阅读短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题。
         Born in 1949，Diana Nyad took an early interest in swimming as a sport and was a Florida State High School swimming champion. Like many young athletes，she had Olympic dreams，but a serious illness kept her from competing in the Games. The disappointment didnˈt stop her from going forward. Instead，she became interested in marathon swimming. A brilliant athlete，she was well­conditioned for spending long periods of time in the water. As a long­distance swimmer，she would compete against herself and the obstacles presented by distance，danger，cold，and exhaustion.
         For ten years Nyad devoted herself to becoming one of the worldˈs best long­distance swimmers. In 1970，she swam a ten­mile marathon in Lake Ontario，setting the womenˈs record for the course.In 1972 she set another record by swimming 102.5 miles from an island in the Bahamas to the coast of Florida. Then she broke a third record when swimming around Manhattan Island in 1975.
         Nyad attempted to swim the distance between Florida and Cuba in 1978.Though the span of water is less than 100 miles wide，it is rough and dangerous. After battling the water for two days，she had to give up for the sake of her own health and safety. Even so，she impressed the world with her courage and strong desire to succeed. For Nyad her strength of purpose was just as important as reaching Cuba. That is how she defined success. It did not matter that her swim came up short；she believed she had touched the other shore.
         When Nyad ended her career as a swimmer，she continued to try new things — travelling the world as a reporter，writing books and giving public speeches about her life. Diana Nyad works to inspire others，just as she did when she swam the waters of the world.

After lunch, without permission from parents, the two boys set off to explore the part of the beach which lay beyond the headland(陆岬). They had persuaded their young sister to   (1)   , saying that the long walk would be too   (2)   for her. Once they had got in the headland, the beach reached away endlessly before them. It was like    (3)   a new world. There were damp, dark caves to _(4)   there were many   (4)   among the rocks, full of sea lives. Here and there along the beach were those   (5)   objects, washed up and   (6)  by the tide.(潮汐)

    The afternoon passed   (7)  The sun was already   (8)   when the boys reluctantly (恋恋不舍)   (9)  to make their   (10)   homewards. But long before they reached the headland, they could see that tide had come in so sudden that they were now   (11)  from either end of the beach. Their only chance of   (12)  was to find a way up the cliff(悬崖) nearby.

     They soon find a narrow path   (13)  the cliff top. But half way up their path was  (14)   by a large rock which they could not climb   (15)  . The two boys had to  (16)  at the top of their voices,  (17)   that someone might  (18)  over the top of the rock. Finally came their father and two policemen.   (19)   of them climbed down a rope which was lowered over the rock. The boys were then pulled to safety, and thus saved from spending a terrible night on the cliff.

When I was in junior high school, what my friends thought of me was real important to me. During those years, I grew much taller than most of my classmates. I didnˈt want to be laughed at for my unusual height, so I went along with the crowd who would play jokes on other kids at school. Of course, the jokes were directed at others and not at me.

Once my friends and I put IcyHot (止痛贴) in the shorts of one of the kids on the basketball team. Not only was he terribly embarrassed, but he also had to go to the school nurseˈ s office.

My father didnˈ t think that my behavior was funny, He reminded me about the golden rule: to treat others as I would like to be treated. What I was doing was hurting other kids, and in turn hurting my reputation (名声) as someone to be looked up to. My friends were looking up to me because I was tall, but what did they see ?

He wanted me to be a leader who was a good example to others. He told me over and over again to be the leader that I was meant to be -- to be a big man in my heart and actions, as well as in my body. I had to question myself whether or not it was important to be the kind of leader and person my father believed I was inside. I knew in my heart that he was right.

Once I focused on being the best that I could be at basketball and became a leader in the game, I took my responsibility (责任) to set a good example more seriously. I sometimes have to stop and think before I act, and I make mistakes sometimes. But I continue to look for opportunities where I can make a difference, and to set a good example.

Aryan worked for a well-known film and he had a loving and caring family. Aryan’s parents considered themselves to be the luckiest, to be blessed with such a wonderful child. But on the other hand, Aryan was not happy with himself, since he thought himself to be an ugly, unconfident and unattractive person.

