I did very badly at school．My headmaster thought I was （36）　　 and when I was 14，he said，"You are （37）　　going to be anything 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 decided to do something positive with my life because I wanted to prove to her what people said about me was （40）　　，especially her mother，who had said to me，"You have failed at everything you have ever done．"So I tried hard with my （41）　　 and went to college，my first novel（42）　　while I was at college．

After college I taught during the （43）　　in high schools and attended evening classes at London University，where I got a （44）　　in history．I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of giving up that job to write full time when I was offered a part﹣time job at Leeds University．I began to feel proud of myself﹣﹣it was a working﹣class boy who had left school early，now teaching at the university．

My writing career（生涯） （45）　　 when I realized my own style．Now I am rich and famous，have been on TV，and met lots of film stars．But what does it mean？I just wish all the people that have put me down had said，"I believe in you．You will succeed．"

36．A．bright	B．useful	C．simple	D．hopeful
37．A．never	B．sometimes	C．often	D．seldom
38．A．low	B．poor	C．good	D．useful
39．A．support	B．happiness	C．surprise	D．thing
40．A．wrong	B．right	C．stupid	D．foolish
41．A．experiment	B．experience	C．writing	D．practice
42．A．came on	B．came in	C．came back	D．came out
43．A．day	B．night	C．month	D．year
44．A．graduation	B．pass	C．degree	D．success
45．A．took off	B．put off	C．gave off	D．got off．