题目内容：

    Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.

Cowboy was undoubtedly the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason.

I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers about Cowboy’s looks. I never let out about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.

When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.

One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.

The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks(得意的笑) made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena. We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted.

All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.

My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.

As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!

I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.

1.The underlined expression “shown the gate” (paragraph 4) most probably means “_________”.

A.told how to enter the arena B.shown how to make the horse beautiful

C.removed from the competition early D.told to enter the timed-speed events

2.Why was the writer NOT confident of beating Becky?

A.He had not practiced enough.

B.He was an inexperienced rider.

C.He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.

D.Becky and her horse performed well in their turn.

3.What did the writer learn from his experience?

A.Life can sometimes be unfair.

B.A positive attitude will bring success.

C.Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.

D.One should not make judgments based on appearance.

4.The best title for the story is ________.

A.A Run to Remember B.A Horse’s Tale

C.Neck and Neck D.A Difficult Age