It was the district sports meet My foot still hadn’t healed（痊愈）from a（n）（36）injury.I
had（37）whether or not I should attend the meet But there I was，（38）for the 3，000-meter run.
’Ready...set...”The gun popped and we were off.The other girls rushed （39）me.I felt （40）as I fell farther and farther behind.
’Hooray!’shouted the crowd.It was the loudest （41）I had ever heard at a meet.The first-place runner was two laps（圈）ahead of me when she crossed the finish line.
’Maybe I should （42），’I thought as I moved on.（43），I decided to keep going.During the last two laps，I ran （44）and decided not t0（45）in track next year.It wouldn’t be worth it，（46）my foot did heal.
When I finished，I heard a cheer—（47）than the one I’d heard earlier.I turned around and （48）.，the boys were preparing for their race.’They must be cheering for the boys.’
I was leaving （49）several girls came up to me.’Wow，you’ve got courage!’one of them told me.
’Courage？I just（50）a race!’I thought.
’I would have given up on the first lap，’said another girl.’We were cheering for you.Did you hear us？’
Suddenly，I regained （51）.I decided t0（52）.track next year.I realized strength and courage aren’t always （53）in medals and victories，but in the （54）we overcome（战胜）.The strongest people are not always the people who win，（55）the people who don’t give up when they lose.

A.slighter
B.worse
C.earlier
D.heavier