On a gray afternoon two weeks before Christmas 1986, my doctor told me that I was

101 . "Frank," he said, "you should start 102 of your life in 103 of months, not years." There was an embarrassing 104 . I looked at my wife. She was 105 a sad smile that seemed to say, " 106 now you know, love."

Experts on the 107 of dying say that terminal patients go 108 stages after hearing their death 109 : denial, anger and, finally, acceptance. I skipped right to acceptance. 110 years of struggling with liver disease which had destroyed my body and confused my 111 , I still had anxiety about dying. 112 it just wasn't my style. to "rage 113 the dying of the light." I preferred to accept it with 114 , the way the heroes of my childhood 115 in books and movies. However, I never imagined that within five weeks a team of surgeons would 116 my diseased liver and 117 it with an organ that only hours before had kept 118 a healthy person whose name I'll never know. I now am learning to live again; learning to 119 life in a new way, 120 way you hold water in your hands, gently.

101.

[A] dead

[B] die

[C] died

[D] dying

102.

[A] regarding

[B] considering

[C] planning

[D] thinking

103.

[A] directions

[B] regards

[C] conditions

[D] terms

104.

[A] silence

[B] quietness

[C] peace

[D] calm

105.

[A] putting on

[B] making up

[C] wearing

[D] showing

106.

[A] Then

[B] Thus

[C] Hence

[D] So

107.

[A] skill

[B] art

[C] time

[D] experience

108.

[A] by

[B] under

[C] through

[D] beyond

109.

[A] announcements

[B] reports

[C] statements

[D] sentences

110.

[A] Before

[B] After

[C] Since

[D] Among

111.

[A] brain

[B] spirits

[C] head

[D] mind

112.

[A] But

[B] And

[C] For

[D] So

113.

[A] on

[B] about

[C] against

[D] for

114.

[A] pleasure

[B] honor

[C] doubt

[D] dignity

115.

[A] would do

[B] did

[C] had

[D] used do

116.

[A] cut out

[B] cut down

[C] cut at

[D] cut

117.

[A] place

[B] substitute

[C] displace

[D] replace

118.

[A] live

[B] living

[C] life

[D] alive

119.

[A] catch

[B] hold

[C] seize

[D] own

120.

[A] a

[B] same

[C] the

[D] as