It’s fourteen years since I left the Philippines to live with my family in the USA. A month ago, while on summer vacation back in my motherland, I learned a lesson from mosquito (蚊子) bites.Right before   36  Kennedy Airport in New York, my grandma   37   me of the behavior of the native mosquitoes around the   38  like me. She said, “There’s an old saying—the   39  you stay away from the motherland, the sweeter your blood   40    to the mosquitoes.” Not   41  it, I replied, “Grandmas, that’s just an old wives’ tale!”
Well, less than a week   42   my arrival in Manila, I was already carpeted with a   43   of mosquito bites. I took many measures to keep myself from being   44   , but they all proved useless.
Late one   45  in my cousin’s home, I couldn’t bear the   46  of the bites, Hoping to find some comfort, I   47   my cousin, who was sleeping peacefully in the bed next to mine. Unhappy for being   48  ,she said, “There is nothing you can do. Go back to sleep.”With a few turns, she slept again. Enviously (嫉妒地)   49   her sleep, I hoped a big mosquito would   50  on her face. However, the mosquitoes would just lightly dance around her forehead and fly away quickly, never biting her. Amazed (惊奇的)，I ran to others’   51  ,only to find they were all sleeping   52  as the same thing occurred again and again.
From those bites, I came to   53  my grandma’s silly tale. From then on. I’ve always tried to keep a(n)   54  mind about those strange old wives’ tales   55   they do have some truth to them.
36. A. leaving             B. passing                          C. visiting                          D. finding
37. A. persuaded          B. reminded                C. warned                          D. informed
38. A. students            B. foreigners               C. passengers              D. visitors
39. A. earlier                      B. longer                           C. sooner                           D. later
40. A. grows                      B. goes                       C. flows                            D. remains
41. A. expecting          B. understanding         C. recognizing             D. believing
42. A. after                        B. before                           C. when                             D. as
43. A. shade                       B. pile                        C. cloud                            D. blanket
44. A. touched                    B. bitten                            C. defeated                 D. discovered
45. A. morning            B. afternoon                       C. evening                  D. night
46. A. noise                       B. hit                         C. pain                              D. effect
47. A. woke up            B. shouted at               C. looked for              D. dropped on
48. A. blarney             B. interrupted              C. moved                           D. frightened
49. A. having              B. watching                       C. making                          D. helping
50. A. land                         B. fly                         C. fall                        D. wait
51. A. houses              B. flats                       C. rooms                           D. homes
52. A. joyfully            B. anxiously                C. soundlessly             D. worriedly
53. A. tell                          B. know                     C. remember               D. accept
54. A. open                        B. active                     C. clear                             D. boneset
55. A. and                          B. so                          C. because                         D. until