I am sitting in front of the computer. I need to   1 what I am going to do during the beautiful fall coming up in New York. I am nervous because I think that my life at 

this moment depends on how much I learnt in the intensive English during the last four 

months.       

All my life I have been a fighter. When I was 5, I had a very  2   convulsion (痉挛) with high fever. I had the wrong  medicine, which caused me to   3    my speech. 

The doctor told my mother that I would never be able to speak well again or to learn 

another language. My mother,  4  , was a fighter. She sent me to a lot of    5     . 

Finally, she sent me to Maria. She was a very nice person. She believed in me, and 

thought that I would speak again.       

The most amazing thing was that she taught me to read by mouth. I remember that

I spent hours in front of the mirror and tried to  6   every word that I learnt. Imagine 

losing your speech and having to learn everything again. For me it was like being   7 

again. I learnt to talk and speak my native language: Spanish.       

Now, I am studying English in New York. I can’t believe that I am learning another   8   . But, I am! I am crying because studying here makes me feel    9    , and it 

makes me smile when I remember what the doctors said to my mom: “She will never 

be able to speak well again or to learn another language.”      

I’ll always remember the beautiful words my mom said to me when I was a child and learnt to speak again after all. “You did something that nobody  10   you could do.

You made an impossible dream that people said you would never do come true. I will 

always be proud of you, and you will always be my   11    .”   

Now, I'm thinking about the beautiful fall leaf that is coming and what is going to happen to me. Just as every leaf is going to fall from the trees, I am going to take 

every    12   in my studies and in my life. I try to think about this and be a grateful 

person. 

1. A. draw      B. write     C. watch         D. explain 

2. A. serious    B. strange    C. important     D. interesting       

3. A. improve   B. change    C. lose          D. end  

4. A. luckily     B. maybe    C. suddenly      D. however   

5. A. doctors     B. teachers   C. reporters      D. friends     

6. A. repeat      B. find      C. copy          D. record  

7. A. saved      B. born      C. taught         D. raised       

8. A. language    B. method   C. subject        D. skill

9. A. nervous     B. sad      C. happy         D. comfortable   

10. A. imagined    B. thought   C. remembered   D. expected  

11. A. future      B. child       C. hero         D. honor     

12. A. chance      B. exam      C. class         D. step