阅读理解
That year, I was a Junior 2 student. Falling
off the stairs hurt me in the head. Almost everyone thought I was dead. But
they were wrong. However, it was difficult to get back to normal life. I had to
leave school and learn everything, walking, talking, and yes, maths.
To help me with that task, Mrs. Pillar
volunteered to come to the hospital and later to my house once a week. We began
with basic maths skills. As time passed by, I made progress.
I remember very vividly how she came to my
home on Sundays, sat with me at the kitchen table and threw different coins on
the table. She asked me to show her 38 cents, 17 cents, 63 cents. It was
challenging, but she also made it fun.
After a year and a half, I had progressed a
lot, both in body and mind, to return to school. Seven years later, I graduated
from the University of Texas at the top of my class.
As years went by, I always kept in touch with
Mrs. Pillar. Unluckily, one day my parents told me that Mrs. Pillar had been in
hospital because she suffered a stroke (中风).
Now it was my turn to help her. Mrs. Pillar
lay in bed, unable to speak or know anybody around. I pulled some coins out of
my pocket, dropped them on her bed, and asked her to show me 12 cents. The
nurse thought that my action was very strange until one day Mrs. Pillar smiled happily
as I began working with—just
as she had worked with me years before. She made progress every day and was
moved out of ICU (重症监护室) and finally out of hospital.
One day, I called to wish her a
happy New Year. She spoke into the phone excitedly, "Happy New Year to you
and your family, Michael. Thank you for everything you've done for me."
Mrs. Pillar was one of my Junior 2 teachers,
but she taught me so much more about life than only maths.
