I had never noticed her. She was not the kind of girl who could draw attention. She was not tall and just looked
. In class, she liked sitting at the back, reading or taking notes. One day I asked her to read aloud the text. When I heard her standard American pronunciation, I looked at her with new eyes. And I
her name—Kelly. Later on, the National College Speech Competition would be held. One student in our school was allowed to attend. I thought it over and filled in
name.
Kelly practiced hard for the competition. However, I was a little worried because she was always too
. Could she do well in the competition?
On the night of the competition, I sat in the front row of the hall very early. I told her to take it easy. Her face turned red and she said nothing. It seemed she was really
. I felt upset, but I just patted her on the shoulder and let her go to draw lots（抽签）. As a result, she drew No. 9 while No. 8 was a boy who was very good at giving speeches.
Sure enough, No. 8 was very
. The whole audience made a warm applause （鼓掌）almost every 30 seconds and was still talking about his speech with
until Kelly appeared on the stage. I sat there with no
to look at her. It was her first time to go up the stage, so I couldn’t be angry with her for any small mistakes. But at that moment, I found I was so afraid of her
.
The strong spotlight and large hall made her so small that nobody seemed to notice she had been on the stage. I felt hopeless.
But the moment that
me came. I clearly heard a voice, a very loud voice, “Now, please focus on（聚焦于）me.”
Three times in all, louder and louder.
The whole audience fell silent.
I could
believe that loud voice came from the girl, who was usually soft-voiced and didn’t
attention at all. She gave a perfect speech.
I think I will never forget this touching lesson that my student taught me — never underestimate（低估）the power of the silent people.
| 小题1: |
| A．beautiful |
B．ordinary |
C．popular |
D．strange |
|
| 小题2: |
| A．mentioned |
B．called |
C．remembered |
D．wrote |
|
| 小题4: |
| A．different |
B．lazy |
C．slow |
D．quiet |
|
| 小题5: |
| A．strict |
B．nervous |
C．angry |
D．bored |
|
| 小题6: |
| A．careful |
B．thankful |
C．successful |
D．cheerful |
|
| 小题7: |
| A．patience |
B．confidence |
C．pride |
D．excitement |
|
| 小题8: |
| A．courage |
B．interest |
C．excuse |
D．effort |
|
| 小题9: |
| A．decision |
B．expression |
C．appearance |
D．failure |
|
| 小题10: |
| A．upset |
B．saved |
C．surprised |
D．changed |
|
| 小题11: |
| A．simply |
B．hardly |
C．surely |
D．deeply |
|
| 小题12: |
| A．catch |
B．need |
C．pay |
D．show |
|
