I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was 21 and when I was 14 he said, “You’re never going to be 22 but a failure.”

　　After five years of 23 jobs, I fell in love with a very nice middle-class girl. It was the best24 that could have happened to me. I25 I wanted to do something positive (积极的) with my life because I　wanted to prove to26 that what people said about me was 27. Especially her mother, who had said to me, “Let’s28 it, you’ve failed at everything you’ve ever done.” So I tried hard with my29 and went to college. My first novel (小说)30 while I was at college.

　　After college I taught during the31 in high schools and attended evening classes at London University, where I got a 32 in history. I became a lecturer at a college and was thinking of33 that job to write full time 34 I was offered a part-time job at Leeds University. I began to feel proud of myself — 35 was a working-class boy who’d 36 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 37 , have been on TV, and met lots of film stars. 38 what does it mean? I39 wish all the people that have put me down had 40 : “I believe in you. You’ll succeed.”

　　21. A. bright B. useless C. simple D. hopeful

　　22. A. anything B. something C. everything D. nothing

　　23. A. low B. poor C. good D. useful

　　24. A. support B. happiness C. surprise D. thing

　　25. A. admitted B. decided C. planned D. told

　　26. A. me B. them C. her D. it

　　27. A. wrong B. right C. stupid D. faulty

　　28. A. see B. know C. understand D. face

　　29. A. experiment B. practice C. writing D. composition

　　30. A. came on B. came in C. came out D. came back

　　31. A. day B. night C. month D. year

　　32. A. graduation B. pass C. degree D. success

　　33. A. giving in B. giving back C. giving out D. giving up

　　34. A. while B. if C. when D. or

　　35. A. there B. here C. it D. that

　　36. A. left B. attended C. changed D. graduated

　　37. A. tired B. calm C. nervous D. famous

　　38. A. And B. But C. However D. Well

　　39. A. just B. exactly C. so D. very

　　40. A. praised B. said C. answered D. advised

　　答案与解析：

　　21.B 【解析】考查前后照应。useless无用的。从上文“I did very badly at school.”可以看出，作者给校长的印象是“无用”。

　　22. A 【解析】考查逻辑推理。根据never可判断要选你not be anything but表示“除了……之外”的意思。

　　23. B 【解析】考查逻辑推理。根据上文中的badly可判断出作者的学业很差。

　　24. D 【解析】考查语境理解。thing事情。句意为：爱上一个中年级的女孩对作者来说是最好的事情。

　　25. B 【解析】考查词语辨析。decide决定;admit承认;plan计划;tell告诉。根据其宾语可以判断出这是作者做出的决定。

　　26. C 【解析】考查前后照应。her指上文提到的那个中年级的女孩。

　　27. A 【解析】考查语境理解。向女孩证明人们说的是错误的。

　　28. D 【解析】考查语境理解。句意为：让我们正视这件事吧，你做每件事都是失败的。故选face。

　　29. C 【解析】考查前后照应。根据下文中的“my first novel”可判断出作者要用自己的写作来证明别人的话是错误的。

　　30. C 【解析】考查词语辨析。come out出版，发行;come on继续前进;come in进来;come back回答。句意为：第一本小说是在上大学时出版发行的。

　　31. A 【解析】考查前后照应。根据下文“attended evening classes”可判断出是在白天教学。

　　32. C 【解析】考查固定搭配。在历史学方面获得学位用get a degree in history来表达。

　　33. D 【解析】考查词语辨析。give up放弃;give in屈服;give back还回;give out分发。句意为：作者考虑辞去工作做一名专业作家。

　　34. C 【解析】考查语境理解。when此处意为：就在这时。句意为：这时得到一份兼职工作。

　　35. B 【解析】考查语境理解。here is (are, was, were) 这儿有。

　　36. A 【解析】考查逻辑推断。从上文可以看出由于作者在学校里成绩很差，过早地离开了学校。

　　37. D 【解析】考查前后照应。famous出名。根据下文“have been on TV，and met lots of film stars”可判断出作者出了名。

　　38. B 【解析】考查语法规则。but表示转折。虽然出了名，但这意味着什么呢?however表示“然而”时，要用逗号与句子分开。

　　39. A 【解析】考查语境理解。just仅仅，只是。表达了作者唯一的希望。

　　40. B 【解析】考查前后照应。根据直接引语可确定选said。