A Person Who Has Influenced My Life There is always a time in one’s life when a hero comes along. Someone who has inspired you can really help you learn what life is about. I _1_ it as if it was yesterday. I was fifteen years old that year. It was around eight o’clock one evening when my mother _2_ a phone call from her brother-in-law, who told us my aunt was in hospital and that the doctor _3_ them she would need an operation immediately. My family became very _4_ about my aunt’s situation. While my aunt was in the hospital with special _5_ , my cousin Mark, who is mentally disabled, spent time with my family. Mark was seventeen at the time, and had been born with severe mental disorders, which _6_ a wide range of social and physical problems for him throughout everyday life. He never had any true friend _7_ no one could relate to him. I must _8_ that at the beginning I was filled with uncertainty as to how much of a _9_ my cousin would bring on my family. Now looking back at it saddens me to see the _10_ I once showed. Over the two weeks when Mark lived with my family, I probably _11_ more about life and its meanings. Thinking back, I took _12_ in daily life for granted, believing it would always be there. I never even thought about being able to do things like walking, brushing my teeth, or going to the bathroom on my own. Now I see how _13_ I am to be able to do these things independently. Mark was seventeen, but learned on a nine-year-old _14_ . Although his learning ability was slower than most, he could still learn. He explored _15_ to do most of the things everyone else did. _16_ he did pretty well and succeeded in almost everything he tried to do. He _17_ his illness and showed an ambition to love life. To him, having a successful life means achieving goals on his own terms and at his own _18_ . Mark is my hero, for his disability has forever _19_ my viewpoint on life. It seems like a well-deserved life when you’re fifteen, and it is amazing how in a period of time your point of view can change so _20_ . 1. A. accept B. remember C. imagine D. discover 2. A. made B. missed C. received D. used 3. A. promised B. informed C. showed D. begged 4. A. curious B. sure C. disappointed D. worried 5. A. care B. action C. purpose D. interest 6. A . created B. faced C. found D. influenced 7. A. unless B. although C. until D. because 8. A. believe B. regret C. admit D. decide 9. A. puzzle B. failure C. burden D. conflict 1 0. A. weakness B. ignorance C. relief D. mercy 1 1. A. understood B. dreamed C. questioned D. required 1 2. A. anything B. something C. nothing D. everything 1 3. A. powerful B. brave C. lucky D. successful 1 4. A. variety B. level C. job D. balance 1 5. A. possibilities B. functions C. achievements D. difficulties 1 6. A. Typically B. Occasionally C. Accidentally D. Actually 1 7. A. challenged B. prevented C. treated D. reported 1 8. A. business B. cost C. pace D. request 1 9. A. represented B. changed C. formed D. supported 2 0. A. easily B. normally C. properly D. completely