阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从第36至第55小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
School was over and I was both mentally and physically tired. I sat at the very front of the bus because of 36 to get home. Sitting at the front makes you 37 out like a shiny coin in a pile of dull pennies.
Janie, the driver, tries to break the uncomfortable atmosphere by striking the match of 38 .
I try to mind my manners and 39 listen, but usually I am too busy thinking about my day. On this day, 40 , her conversation was worth listening to.
“My father’s sick,” she said to no one in 41 . I could see the anxiety and fear in her eyes. With a sudden change of attitude and interest, I asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
With her eyes wet and her voice tight from 42 the tears, she responded, “Heart trouble.” Her eyes 43 as she continued. “I’ve already lost my mum, so I don’t think I can 44 losing him.”
I couldn’t respond. I was 45 . My heart ached for her. I sat on the old, smelly seat thinking of the great 46 my own mother was thrown into when my father died.
I saw how hard it was, 47 still is, for her. I wouldn’t like anyone to go through 48 .
Suddenly I realized Janie wasn’t only a bus driver. That was just her job. She had a 49 world of family and concerns too. I had never thought of her as anything but a driver.
I suddenly felt very 50 . I realized I had only thought of people as 51 as what their purposes were in my life. I paid no attention to Janie because she was a bus driver. I had judged her by her job and 52 as unimportant.
For all I know, I’m just another person in 53 else’s world, and may not even be important. I should not have been so selfish and self—centred. Everyone 54 a place to go to, people to see and appointments to 55 . Understanding people is an art.
36. A. determination B. decision C. attempt D. anxiety
37. A. make B. think C. stand D. find
38. A. topic B. conversation C. discussion D. message
39. A. devotedly B. carelessly C. sincerely D. politely
40. A. therefore B. thus C. otherwise D. however
41. A. common B. silence C. particular D. surprise
42. A. avoiding B. clearing C. keeping D. fighting
43. A. lowered B. closed C. widened D. opened
44. A. mind B. regret C. bear D. miss
45. A. angry B. shocked C. curious D. interested
46. A. pain B. pity C. disappointment D. mercy
47. A. yet B. and C. or D. but
48. A. this B. them C. that D. one
49. A. dark B. narrow C. whole D. bright
50. A. confused B. selfish C. worried D. sad
51. A. long B. much C. well D. far
52. A. regard her B. helped her out C. brushed her off D. take her
53. A. someone B. anyone C. no one D. everyone
54. A. has B. takes C. finds D. needs
55. A. stay B. remain C. keep D. put