One evening, while returning home from work, he, along with many people, was waiting for the bus. On arrival of the bus, Aryan somehow made his way into the bus and managed to find a seat.

After sitting, he looked around the bus and noticed a handsome and charming man sitting opposite him. On looking towards the man, Aryan became sad once again regarding his looks and personality. All types of bad thoughts started coming in his mind that he was not worth this beautiful world. He thought that lucky man, with such a beautiful and attractive face, must always be the center of attraction.

Aryan became jealous of that man and could not bear him in front of him. So he changed his seat to avoid him. On the way all the negative feelings kept coming to his mind, imagining how his life would have been only if he were more handsome and good looking.

Finally on reaching the destination he came out of the bus. As he was walking, a person suddenly pushed Aryan from back. Aryan angrily turned around and what he saw brought tears in Aryan’s eyes.

The same “fortunate” man he had been envying all his way had difficulty in walking, since his one leg was shorter than the other. The “fortunate” man apologized to Aryan, but Aryan couldn’t say a word and walked away with tears in his eyes and guilt in his heart.

While walking, he realized that we must be satisfied and happy with what we are and even the basic qualities that we have might be a dream to someone else. So we should be grateful with what we have.

Before leaving his job in Brooklyn, Brian Peter had one thing he wanted to do on his last day-say thank you to the city he loves. Peter decided to use the money he made for a day's work, as well as the $10 per year he earned for his service, to give back to his community. "I've got nothing but good things from the city and the citizens, "Peter said. "I take what I make in a day and add that $120 that the police association was going to give me, and I'll just add it up to $500 and get some gift cards for people. "

So after fourteen years' serving as a police officer, Peter spent his last day doing that. Using his own money, Peter purchased five gift cards from Target and five gift cards from the grocery chain Cub Foods worth $50 each and handed them out to strangers in Brooklyn Center.

It took him about two hours to give away the cards and that he could put smiles on a lot of people's faces, including one woman he stopped after noticing the condition of her car. "Her car was really old and really damaged. I saw her windshield wipers were stuck in the up position, "Peter recalled. "I explained what I was doing and gave her a gift card, and immediately, she lit up with a smile. "

Once people overcame the initial shock of what he was doing, Peter said he received a lot more hugs that day. Monique Drier, who stayed with Peter, said Peter has always wanted to give back and didn't really want the attention. "He didn't even have a going-away party, "Drier said.

Peter, who started his new job three days ago, said he still wanted to continue giving back to the community. "Community service is extremely important, and when you're fortunate in life, you should give back to others who aren't as fortunate as you, "Peter said. "That's what makes the world go round. "

Dad was always full of advice, but one of the biggest lessons he taught me one summer was about having a strong work ethic(道德). When my brother and I were growing up, we mowed(修剪) yards during the summer to earn pocket change. Dad was our salesman. He told our neighbors about our service and offered a price they could not refuse. My brother and I got $ 10 per yard. I later found out that our friends were charging $ 20 or more for the same amount of work.

Every time we headed out to mow lawns(草坪), Dad was there to watch. I used to wonder why he came with us. He stood monitoring our work in the heat when he could have been inside relaxing with air conditioning and an icy drink.

One day we were cutting our next-door neighbor’s yard, he always waited until the grass was knee-high to call us over. To make matters worse, we had an old lawn mower. This particular afternoon, I was finishing up and was tired and sweaty.

I was just about to cut off the lawn mower when I saw Dad pointing to one piece of grass. He yelled, “You missed a piece.”

I frowned, hoping he would let it slide and let me go home. He kept pointing. So, tired and disappointed, I went back to cut that piece of grass. I said to myself, “That one piece isn’t hurting anyone. Why won’t he just let it go?”

But when I reached adulthood, I understood his message ---When you’re running a business, the work you do says a great deal about you. If you want to be seen as a businessman with honesty, you must deliver a quality product. That single blade of grass meant the job was not done.

Other neighbors took notice of the good work we did and we soon got more business. We started out with one client, but by the end of the summer we had five.

