第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
My family couldn’t afford to send me to school when I was 16. When my mother took me out of school, I really lost heart about my life and didn’t know what I was going to do.
I worked to help my mother sell newspapers and that was all I could do at the time. When I was 18 years old, my mother started telling me that I would have to live on my own. I felt very frightened of the future. One night while I was watching television, a piece of news about joining the army caught my eyes. I had admired soldiers since I was very young. Now the chance came and I felt pleased. The next day I called the number on the news and set up an appointment to meet the recruiter(征兵人员), an elderly officer. When he heard that I didn’t graduate from high school, he told me that I had a slim(微小的) chance. I explained to him that I would study to improve myself and work hard. At last, he agreed to try to help me.
About a month later he asked me to go to his office and explained to me that he would get me in the service（服役） but I had to promise him that I would make the best of this chance he was trying to create for me and I did. He was able to help me join the army and I kept my promise by doing eight years and receiving an Honorable Discharge (光荣退伍证) from the service. After that, I have worked as a guard with good pay.
56. Why did the author drop out of high school?
A. Because he wanted to help his mother.
B. Because his mother wanted him to work.
C. Because he lost interest in study.
D. Because his family was too poor.
57. When the author got out of school, he felt _______.
A. relaxed B. hopeless C. bored D. frightened
58. How did the author succeed in joining the army?
A. Through his mother’s encouragement and his luck.
B. Through his great performance before the recruiter.
C. Through his sincere(真诚的) request and an officer’s help.
D. Through his optimistic attitude and serious promise.
59. We can infer from the text that _________.
A. people can achieve success if they don’t give up
B. a person’s achievements depend mainly on other’s help
C. failure in one field doesn’t mean failure in another
D. people should be confident in the face of difficulties