My stutter（口吃）had always
been much of a problem. I'd had so many specialists for my______35________ over
the years. As l walked down the hallway to meet a new one, memories popped in
my head of how painful（痛苦的）being a kid who stutters had been. It______36________
hurt.
“Hello! I'm Mrs. Claussen. I hear
you're from Texas!"
“Ye-Ye-Ye-Yes m-m-m-m-m-m-m-aam I
am…”My heart felt like it was pounding through my chest and my hands were
dripping wet. I really blew that
______37________ .
“Well," she said with a ______38________Smile.
161've always liked Texas."
She turned out to be the best
speech specialist I've ever had, not like those who
told me to clap my hands while
speaking. She was______39________.She spent the first several weeks just
talking to me - asking me all kinds of questions about myself, especially my
feelings. And she______40________ . She then began to teach me about the speech.
Not just about my speech, but about everybody's.
I______41________
in my old school and was a pretty good tenor（男高音）, but I
learned that the new school's singing group was all filled up. It was such bad
news, for I thought that was the one thing I could really do well - and I could
do it
______42________ stuttering. Somehow Mrs. Claussen
finally got me in the group. I felt like she really cared about me as a person,
not just a speech student.
During the next two years, my
speech didn't get much better - except with her. When I was in college, things
got worse. I once even wondered if I would ever be able to______43________ ! It
was a very depressing time, and I often felt alone. When I was feeling really
sorry for myself, I remembered Mrs. Claussen had told me whether I could______44________
my speech was all up to me. She had told me not to fight for perfect speech,
just better speech. She was right about that. I finally improved my speech
greatly.
Many years have passed, but I
think of her from time to time, wondering if she had as much______45________
0n her other students as she had on me. I like to think that she did. Her name
was Mrs. Claussen... and she______46_______ . I'II never forget her.
1.A. speech B.
study C.
dream D.
fear
2.A. maybe B.
even C.
still D.
never
3.A. instruction B.
description C.
introduction D.
presentation
4.A. shy B.
cold C.
weak D.
kind
5.A. silent B.
simple C.
direct D.
different
6.A. cried B.
listened C.
waited D.
stopped
7.A. sang B.
spoke C.
played D.
clapped
8.A. against B.
besides C.
beyond D.
without
9.A. practise B.
communicate C.
report D.
reply
10.A. train B.
share C.
change D.
follow
11.A. advice B.
influence C.
dependence D.
action
12.A. continued B.
taught C.
agreed D.
cared
