Some people bring out the best in
you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was
one of those people.
My father died when I was nine
months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was
growing up, we lived a very 36 life. We had
little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her
lap and spoke the words that would 37 my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do
anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car
and the doctors said I would never 38 again.
Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that
no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I didn’t want to be bad enough. She 39 that
message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I
returned to school-walking on my own!
When the Great Depression（大蕭條） 40 , my mom lost her job. Then I left school to
support（支撐） both of us. At that moment, I
decided never to be 41 again.
Over the years, I experienced
various levels of business success. But the real 42 point
happened on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1916. I was dissatisfied
with the second-class hotels for families and was angry that they charged（收費）an extra $2 for each child. That was too 43
for most American families. I told my wife that I was going to open a
hotel for families that would never charge extra for 44 .
There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not 45 ,
mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even
designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of hard time.
But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my
heart, I 46 doubted we would succeed. Fifteen
years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world - Holiday Inn. In
1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of
$1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life
in the best situations. But if you can find a 47 in
life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.
1.A.
quiet B. boring
C. hard D. strange
2.A.
accept B. change
C. disturb
D. check
3.
A. study B. speak
C. listen D. walk
4.A.
drove B.
expected C. explained
D. covered
5.A.
did B. hit C.
cut D. fit
6.A.
excited B. brave
C. patient
D. poor
7.A.
leading B. breaking C.
turning D. celebrating
8.
A. expensive B. fantastic C.
different D. special
9.A.
husband B. parents
C. children D. wife
10.A.
successfully B. surprisingly
C. interestingly D. importantly
11.A.
always B. sometimes
C. almost D.
never
12.A. task B.
hotel C.
company D. wor
