4 . Just Twenty Hours

It was freshman year of college. In world history class, my professor just dropped a bombshell. 30% of our final ________ would be based on an assignment that was going to take at least twenty hours to complete. The ________? Community service. The professor also said that what could happen in those twenty hours might surprise us.

Some students in my class ________. I wasn’t particularly annoyed by the assignment, ________ I was trying to figure out how I would find the time. I was going to school only part-time because I was working full-time to pay for college. I ________shrugged (耸肩) my shoulders and thought “I’m just going to have to make it work.”

After doing some research, I found an after-school tutoring program for kids in a former elementary school. I finished my ________, and a week later got a phone call saying that I had been________ with a fourth-grade boy named Steven.

He was small ________ his age, wore glasses and was a Harry Potter fan. He was a little ________ for the first few weeks, but it was obvious he was a bright boy. He didn’t need a ________ as much as he needed a friend; it seemed that his classmates mostly ignored him.

We ________ twice a week for two hours, so it only took me five weeks to complete the ________ hours for my class. When I started, I only ________ to complete the required hours for my assignment. But when the hours were done, I realized how small a ________ it had been for me to tutor Steven. I still had enough time to do my schoolwork and my full-time job. But most importantly, I liked Steven. And I could tell that he had already grown ________ to me.

As the end of the school year approached, Steven started to get a little ________. I asked him why. He said, “Because when the school year is over, I won’t see you anymore.” I then realized that he had become so much more than just a kid I spent time with to complete a class requirement. He ________ me of my own little brother, whom I didn’t see enough. It was time to ________ that.

I started going on weekly ________ with my brother, watching movies or having dinners... And sure enough, in less than a year we became much more than just brothers. We are best friends now. My professor was ________: a lot can happen in just twenty hours.

Recently, our class have had an English class meeting, in which we had a heated discussion about “Who to Respect and Why”.And we share some ideas with each other.