完形填空 (共20小题；每小题1分, 满分20分)
请认真阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中, 选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
My first full time job after high school was selling vacation packages via telephone for a well-known company. One day, the dialer ____36____ me to a man who answered the phone and ____37_____ a bit out of breath. I started with my normal pitch（推销）, and _____38____ to hear the normal, "I don't want any," and be hung up on.
Instead he spoke in a low, weak voice and told me how he wished he could take a ____39_____ like the one I was offering, but couldn't ____40_____ he was dying of emphysema (肺气肿). He ____41_____ how he was on oxygen, and it took almost all his ____42_____ just to get to the phone to answer the call. I ____43_____, and my heart fell into my stomach. He asked me if I smoked, which I did, and then begged me to stop. He told me smoking is ____44_____ was killing him, and how horrible it was. He told me to ____45_____ every day with my loved ones, and tell them all the time how much I love them. At this ____46_____, I was in tears, and couldn't control myself, and he could tell.
After a few moments, I decided to write down his name and ____47_____, and just send him a card telling him that I ____48_____ his advice and that I would pray for him and his family. Shortly after, I received a nice letter back from Frank, along with a picture of him and his wife. We continued to write back and forth over the next few months or so, and became very ____49_____ of each other. He was old enough to be my grandfather, and in many ways, I felt ____50_____ he was.
It was about a year later I received a letter from his wife, and when I started to read it, my eyes were filled with tears. She told me how Frank's ____51_____ with the disease had finally come to an end, and he ____52_____ shortly before Christmas. She wanted to thank me for the letters I had written to Frank, and then explained how Frank touched many lives over the years. At his ____53_____, to show just that, they read the 1st letter I had written to Frank to show how he ____54_____ a 19 year old he had ____55_____ even met.
I will never forget how much that meant to me.
36. A. took B. connected C. accompanied D. led
37. A. felt B. looked C. sounded D. proved
38. A. expecting B. wondering C. considering D. worrying
39. A. break B. rest C. change D. vacation
40. A. because B. though C. while D. before
41. A. described B. exposed C. explained D. expressed
42. A. power B. energy C. strength D. force
43. A. apologized B. excused C. pardoned D. forgave
44. A. that B. what C. which D. how
45. A. take B. cost C. pay D. spend
46. A. point B. case C. way D. situation
47. A. number B. hobby C. address D. whish
48. A. agreed B. appreciated C. followed D. approved
49. A. interested B. content C. fond D. curious
50. A. if only B. even if C. only if D. as if
51. A. battle B. strike C. defense D. working
52. A. gave away B. turned away C. took away D. passed away
53. A. birthday B. funeral C. ceremony D. performance
54. A. changed B. improved C. affected D. promoted
55. A. always B. seldom C. ever D. never