The US will seek to expand its own oil production in an attempt to reduce dependence on imported oil and bring down fuel prices, President Obama says. New contracts for exploration will be signed in non-protected areas of Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico.

       In his weekly speech, the President insisted the US could reduce its need for imported oil and improve safety. Using his speech to tell Americans that he understood their concerns about rising prices, President Obama focused particularly on the price of fuel, which has risen in recent months.

      US consumers have historically enjoyed cheap fuel, but have seen prices rise in recent months even though US oil production in 2010 reached its highest level for seven years.

       Although the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was serious, Mr. Obama said the Gulf remained a key part of the country’s future energy supply.

       The President’s proposals (议案) come after Republicans (共和党人) introduced a series of proposals that would expand and speed up oil and gas production.

       The White House has criticized the Republican proposals for safety reasons, but Mr. Obama was clear in his speech that he felt safety and environmental standards could be maintained even though production might rise.

       “I believe that we should continue to expand oil production in America— even as we increase safety and environmental standards,” he said.

       “As a nation, we should be investing in the clean, renewable sources of energy that are the solution to high gas prices.”

       Mr. Obama has previously called for a step-change in energy policy, saying the US must move towards getting 80% of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2035.

Mark’s brother, Jamie, rang Mrs. Grady’s doorbell. “You know her better than I do, Mark. You do the talking.”

“Hi, Mrs. Grady,” said Mark when their neighbor opened her door. “Would you like us to shovel (铲雪) your sidewalk and driveway?”

Shoveling was Jamie’s idea, a way to earn enough money for the new Ocean Kingdom video game that came out the next day.

Mrs. Grady touched her hand to her heart. “That would be wonderful, boys. I think the job is getting to be too much for me.”

“It will cost 10 dollars,” Jamie said.

“If that’s OK,” Mark added.

“Oh dear.” Mrs. Grady sounded disappointed. “I haven’t been able to get to the bank. I can offer homemade cookies, but I realize that’s not what you had in mind.”

Mark was going to say that Mrs. Grady could pay them another time, but Jamie cut him off. “We’ll come back later.”     ①    

As they struggled through the snow out of Mrs. Grady’s driveway, Mrs. Grady stood at her window, watching them.

At the same time, Mark was confused. She didn’t look like the person who’d come to his rescue last summer when Mr. Dunn’s collie (牧羊犬), Goldie, escaped from her backyard.      ②     Goldie had just wanted to play, but Mark didn’t feel comfortable around big dogs. And Goldie had boxed him in between the wooden fence and the cedar hedge.

     ③      Then Mrs. Grady’s front door had flown open. Mrs. Grady must have seen him from across the street. “Hold on, Mark. I’m coming!” Her apron had flapped in the wind like a banner as she strode across the street holding a kitchen broom. “Goldie!” she’d called. As soon as Goldie had turned her head, Mrs. Grady had slipped between Mark and the dog. She wasn’t much taller than Mark, but she’d stood firm as a rock in front of him as she flung her arm out toward Mr. Dunn’s house. “Goldie, go home!” Then she’d swept her broom to hurry the dog along. “Get!” Goldie had obeyed.     _④             

When Mark’s father had appeared at their side, he’d said to Mrs. Grady, “That was very brave! Thank you.”

Mrs. Grady had laughed. “It was nothing. Good neighbors watch out for each other, don’t they?”

And now Mrs. Grady needed Mark as much as he’d needed her last summer.

He smiled and waved at Mrs. Grady, then thrust his shovel deep into the snow. He lifted snow over his shoulder.

“Hey!” Jamie shouted. “What are you doing?”

Mark couldn’t explain about Goldie and watching out for neighbors. “I like Mrs. Grady’s cookies,” he said and scooped up another shovelful.

“It’ll take you all day,” his brother sighed. “We’ll never get that game.”

Mark shrugged and kept digging.

He heard Jamie’s annoyed sigh and then, surprisingly, the bite of Jamie’s shovel against the snow. Mark grinned. Jamie had known all along it was the right thing to do.

“Once the other neighbors see the good job we’ve done, they’ll line up to hire us,” said Jamie. “We’ll make money soon enough.” As usual, he had it all worked out.