Living beyond limits
Growing up in the hot Las Vegas desert, all I wanted was to be free. I would daydream about traveling the world, living in a place where it snowed.
At the age of 19, the day after I graduated from high school, I moved to a place where it snowed and I found my dream job. For the first time in my life, I felt free, independent and completely in control of my life. That is, until my life took a detour (转折点) . I went home from work early one day with what I thought was the flu, and less than 24 hours later I was in the hospital on life support with less than a 2% chance of living.
Over the course of two and a half months I lost the hearing in my left ear and both of my legs below the knee. I thought the worst was over until weeks later when I saw my new artificial legs for the first time. They were so painful that all I could think was, how am I ever going to travel the world in these things? And how was I going to snowboard again?
But I knew that in order to move forward, I had to let go of the old Self and learn to embrace the new Self. And that is when it dawned on me that if I snowboarded again, my feet aren’t going to get cold.
Four months later I was back up on a snowboard, although things didn’t go quite as expected: My knees and my ankles wouldn’t bend. But I knew that I would be able to do this again if I could find the right pair of feet.
I did a year of research, still couldn’t figure out what kind of legs to use. So I decided to make a pair myself. My leg maker and I put random parts together and we made a pair of feet that I could snowboard in. Then in 2005 I cofounded a nonprofit organization for youth with physical disabilities so they could get involved with action sports.
Eleven years ago, when I lost my legs, I had no idea what to expect. But if you ask me today, if I would ever want to change my situation, I would have to say no. Because my legs haven’t disabled me. They’ve forced me to rely on my imagination and to believe in the possibilities.
21. How did the author feel when she saw her new legs for the first time?
A.Astonished. | B.Hopeful. | C.Desperate. | D.Delighted. |
22. What mainly helped the author change her thought toward her situation?
A.Her positive attitude. |
B.Inspiration from research. |
C.Her love for snowboard. |
D.Help from a nonprofit organization. |
23. The author’s attempt could help her and other youths with physical disabilities to ______.
A.travel around the world |
B.take part in action sports |
C.bend their knees and ankles |
D.recover from their disabilities |
24. What can we learn from the passage?
A.Practice makes perfect. |
B.Actions speak louder than words. |
C.You can’t judge a book by its cover. |
D.Nothing is impossible to a willing heart |