Passage Two

Jay Wilson was my English teacher at Lake Forest High School. It was he who 1 my potential in writing， and his 2 made me a writer eventually.

He was kind to me， but I had no 3 that he took particular notice of me. There were other 4 kids in the class， and soon I fell back into my usual 5 and thought that I was just a little over average in most things. Near the end of the term， we began to read the play—Macbeth. Believe me， this is not an easy play for high school students to 6 ， so I spent a lot of time reading it. After working till the night before it was due， I wrote a paper about the 7 — the first paper I typed on a typewriter—and turned it 8 the next day.

I got a good 9 on it， and below the grade Mr Wilson wrote， “Sure 10 you become a writer.” That was it. Those six words were written in his clear and neat handwriting. It was the first time he or anyone had 11 in any way that writing was a 12 option for me. Wed never had any writers in our family line， and we didnt know any writers personally， even 13 ， so writing for a living didnt seem something 14 to me. But then， just like that， Jay Wilson tapped my hidden 15 and let me see a wider world.

Over the next 10 years， I often 16 about Mr Wilsons six words. Whenever I felt discouraged， it was those six words that came back to me and gave me 17 . When a few instructors in college gently and not-so-gently tried to tell me I had no talent， I held Mr Wilsons 18 before me to protect myself. I didnt 19 what anyone else thought. Mr Wilson， head of the whole English department at Lake Forest High， 20 I could be a writer. So I put my head down and struggled forward.

1. A. dug B. realized C. invented D. recognized

2. A. knowledge B. confidence C. influence D. attention

3. A. intention B. concern C. doubt D. sense

4. A. older B. smarter C. richer D. luckier

5. A. location B. position C. motivation D. qualification

6. A. understand B. tell C. consider D. accept

7. A. work B. term C. class D. play

8. A. on B. off C. in D. up

9. A. grade B. praise C. idea D. start

10. A. wonder B. hope C. make D. help

11. A. arranged B. persuaded C. announced D. indicated

12. A. career B. study C. hobby D. method

13. A. distantly B. frequently C. actually D. obviously

14. A. necessary B. precious C. different D. available

15. A. talent B. memory C. secret D. opinion

16. A. worried B. thought C. heard D. wrote

17. A. impression B. improvement C. imagination D. strength

18. A. actions B. wisdom C. words D. duty

19. A. care B. predict C. ignore D. learn

20. A. proved B. said C. promised D. answered