1 . It was reading test day, and Barbara knew she would fail, again. Why did it take her so much ________ than everyone else? She ________ to go to school. She would rather stay at home.

“________ , Barbara,” said her mum. “I know it’s test day, but just do your best, and don’t feel embarrassed if you don’t get a good ________ . After all, you always ________ on top in the maths tests. Just keep a(n) ________ attitude!”

The next day, Barbara’s mum said they had an ________ with a special reading teacher. Barbara groaned (抱怨). “Just try,” said her mum. “I think you’ll be ________ .”

The teacher was old and looked strict. “We’ll start with a little activity,” she said, and Barbara’s heart ________ . “She means a test,” she thought, “and I’ll ________ as usual. But it is OK!” At first, it was hard, but then it was even fun, and best of all, there were no time ________ and no marks.

After the test, the teacher said, “Well, I think I understand your problem. You have dyslexia (诵读困难)，which means you have ________ with reading because of a slight disorder of your brain. But we can develop ________ to help this! It will be hard, and there is no ________ of success, but I think we can improve your reading speed, that’s the ________ , really. It’s just that you can’t go ________ enough in the tests, isn’t it? Let’s see if we can get you a better outcome, shall we?”

The weeks ________ in a blur (模糊的记忆). At first, the exercises were hard, and Barbara’s head ached. But she persevered and ________ she got faster. And then, it all started to snowball!

In November Barbara got her final report of Grade 4 reading - 71%.

“You did it!” said her mum. “I am so ________ of you.” And Barbara was proud of herself, too.

“Working hard and not quitting do ________ in the end,” she said.