阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。 Growing up for me was a challenge. I started out at primary school and was always asked by my teacher to sit at the 36 of the class because I was a fool. I kept 37 things: I forgot nursery songs and spellings. I was the 38 of class jokes and I was all alone and 39 . I hated school, but my dad would hear none of it. He kept telling me I was a 40 , if I believed it. A 41 around came one day when I remembered the 42 of the word “Cognoscenti”; a word all the other “ 43 students ” had forgotten how to spell 44 they spent their free time making fun of me. I wasn’t asked to spell, 45 I raised up my hand. So I stood up and went to the front of class, 46 23 pairs of eyes staring at me. My teacher grabbed her stick, ready to hit me if I’d 47_ . I wrote the letters, spelt the word and became an instant champion. Afterwards, I 48 and won, for my school, five Spelling Bee championships. Secondary school had its own share of challenges. I was a tall kid and wasn’t good at any 49 , except looking. I loved basketball and tennis. 50 I held a bat(球拍), I was laughed at by my opponent. He 51 six straight sets(盘，局) without sweat and there I was, sweating like I’d run a marathon, whereas I hadn’t even 52  a single point. My dad’s  53 kept playing in my ears “Stanley, you’re a champion if you believe it.” Believe it I did, because I wasn’t only good at tennis and basketball, I was an all-round athlete and 54 won both athletic and 55 scholarships to university. 36. A. front B. back C. side D. corner 37. A. forgetting B. leaving C. repeating D. using 38. A. cause B. inventor C. object D. course 39. A. rootless B. homeless C. careless D. friendless 40. A. champion B. fool C. character D. failure 41. A. moment B. possibility C. turn D. change 42. A. meaning B. spelling C. way D. form 43. A. polite B. dishonest C. bright D. absent-minded 44. A. once B. while C. when D. because 45. A. even though B. as though C. in case D. only if 46. A. for B. as C. with D. before 47. A. hesitated B. succeeded C. lied D. failed 48. A. presented B. represented C. requested D. proposed 49. A. exercise B. mathematics C. sport D. spelling 50. A. At first B. First of all C. The first time D. For the first time 51. A. won B. owned C. missed D. gained 52. A. reached B. seized C. caught D. scored 53. A. message B. information C. sentences D. words 54. A. even B. still C. almost D. nearly 55. A. economic B. historic C. academic D. financial