School was over and I was both mentally and physically tired. I sat at the very front of the bus because of my ____1___ to get home. Sitting at the front makes you __2_____ out like a shiny coin in a pile of dull pennies.
Janie, the driver, tries to break the ____3____ atmosphere by striking the match of ___4_____ . I try to mind my manners and ____5____ listen, but usually I am too busy thinking about my day. On this day, ___6_____, her conversation was worth listening to.
“My father’s sick,” she said to no one in ___7___. I could see the anxiety and fear in her eyes. With a sudden change of attitde and interest, I asked, “What’s wrong with him?” With her eyes wet and her voice tight from ____8____ the tears, she responded, “Heart trouble.” Her eyes lowered as she ____9____. “I’ve already lost my mum, so I don’t think I can stand losing him.”
I couldn’t respond. I was ____10____. My heart ached for her. I sat on the old, smelly seat thinking of the great ____11____ my own mother was thrown into when her father died. I saw how hard it was, ____12____ still is, for her. I wouldn’t like anyone to go ____13___ that.
Suddenly I realized Janie wasn’t only a bus driver. That was ____14____ her job. She had a whole world of family and concerns too. I had never thought of her as __15______ but a driver.
I suddenly felt I was very ___16____. I realized I had only thought of people as__17____as what their purposes were in my life. I paid no attention to Janie because she was a bus driver. I had judged her by job and brushed her off as ____18_____.
For all I know, I’m just another person in ____19_____ else’s world, and may not even be important. I ___20_____ not have been so selfish and self-centered. Everyone has places to go, people to see and appointments to keep. Understanding people is an art.
1.A. anxiety        B. determination       C. decision        D. attempt
2.A. find           B. make              C. think          D. stand
3.A. unpopular    B. uncomfortable    C. unusual   D. unforgettable
4.A. fire            B. topic      C. conversation    D. discussion
5.A. politely     B. devotedly     C. carelessly      D. sincerely
6.A. however      B. therefore      C. thus         D. otherwise
7.A. surprise      B. common       C. silence        D. particular
8.A. fighting        B. avoiding        C. clearing       D. keeping
9.A. told           B. lasted         C. repeated      D. continued
10.A. for sure        B. at ease         C. in shock       D. in despair
11.A. mercy        B. pain         C. pity           D. disappointment
12.A. but           B. yet           C. and           D. or
13.A. over          B. round       C. through       D. without
14.A. almost       B. nearly            C. ever            D. just
15.A. something    B. anything       C. nothing         D. everything
16.A. sad          B. embarrassed     C. selfish      D. worried
17.A. far           B. long          C. much         D. well
18.A. unfit    B. unselfish      C. unnecessary      D. unimportant
19.A. everyone     B. someone     C. anyone          D. no one
20.A. must          B. may             C. can             D. should