10 . I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, and it was a shock to my parents that I arrived without arms or legs. My parents did their very best to keep me in the mainstream school system and give me every opportunity to live to the fullest.
We later moved to Brisbane, Australia. At age eight, I could not see a bright future ahead and I became depressed. When I was ten years old, I decided to end my life by drowning myself in a bathtub. After a couple of attempts, I realized that I did not want to leave my loved ones with the burden and guilt that would result from my suicide. I could not do that to them.
I wasn’t depressed in my entire childhood, but I did have ups and downs. At age thirteen I hurt my foot, which I use for many things like typing, writing and swimming. That injury made me realize that I need to be more thankful for my abilities and less focused on my disabilities.
A cleaner at my high school inspired me to start speaking about my faith and overcoming adversity when I was seventeen. Then, I found myself in front of three hundred sophomore (grade 10) students and I was very nervous. My knees were shaking. Within the first three minutes of my talk, half the girls were crying, and most of the boys were struggling to hold their emotions together. One girl in particular was sobbing very hard. We all looked at her and she put her hand up. She said, “I am so sorry to interrupt, but can I come up and hug you? ”
She came and hugged me in front of everyone, and whispered in my ear, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. No one has ever told me that they loved me and that I am beautiful the way I am.” Her gratitude inspired me to go across 44 countries and speak 2, 000 times. I realized that we all need love and hope.
I spoke on motivational topics after creating the company ‘Attitude is Altitude ‘to spread my messages of faith and hope around the world.
Dream big, my friend and never give up. We all make mistakes, but none of us are mistakes. Take one day at a time. Embrace (拥抱) the positive attitudes, perspectives (思考方法), principles and truths I share, and you too will overcome.
1. Nick first became depressed when ________.
| A．he realized he was quite different from others | B．he found there was faint light in his future |
| C．he sensed heavy burden from his parents | D．he felt he had no one accompanying him |
2. Which of the following made Nick more grateful?
| A．His faith in himself. | B．An injury to his foot. |
| C．The advice of a cleaner. | D．A talk with his classmates. |
3. The girl mentioned in the passage wanted to hug Nick because ________.
| A．she wanted to show her love to him | B．she felt sympathy about Nick ‘s disability |
| C．Nick moved her with some encouraging words | D．she was sad that Nick could never pull through |
4. What does the author want to convey?
| A．With a positive attitude, any dream can be achieved. |
| B．By focusing on our disabilities, we can overcome them. |
| C．Those disabled can live as normally as common people. |
| D．We should focus on what we can do, not what we can’t. |
