On my first day of school，I didn’t speak a word of English．I felt lost and  1  in the classroom．I came home and told my mother I’d learned my first English word：  2  ．It was the nickname a boy had given me．

    Luckily for me，my teacher that year Was Dorothy Collins．She was young and African American．  3  I think she understood how I  4  as the only non—white kid．And she never 5    that I could catch up．

Still，the teasing（嗤笑） 6  ．The boy who called me stupid wouldn’t stop  7  my accent．He was a good student and the proud holder of our class’s reading award（獎）．It was a（n）8  given to a student whose schoolwork，participation and homework were  9  ．I wanted that award．

As Mrs. Collins  10  me on，I gained confidence and language skills．By midyear，I was well on my  11  to speaking English fluently and was quite good at reading．  12   the award ceremony coming up，I worked as hard as I could．The day  13   came，and I was so nervous．When Mrs. Collins announced me as the 14  ，it was my proudest moment．I got a fancy certificate and a blue ribbon（絲帶）that Mrs. Collins pinned to my dress．I took the reading  15   right out of that boy’s hot little hands，and I felt happy for myself．

    From then on，I worked  16  harder in school．Mrs. Collins helped me understand that I had a  17  for language，so in high school I studied French and minored（輔修）in it in college．As I began enjoying Success as a singer，I  18  Mrs. Collins in interviews when I was asked about people who had inspired（激勵）me．

I feel  19  that the God brought Mrs. Collins and me together all those years ago．My first-grade teacher didn’t just teach me the language：She helped me find my 20  ．

1．A．frightened    B．excited            C．satisfied                 D．tired

2．A．black              B．stupid                  C．clever                    D．dumb

3．A．but                 B．so                       C．a(chǎn)nd                        D．nevertheless

4．A．a(chǎn)cted              B．lived                    C．felt                        D．studied

5．A．believed          B．expected              C．refused                  D．doubted

6．A．continued       B．lasted                   C．started                   D．reduced

7．A．looking into       B．1aughing at          C．referring to             D．showing off

8．A．right               B．judgment              C．honor                    D．offer

9．A．a(chǎn)ctive          B．optimistic             C．a(chǎn)ggressive              D．excellent

10．A．turned          B．cheered                C．followed              D．carried

11．A．road             B．mind                    C．way                       D．side

12．A．As                B．After                   C．With                     D．For

13．A．eventually       B．slowly                 C．quickly                   D．fortunately

14．A．partner         B．winner                 C．player                    D．loser

15．A．book            B．material                C．machine                 D．a(chǎn)ward

16．A．quite             B．more                   C．less                       D．even

17．A．gift               B．habit                    C．chance                   D．present

18．A．mentioned      B．involved               C．included                 D．reminded

19．A．funny           B．a(chǎn)mused                C．lucky                     D．surprised

20．A．pleasure        B．experience            C．kindness              D．confidence