第二节完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
James’s  New  Bicycle
James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully   36   the coins that lay on the bed.$24.52 were all that he had.The bicycle he wanted was at least $90!   37   on earth was he going to get the   38   of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was   39   to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. There was no   40   asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to   41  
There was only one way to get money, and that was to   42   it. He would have to find a job. 43 who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had   44 on most things.
That was the   45   of James’s odd- job(零工) business. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the   46   of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the   47 of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the   48   increased and he knew that he would soon have   49   for the bicycle he longed for.
The day   50   came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He   51   no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode   52   home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard   53   for the money, so James knew that he valued his bicycle far more   54   he had bought it with his own money. He had  55  what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even more than the bicycle.
36. A. cleaned        B. covered             C. counted             D. checked
37. A. How            B. Why                 C. Who                 D. What
38. A. amount        B. part                  C. sum                 D. rest
39. A. brave           B. hard                  C. smart                D. unfair
40. A. point           B. reason               C. result                D. right
41. A. split            B. spend                C. spare                 D. save
42. A. borrow        B. earn                  C. raise                 D. collect
43. A. Or               B. So                    C. For                   D. But
44. A. decisions         B. experience      C. opinions        D. knowledge
45. A . beginning        B. introduction   C. requirement    D. opening
46. A. similarity   B. quality         C. suitability      D. variety
47. A. brand       B. number          C. size               D. type
48. A. effort       B. pressure            C. money           D. trouble
49. A. all            B. enough          C. much            D. some
50. A. finally      B. instantly        C. normally        D. regularly
51. A. gave         B. left                       C. took              D. wasted
52. A. patiently   B. proudly          C. silently          D. tiredly
53. A. applying   B. asking           C. looking          D. working  
54. A. since         B. if                  C. than               D. though
55. A. deserved   B. benefited        C. achieved        D. learned