Leaping on a narrow balance beam (平衡木) is not easy. But Lola Walter， a
13-year-old gymnast， is an expert at it.
To perfect her skills， Lola___1__for four hours a day， five days a week. At
the state championships in March， she finished seventh out of 16 girls.
That‘s especially impressive，___2__ she is legally blind， born with a rare
condition that causes her eyes to shift(移动) constantly. She often sees double
and can‘t___3__how far away things are.
When she was little， her mom___4__ that even though she couldn‘t see__5__，
she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three.
She loved the___6__right away and gymnastics became her favorite.
Though learning gymnastics has been more___7__for her than for some of her
teammates， she has never quit. She doesn‘t let her__8__stop her from doing
anything that she wants to.
She likes the determination it takes to do the sport. Her biggest __9__ is
the balance beam. Because she has double vision， she often sees two beams. She
must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even
closes her eyes. "You have to___10__ your mind that it‘ll take you where you
want to go，” says Lola.
To be a top-level gymnast， one must be brave. The beam is probably the most
__11__for anyone because it‘s four inches wide. At the state competition， Lola
didn‘t fall__12__ the beam. In fact， she got an 8.1 out of 10-her highest score
yet.
Lola doesn‘t want to be__13__ differently from the other girls on her team.
At competitions， the judges don‘t know about her vision __14__。 She doesn‘t tell
them， because she doesn‘t think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by
her__15__ attitude.
Lola never thinks about___16__。 She is presently at level 7 while the
highest is level 10 in gymnastics. Her__17__ is to reach level 9. She says she
wants to be a gymnastics coach to pass down what she‘s learned to other
kids__18__she grows up.
Lola is___19__ of all her hard work and success. She says it‘s helped her
overcome problems in her life outside gymnastics too. Her___20__for others
is“just believe in yourself.”
发表于 2016-7-24 09:52:01