When I was 13 my only purpose was to become the star on our football team. That meant  1 Miller King, who was the best  2  at our school.

   Just before football season, Miller was struck by a car and lost his right arm. I went to see him after he came back from  3  . He looked very   4  , but he didn’t cry.

   That season, I  5  all of Miller’s records. We went 10-1 and I was named most valuable player,  6  I often had crazy dreams in which I was to blame for Miller’s  7 .

   One afternoon, I saw Miller tried going over a fence — which wasn’t  8  to climb if you had both arms. I’m sure I was the last person in the world he wanted to accept  9  from. But even that challenge he accepted. I helped him move slowly over the fence. When we were finally  10  on the other side, he said to me, “You know, I didn’t tell you this during the season, but you did  11 . Thank you for filling in for me.”

   His words freed me from my bad  12 . I thought to myself, how even without an arm he was more of a leader. Damaged but not defeated, he was  13  ahead of me. I was right to have  14 him. From that day on, I grew  15  and a little more real.

1.         A. cheering for             B. beating out         C. relying on               D. staying with

2.         A. coach          B. student                     C. teacher                  D. player

3.         A. school        B. vacation                   C. hospital                    D. training

4.         A. pale               B. calm                        C. relaxed            D. ashamed

5.         A. held              B. broke                       C. set                    D. tried

6.         A. and                        B. then                         C. but                    D. thus

7.         A. decision           B. mistake                    C. accident                   D. sacrifice

8.         A. steady                    B. hard                         C. fun                    D. fit

9.         A. praise             B. advice               C. assistance             D. apology

10.     A. dropped           B. ready                       C. trapped                 D. safe

11.     A. fine                       B. wrong               C. quickly         D. normally

12.     A. memories                B. ideas                        C. attitudes        D. dreams

13.     A. still                      B. also                          C. yet                    D. just

14.     A. challenged       B. cured                       C. invited                 D. admired

15.     A. healthier           B. bigger               C. cleverer        D. cooler