完形填空。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。
As an engineering student, I had a degree and three good job offers. I can’t help trembling when I hear about studies that show that women are at a __1 when it comes to math. However, I discovered: just because a subject is 2 to learn, it does not __3_ you are not good at it. You just have to grit your teeth and work harder to get good at it. _4 you do, there’s a strong chance you will enjoy it more than anything else.
In eighth grade I took algebra（代数学）. On one test I got only 36 percent of the __5 answers. I failed the next one, too. I started to _6_ that maybe I’m just not good at this. I was lucky enough to have a teacher who didn’t take my bad grades as a judgment of my 7 _, but 8 as an indication that I should study more. He _ 9 me aside and told me he knew I could do better. He let me _10 the tests, and I pulled my grade up to an A.
I studied a lot in college, too. I had moments of fear while sitting below the buzzing fluorescent lights in the 11 library on Saturday afternoons, when I __12_that the estrogen (雌性激素) in my body was 13_ me from understanding thermodynamics (热力学). But the _14 _ in my classes had to work just as hard, and I knew that I couldn’t _15 to lose confidence in myself. I didn’t want to choose between my femininity（女性）and a good career. _16__ I reminded myself that those 17 _, the ones that say that math comes more naturally to men, are faulty.
Here’s a secret: math and science don’t go _18 to most people. No one was __19 born knowing calculus. A woman can learn anything a man can, but first she needs to know that she can do it, and that takes a leap of 20 . It also helps to have selective hearing.
1. A. difficulty B. disadvantage C. trouble D. discomfort
2. A. enjoyable B. humorous C. simple D. difficult
3. A. sign B. state C. mean D. exhibit
4. A. Once B. Where C. Although D. Until
5. A. wrong B. complete C. correct D. missing
6. A. think B. suggest C. choose D. decide
7. A. activities B. possibilities C. characteristics D. abilities
8. A. extremely B. simply C. slightly D. normally
9. A. pulled B. led C. knocked D. pushed
10. A. design B. attend C. desert D. retake
11. A. chemistry B. engineering C. biology D. geography
12. A. worried B. excited C. disturbed D. astonished
13. A. protecting B. awaking C. preventing D. attempting
14. A. girls B. boys C. students D. professors
15. A. afford B. encourage C. persuade D. manage
16. A. Also B. But C. Furthermore D. So
17. A. studies B. explorations C. performances D. experiments
18. A. actively B. easily C. actually D. gradually
19. A. never B. ever C. even D. often
20. A. honesty B. knowledge C. reality D. faith
1-5BDCAC 6-10ADBAD 11-15BACBA 16-20 DABBD
