閱讀理解：

　　Chinese people call the Spring Festival “Nian”．But do you know that Nian was once the name of a monster(妖怪)?

　　A long time ago, the monster Nian lived in the mountains．It ate animals．But in winter, it could not find food．So it came to villages and ate a lot of people．People were so afraid of Nian that they locked their doors before evening came during the winter．One day, an old man came to a village．He told people there that Nian was afraid of three things－the color red, fire and noise．He told people to play drums and gongs, make big fires and set off fireworks(放鞭炮)to make Nian go away．

　　On a moonless, cold night, Nian went to the village again．As soon as it opened its big mouth, people made loud noises and made fires．Nian was really afraid and ran away．wherever it went, there was noise and fire．When Nian was tired and could not run anymore, people killed the monster．

　　After that, on the coldest day of winter, people beat drums and gongs, and set off fireworks to celebrate the death of the monster of Nian．They put up red lanterns and have a big dinner without sleeping during the night．

　　In the morning people greet each other happily．So now we have the Spring Festival．

完形填空

　　Life is not easy, so I’d like to say “When anything happenes, believe in yourself．”

　　When I was 14, I was 　　1　　 nervous to talk to anyone．My classmates often 　　2　　 me．I was sad but could do nothing．Later, 　　3　　 happened．It changed my life．It was an English speech(演講)contest．My mother asked me to take part in it．What a(n)　　4　　 idea! It meant I had to 　　5　　 in front of all the teachers and students of my school!

　　“Come on, boy．Believe in yourself．You are sure to 　　6　　．”Then, Mother and I talked about many different topics(題目)．

　　At last I 　　7　　 the topic“Believe in yourself”．I tried my best to 　　8　　 all the speech and practised it over 100 times．　　9　　 my mother’s great love, I did well in the contest．I could 　　10　　 believe my ears when the news came that I had won the first place．I heard the 　　11　　 from the teachers and students．Those 　　12　　 who once looked down on(瞧不起)me, now all said“Congratulations!”to me．My mother hugged me and cried 　　13　　．

　　　　14　　 then, everything has changed for me．When I do anything, I try to tell myself to be sure and I will find myself．This is true not only for a person but also for a country．