The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found ou

——Thomas Macaulay

Some thirty years ago, I was studying in a public school in New York. One day, Mrs. Nanette O'Neil gave an arithmetic 【B1】 to our class. When the papers were 【B2】 she discovered that twelve boys had made the same mistakes throughout the test.

There is really nothing new about 【B3】 an exams. Perhaps that was why Mrs. O'Neill 【B4】 even say a word about it. She only asked the twelve boys to 【B5】 after class. I was one of the twelve. Mrs. O'Neill asked 【B6】 questions, and she didn't 【B7】 us either. She wrote on the blackboard the 【B8】 words by Thomas Macaulay. She then ordered us to 【B9】 these words into our exercise-books one hundred times.

I don't 【B10】 about the other eleven boys. Speaking for myself I can say: it was the most important single 【B11】 of my life. Thirty years after being introduced to Macaulay's words, they 【B12】 seem to me the best yard-stick(准绳), because they give us a 【B13】 to measure ourselves rather than others.

【B14】 of us are asked to make 【B15】 decisions about nations going to war or armies going to battle. But all of us are called 【B16】 daily to make a great many personal decisions. 【B17】 the Wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket or turned over to a policeman？ Should the 【B18】 change received at the store be forgotten or 【B19】 ？ Nobody will know except 【B20】 But you have to live with yourself, and it is always better to live with someone you respect.

【B1】

A．test

B．problem

C．paper

D．lesson