My sister and I grew up in a little vill...

My sister and I grew up in a little village in England. Our father was a struggling   16  , but I always knew he was   17  . He never criticized us, but used   18   to bring out our best. He’d say, “If you pour water on flowers, they flourish. If you don’t give them water, they die.” I   19   as a child I said something   20   about somebody, and my father said, “   21   time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it’s a reflection of you.” He explained that if I looked for the best   22   people, I would get the best   23  . From then on I’ve always tried to   24    the principle in my life and later in running my company.

Dad’s also always been very   25  . At 15, I started a magazine. It was   26   a great deal of my time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a   27  ：stay in school or leave to work on my magazine.

I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision,   28   any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind,  he said, “Richard, when I was 23, my dad   29   me to go into law. And I’ve   30   regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist,   31   I didn’t pursue my   32  . You know what you want. Go fulfill it.”

As   33   turned out, my little publication went on to become Student, a national   34   for young people in the U.K.  My wife and I have two children, and I’d like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad   35   me.

1.A. biologist      B. manager          C. lawyer           D. gardener

2.A. strict         B. honest           C. special          D. learned

3.A. praise         B. courage          C. power            D. warmth

4.A. think          B. imagine          C. remember         D. guess

5.A. unnecessary        B. unkind           C. unimportant      D. unusual

6.A. Another            B. Some             C. Any              D. Other

7.A. on             B. in               C. at               D. about

8.A. in case            B. by turns         C. by chance        D. in return

9.A. revise         B. set              C. review           D. follow

10.A. understanding B. experienced C. serious           D. demanding

11.A. taking up B. making up C. picking up      D. keeping up

12.A. suggestion B. decision    C. notice          D. choice

13.A. and   B. as  C. even if             D. as if

14.A. helped B. allowed     C. persuaded            D. suggested

15.A. always B. never           C. seldom           D. almost

16.A. rather B. but C. for             D. therefore

17.A. promise   B. task             C. belief           D. dream

18.A. this          B. he               C. it                   D. that

19.A. newspaper     B. magazine         C. program          D. project

20.A. controlled        B. comforted        C. reminded         D. raise