2017年大学英语四级考试阅读材料（10）

　　Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three months of travel through Europe. I had been abroad a couple of times, but I could hardly _47_ to know my way around the continent. Moreover, my knowledge of foreign languages was _48_ to a little college French.

　　I hesitated. How would I, unable to speak the language, _49_ unfamiliar with local geography or transportation systems, set up _50_ and do research? It seemed impossible, and with considerable _51_ I sat down to write a letter begging off. Halfway through, a thought can through my mind: you can learn if you don’t try. So I accepted the assignment.

　　There were some bad _52_. But by the time I had finished the trip I was an experienced traveler. And ever since, I have never hesitated to head for even the most remote of places, without guiders or even _53_ bookings, confident that somehow I will manage.

　　The point is that the new, the different, is almost by definition _54_. But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you.

　　I’ve learned to ski at 40, and flown up the Rhine River in a _55_. And I know I’ll go on doing such things. It’s not because I’m braver or more daring than others. I’m not. But I’ll accept anxiety as another name for challenge and I believe I can _56_ wonders.

　　A) accomplish B) advanced C) balloon D) claim E) constantly F) declare G) interviews

　　H)limited I) manufacture J) moments K) news L) reduced M) regret N) scary

　　O) totally