A. cautious
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B. proud
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C. right
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D. cruel
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38. A. success
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B. insider
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C. outsider
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D. loser
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39. A. ended
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B. started
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C. paused
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D. came
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40. A. custom
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B. order
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C. honor
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D. responsibility
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41. A. drop
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B. wander
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C. fall
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D. take
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42. A. record
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B. link
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C. silence
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D. promise
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43. A. quickly
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B. politely
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C. eagerly
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D. gratefully
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44. A. kindness
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B. doubt
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C. interest
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D. difficulty
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45. A. answering
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B. asking
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C. raising
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D. keeping
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46. A. directly
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B. well
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C. simply
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D. roughly
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47. A. watch
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B. audience
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C. eye
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D. secret
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48. A. reception
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B. permission
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C. focus
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D. entertainment
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49. A. turn
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B. chance
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C. place
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D. step
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50. A. victory
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B. bravery
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C. bitterness
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D. peace
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51. A. laugh
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B. argue
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C. stop
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D. predict
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52. A. long
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B. soon
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C. much
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D. far
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53. A. continued
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B. polished
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C. shortened
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D. changed
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54. A. related
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B. listened
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C. adjusted
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D. limited
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55. A. clever
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B. athletic
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C. lazy
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D. greedy
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