A
I remember the first time I got on a horse. When I was a little boy aged two, my mom agreed to let me take a short ride and that was it! From then on, I drove my parents crazy begging for a horse.
When I was four, I had mutism, in which children stop speaking in certain social situations. I went days, weeks, months without a sound at school. At most, I might quietly whisper to a friend. I suffered silently through school until I was ten when a psychologist (心理学家) had an idea. He asked me what I wanted more than anything else in the world. He explained I was going to be given a chance to work for that. And I was permitted to whisper the answer in my mother’s ear, “A horse.”
I was to get a pony, but I had to live up to my end of the bargain (讲价). I had a list of weekly tasks I had to finish. I had to answer the phone five times per week, something I had never done before. I had to say one word to my teacher at school and the list went on. For a child with mutism, saying one word to someone can be like climbing Mount Qomolangma. I did everything that was asked of me and the day came. His name was Sequoia, whom I fell in love with immediately. When I was in Sequoia’s presence, I forgot all about my problems and felt strong and secure.
I am a fully participating member of society these days. My horse and I made it through a master’s degree. I may have made it otherwise, but I’m not sure. I feel I owe my life to the horse and I try to give it back to him. He has given me the best gift I could ever imagine, my life.
21. What was the situation like when the author was four?
A. He didn’t say a word at all.
B. He learned how to ride a horse.
C. He found his classmates unfriendly.
D. He had difficulty in communicating.
22. What can we infer about the author from Paragraph 3?
A. He completed some tasks easily.
B. He pushed himself extremely hard.
C. He fell in love with Sequoia gradually.
D. He found the psychologist’s idea useless.
23. What is the author’s purpose of writing the text?
A. To share his unfortunate childhood.
B. To give tips on how to cure mutism.
C. To show his deep gratefulness to his horse.
D. To encourage kids struggling against mutism.
