The Price of a Dream
I grew up poor, living with my wonderful mother. We had little money but plenty of love and attention.  I was   36   and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still   37  a dream.
My dream was to be a sportsman.   38   I was sixteen, I had started playing baseball. I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and hit anything that moved on the football field.  I was also   39  . My high-school coach was Ollie Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but taught me  40  to believe in myself. He   41  me the difference between having a dream and realizing the dream. One particular   42   with Coach Jarvis changed my life forever.
It was the summer between my junior and senior years, and a friend recommended (推荐) me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket—money for a new bike and new clothes, and the   43   of savings for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to   44   summer baseball to deal with the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing. 
When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as   45   as I expected him to be.  “You have your whole life to work,” he said.  “Your playing days are limited. You can’t   46   to waste them.” I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the   47   that would explain   48   him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his   49  in me.
“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” he asked. “Three twenty-five an hour,” I replied.
“Well,” he asked, “is $3.25 an hour the   50   of a dream?”
That simple question made it   51   to me the difference between   52   something right now and following a dream. I   53   myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was   54   by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was   55  a $20,000 contract. In 2000, I bought my mother the house of my dream!

A．happy B．polite C．shy D．honest

A．lose B．have C．make D．need

A．By the time B．The time C．At one time D．At a time

A．right B．popular C．lucky D．confident

A．how B．why C．when D．whether

A．gave B．taught C．brought D．asked

A．accident B．matter C．problem D．experience

A．aim B．idea C．start D．purpose

A．keep up B．put up C．give up D．pick up

A．mad B．happy C．frightened D．shameful

A．adopt B．afford C．affect D．effect

A．answers B．excuses C．words D．ways

A．for B．to C．on D．in

A．sadness B．regret C．hopelessness D．disappointment

A．source B．prize C．price D．allowance

A．direct B．clear C．clean D．straight

A．wanting B．changing C．dreaming D．choosing

A．provided B．devoted C．headed D．imagined

A．worked B．mentioned C．fired D．hired

A．paid B．got C．offered D．signed