阅读理解

　　It's not easy to find a person with the qualities it takes to be a hero．I didn't really understand the meaning of the word “hero” until my third year in the college．

　　If you saw her, you wouldn't think she really looks the part, but she is stronger than Superman could ever be．Her name is Sandra Keierleber．I first met her at volleyball tryouts(选拔赛), but didn't notice anything special at first．As the week passed, however, she showed she had more heart than anyone．She stood out because she never gave up, no matter what．

　　Sandra isn't the tallest or the fastest-in fact, this was her first time playing volleyball and it showed-but that didn't stop her．She was always the first to arrive and the last to leave．By the end of tryouts she had found a place in everyone's heart．When the name list for new members was put up, we all waited nervously as she checked．When she stood at the door and smiled happily, all we could do was cheer．

　　After Sandra made the team, she worked even harder to improve her game．When she asked for help, we gladly taught her．She also became our fan, attending almost every school game and even joining us in the city games．We all like her, because she never thinks about doing things the easy way, or loses that smile．Because of her great efforts, she makes herself a true hero-and my hero, too．

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　　Mr．Whitson taught sixth-grade science．On the first day of class，he gave us a lecture about a creature called the cattywampus，an animal that was wiped out(灭绝)during the Ice Age．He passed around a skull(头骨)as he talked．We all took notes and later had a test．

　　When he returned my paper，I was shocked．There was a big red“X”through each of my answers．I had failed．There had to be some mistake！I had written down exactly what Mr．Whitson said．Then I realized that everyone in the class had failed．What had happened？

　　“Very simple．”Mr．Whitson explained．He had made up all those things about cattywampus．There had never been any such animal．The information in our notes was wrong．Did we expect praise(表扬)for wrong answers？

　　We were very angry．What kind of test was that？And what kind of teacher？

　　We should have figured it out(弄……明白)，Mr．Whitson said．At the very moment he was passing around that cattywampus skull，hadn’t he been telling us that no trace(迹象)of the animal remained(存在)？He had described its color and other facts he couldn’t have known．He had given the animal a strange name，and we still hadn’t been suspicious(有疑心的)．The zeroes on our papers would be recorded in his grade book，he said．And they were．

　　Mr．Whitson said he hoped we would learn something from this experience．Teachers and notebooks are not never wrong．In fact，no one is．He told us not to let our minds go to sleep and to speak up if we ever thought he or textbook was wrong．

　　I haven’t made any great scientific discoveries(科学发现)，but Mr．Whitson’s class gave me and my classmates something just as important：the courage(勇气)to look people in the eye and tell them they are wrong．He also showed us that you can have fun doing it．

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