第二节完形填空(共20小题；每小题1．5分，共30分)
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的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。   
"How did you do it, Dad? How have you  36  to not take a drink for almost 20 years?" It took me almost 20 years to have the___ 37___to even ask my father this very personal question. When Dad first   38    drinking, the whole family was on pins and needles every time he 39   a situation that, in the past, would have   40   him drinking again. For a few years we were afraid to bring it up   41   the drinking would begin again.
"I had this little poem that I   42  recite to myself at least four to five times a day," was Dad's reply to my 18-year-old   43   question. "The words were an instant relief and constant 44   to me that things were never so   45   that I could not handle them," Dad said. And then he 46   the poem with me. The poem's simple, yet profound words immediately became part of my daily 47   as well.
About a month after this talk with my father, I   48   a gift in the mail from a friend of mine. It was a book of daily affirmations （誓词）with one affirmation   49   for each day of the year.
It has been my experience that when you get   50   with days of the year on it, you automatically turn to the   51   that lists your own birthday.
I   52   opened the book to November 10 to   53   what words of wisdom this book had in store for me. I did a double-take and tears of   54   and appreciation rolled down my face. There, on my birthday, was the   55   same poem that had helped my father for all these years! It is called the Serenity （安详）Prayer:
God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference.
36. A. prepared       B. promised       C. managed     D. performed
37. A. courage        B. opportunity     C. inspiration     D. reason
38. A. began         B. avoided        C. permitted      D. quit
39. A. got away with   B. got into        C. got down to    D. got through
40. A. forbade        B. started         C. attracted       D. caused
41. A. for fear        B. for sure        C. so that         D. otherwise
42. A. should         B. might         C. would         D. had to
43. A. unanswered     B.unasked        C. unexpected     D. unwelcome
44. A. prayer         B. performer      C. inspector       D. reminder
45. A. rough         B. severe          C. tough         D. urgent
46. A. created        B. explained       C. spared         D. shared
47. A. schedule       B. routine         C. habits        D. customs
48. A. mistook       B. posted          C. accepted       D. received
49. A. copied        B. presented        C. listed          D. printed
50. A. something     B. anything        C. everything      D. nothing
51. A. date          B. page           C. matters         D. problems
52. A. doubtedly      B. eventually       C. patiently        D. hurriedly
53. A. see           B. recite           C. repeat          D. forecast
54. A. sadness        B. loneliness       C. disbelief        D. belief
55. A. exact          B. correct         C. almost          D. much