二、完形填空（10分）
It was a fine afternoon. As I was riding home, I noticed a person cycling in front, about 300 metres away. I could tell he was a little
slower
than me and I decided to catch up with him. It was about one kilometre to go
before
I reached my neighbourhood, so I started cycling faster.
Every block, I was gaining on him just a little bit. In minutes, I was about 100 metres behind him. I
nearly
put all my effort into cycling, almost treating it as an Olympic triathlon.
I passed him by and felt pretty good inside at that moment. I beat（打败）him, of course, but he didn't even know we were
racing
. He was still cycling slowly along the street.
And after riding past him, I
realized
that I had missed my turn. I had gone almost six blocks further and had to go all the way back.
Isn't that what happens in life when we pay too much attention to others, trying to prove（证明）that we are more
successful
? We spend our time and energy chasing（追赶）after them and at last we lose our own
directions
. What's even funnier is that we just put on a one-man show, for the people we see as our opponents（对手）may know
nothing
about it.
There is always somebody
ahead of
you in one way or another, someone with a better job, a nicer car, more money in the bank, etc. So, never let endless comparison（比较）
control
your mind. Don't lose yourself in the comparison and remember your own life pace.
（
C
）1. A. older B. lighter C. slower D. taller
（
A
）2. A. before B. after C. when D. since
（
B
）3. A. hardly B. nearly C. closely D. easily
（
C
）4. A. moving B. training C. racing D. searching
（
A
）5. A. realized B. understood C. considered D. forgot
（
B
）6. A. careful B. successful C. peaceful D. cheerful
（
C
）7. A. messages B. courses C. directions D. discoveries
（
D
）8. A. everything B. something C. anything D. nothing
（
D
）9. A. far behind B. close to C. opposite to D. ahead of
（
A
）10. A. control B. pollute C. voice D. lose
