朱芸

We Never Told Him He Couldn’t Do It

My son Joey was born with club feet （畸形足）. The doctors assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally—but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent on surgery， casts and braces. By the time he was eight， you wouldn’t know he had a problem when you saw him walk.

The children in our neighborhood ran around as most children did during play， and Joey would jump right in and run and play， too. We never _1_ him that he probably wouldn’t be able to run as _2_ as the other children. So he didn’t know.

In the seventh grade he decided to _3_ for the cross-country team. Every day he _4_ with the team. He worked harder and ran _5_ than any of the others—perhaps he _6_ that the abilities that seemed to come _7_ to so many others did not come naturally to him. Although the _8_ team runs， only the _9_ seven runners have the potential （潛能） to _10_ points for the school. We didn’t tell him he probably would never make the team， so he didn’t know.

He _11_ to run four to five miles a day， every day—even the day he had a fever. I was

_12_， so I went to look for him after school. I found him running all _13_. I asked him how he felt. “Okay，” he said. He had two more miles to go. The _14_ ran down his face and his eyes were glassy （无神的） from his fever. Yet he looked straight ahead and _15_ running. We never told him he couldn’t run four miles with a fever. So he didn’t know.

Two weeks later， the _16_ of the team runners were called. Joey was number six on the

_17_. Joey had made the team. He was in the _18_ grade—the other six team members were all eighth-graders. We never told him he shouldn’t _19_ to make the team. We never told him he couldn’t do it... So he didn’t know. He just _20_ it.

1. A. told                      B. offered                  C. assured              D. cheated

2. A. slowly              B. fast                     C. well                   D. badly

3. A. go all out          B. run out                  C. jump in              D. make out

4. A. connected        B. studied                  C. trained               D. caught

5. A. less                      B. more                    C. harder                     D. longer

6. A. knew              B. understood        C. sensed                     D. pitied

7. A. strangely                B. naturally                 C. surprisingly               D. excitedly

8. A. only               B. entire                   C. single                      D. possible

9. A. poor               B. only                    C. top                    D. head

10. A. make            B. win                       C. score                          D. see

11. A. continued        B. stopped                 C. began                      D. begged

12. A. pleased          B. annoyed                    C. disappointed       D. worried

13. A. along             B. alone                   C. wet                   D. right

14. A. sweat              B. water                 ;  C. tear                   D. rain

15. A. stopped           B. kept                     C. began                      D. liked

16. A. names              B. men                      C. clothes               D. scores

17. A. list                   B. pole                     C. team                 D. ground

18. A. eighth              B. seventh                     C. sixth                  D. fifth

19. A. promise                 B. wait                    C. expect                     D. love

20. A. did                  B. enjoyed                C. ran                    D. caught