1. (2023高一下·新乡开学考) 阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

I visited my sister's family yesterday. When I arrived there, my 14-year-old nephew looked quite 1. When asked about the reason, he said he was going to take an exam. I was not2 after listening to his explanation.

I know it is commonplace to3 anxious thoughts before an examination or during the examination. Moderate (适度的) levels of stress4us to work hard, overcome our limitations and give our best5. However, when we are overly anxious, we may feel like a complete failure and see no6in making an effort.

As a society which now believes firmly in 7, achieving, and winning, we might8 turn examinations into larger-than-life events. We seem to 9 the fact that an examination is just something used to tell us how well we have grasped a particular curriculum(课程) and where we need to improve in that specific curriculum. Whatever the10of an examination we have got, they cannot change who we are and what we will do in our lives. Therefore, 11we fail to perform well, we must12 ourselves that it is just one exam in our long life and it is not going to be the end of the world.

Comparing ourselves with others brings a lot of fear in our mind and prevents our13. Rather than thinking about either defeating others or getting defeated by them, we should14this unhealthy thought and make self-perfection our long-term goal. Let's always make every effort to15ourselves and realize our internal potential (潜力).