I got a good    44    on it, and below the grade Mr. Wilson wrote, “Sure    45    you become a writer.” That was it. Those six words were written in his clear and neat handwriting. It was the first time he or anyone had    46    in any way that writing was a    47   option for me. We’d never had any writers in our family line, and we didn’t know any writers personally, even    48   , so writing for a living didn’t seem something    49    to me. But then, just like that, Jay Wilson tapped my hidden    50     and let me see a wider world.

Over the next 10 years, I often    51    about Mr. Wilson’s six words. Whenever I felt discouraged, it was those six words that came back to me and gave me    52   . When a few instructors in college gently and not-so-gently tried to tell me I had no talent, I held Mr. Wilson’s    53    before me to protect myself. I didn’t    54   what anyone else thought. Mr. Wilson, head of the whole English department at Lake Forest High,    55    I could be a writer. So I put my head down and struggled forward. 396

36.     A. when                      B. who               C. how               D. where

37.     A. knowledge               B. confidence        C. influence  D. assignment

38.     A. intention         B. concern   C. doubt             D. sense

39.     A. older             B. smarter   C. richer             D. luckier

40.     A. location          B. position            C. motivation        D. qualification

41.     A. so                         B. but                 C. or                  D. for 

42.     A. work                B. term                 C. class          D. play