Have you ever wanted to feel like you we...

Without any hesitation, he said, “I’d be better off dead.” Hearing those words come out of my best friend’s mouth tore my heart apart. He has repeated that phrase more than once, and my mind continually plays it over like a voice recording.

I met my best friend about three years ago. After knowing me for six months, he told me about his struggles with depression. Sadness was not the only emotion that came over me; I was shocked. He seemed so outgoing and happy all the time. I soon learnt that he was physically and emotionally abused as a young child, causing him to have suicidal (自杀的) thoughts.

He refuses to talk to others about his depression because he now distrusts adults, especially those in his family. In spite of this, he feels as if I understand him and that I know the right words to say. Thus, when it comes to helping him, convenience is not in my vocabulary. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I am doing, for he takes priority. Sometimes he just needs the assurance of my voice telling him that everything is going to be okay and that I will not let him down.

Many students at his school laugh at him when they notice the scars on his arms from cutting. It seems that other kids have every right to make fun of him and to look down on him. But no one holds such a right, so I encourage him to ignore the heartless kids who treat him badly. When he feels the weight of judging eyes or hateful voices, I always remind him that I care about him unconditionally. Just hearing me say I will always be his best friend seems to give him the security he needs to keep on going.

My best friend once told me that if he hadn’t had me, he wouldn’t be alive. He said that my encouraging words convinced him not to take his life. Our friendship has taught me that a single word can impact on someone’s life. With the fragility of life as it is, I believe in the necessity of encouragement.

1.The author’s friend got into depression mainly because _____ .

2.We know from the passage that the author’s friend_____.

3.What is the best title for the passage?

Yesterday was my stepmother’s birthday. I haven’t been home for a long time, so I wanted to stop by the house to  36  her on this special day. I have been  37  

on a low income so I was afraid that I couldn’t afford the long  38 . Gas is so expensive nowadays!  39 , I filled my tank with gas and set off.  

I  40  at a shopping mall and found a present. It was the  41  gift and I knew she would love it.  42  when I got to the cashier, my card was 43  !

I didn’t have enough money to  44  the gift!

So I thought about the 45  for a few minutes. I could put it back and get something  46 , but I knew there was 47  else in the store she would have liked as much. So, I transferred some money from my saving account and was able to buy the gift. It took a  48  part of my savings but I wanted her to have something special.

It turned out that she loved the gift and I  49  that even though I had spent almost all my money, my stepmother  50  the best. I was glad I gave her the best I could.

Before I  51  my parents’ house, my dad took me to one side and, with our secret handshake, he gave me some money. I hadn’t  52  anything to him about my financial  53  , but I guessed my dad just knew. When I got to the car, I saw the  54  he gave me was three times what I had spent on the gas and the gift! It shows that doing the right thing always comes with great  55  .

The sales _____ steadily, the factory needs an increasing supply of raw material.                                                   

We prefer to measure our football team’s success _____ the number of fans attending rather than the number of games won.                       

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将【