I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was ___36___ and when I was 14 he said, “You’re never going to be ___37___ but a failure.”
After five years of ___38___ jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best ___39___ that could have happened to me. I ___40___ I wanted to do something positive (积极的) with my life because I wanted to prove to ___41___ that what people said about me was ___42___. Especially her mother, who had said to me, “Let’s ___43___ it, you’ve failed at everything you’ve ever done.” So I tried hard with my ___44___ and went to college. My first novel (小说) ___45___ while I was at college.
After college I taught during the ___46___ in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a ___47___ in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of ___48___ that job to write full time ___49___ I was offered a part-time job at Leeds University. I began to feel proud of myself—___50___ was a working-class boy who’d ___51___ school early, now teaching at the university.
My writing career (职业) took off when I discovered my own style. Now I’m rich and ___52___, have been on TV, and met lots of film stars. ___53___ what does it mean? I ___54___ wish all the people that have put me down had ___55___: “I believe in you. You’ll succeed.”
36. A. bright   B. useless      C. simpleD. hopeful
37. A. anything      B. something C. everything D. nothing
38. A. low      B. poor  C. good  D. useful
39. A. support B. happiness  C. surprise     D. thing
40. A. admitted      B. decided     C. planned     D. told
41. A. me       B. them  C. her    D. it
42. A. wrong  B. right  C. stupidD. faulty
43. A. see       B. know C. understand D. face
44. A. experiment  B. practice     C. writing      D. composition
45. A. came on      B. came in     C. came out   D. came back
46. A. day      B. night  C. monthD. year
47. A. graduation   B. pass   C. degreeD. success
48. A. giving in     B. giving back      C. giving out D. giving up
49. A. while   B. ifC. when D. or
50. A. there    B. here   C. itD. that
51. A. left      B. attended   C. changed     D. graduated
52. A. tired     B. calm  C. nervous     D. famous
53. A. And     B. But    C. However   D. Well
54. A. just      B. exactly      C. so      D. very
55. A. praised B. said   C. answered   D. advised