Read the following passage and then choose the most suitable word or phrase for each space.
Childhood is the time when there are (51)_________ responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is (52) _________ , looked after and loved, whatever he may do. It is improbable that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return. In (53) _________, life is always presenting new things to the child- things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well- known. A child finds pleasure playing in the rain , or in the snow. His first visit to the seaside is a marvellous adventure. But a child has his (54) _________ .He is not so free to do as he wishes as he thinks older people are: he is continually told not to do things, or being punished (55) _________ what he has done wrong. His life’s therefore not perfectly happy. When a young man starts to (56) _________his own living, he becomes free from the discipline of school and parents, but at the same time he is forced to accept responsibilities. He can no longer expect (57) _________ to pay for his food, his clothes and his room, but he has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most time playing about in a day he used to as a child, he will be hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the greatest happiness of seeing himself make steady (58) _________ in his job and of building up for himself his own position in society. Old age has always been thought of as the worst age to be, but it is not necessary for the old to be unhappy. With old age (59) _________wisdom and the ability to help others with advice wisely given. The old can have the joy of seeing their children making progress in life: they can watch their grandchildren growing up around them, and perhaps best of all, they can, if their life has been a useful one, feel the happiness of having come (60) _________ the battle of life safely and of having reached a time when they can lie back and rest, leaving others to continue the fight.
