"What worries you, Tom ?" asked Mrs. Bell. He had a 1 in his hand and tears (泪水) in his eyes.
"Our teacher asked us to recite (背诵) the poem ‘Little Jim'. The student who can recite it 2 will get a prize. But I don't think I can do it well." said Tom.
"Why not?" asked Mrs. Bell.
"The boys say that I can't, " said Tom in a 3 voice.
"Don't mind what they 4 . Let them see that you can make it," said Mrs. Bell.
"But I don't think I can," said Tom. "The poem is so long and difficult. I may not try for the prize, but I want to try my best to recite it, because the boys 5 me. They call me ‘Slow Tom'."
"Well, dear," said Mrs. Bell, "Look at that snail on the wall. How slow it is! Watch it. You will see it will get to the top at last. So just try a few 6 each day, and you may get the prize in the end."
Tom thought that 7 he could not catch up with the boys, he might run a race with the snail. So he decided to try it.
At last, the day came. The teacher called up the boys to recite the poem. After five or six boys had recited it, it was Tom's 8 . Most of the boys laughed at him because they thought he could be a 9 . But to their surprise, Tom did not 10 miss a word. His heart was full of joy when the teacher said, "Well done, Tom!" After the rest of the class had tried, the teacher said Tom had done best and he gave Tom the 11 .
"And now tell us 12 you could recite the poem so well," said the teacher.
"A snail on the wall gave me a lesson," said Tom.
The classroom suddenly got in chaos (混乱) when Tom said this. But the teacher said, "Don't laugh! We can learn a lot from things such as snails. How did the snail 13 you, Tom?"
"I saw it crawl up the wall bit by bit. It did not stop, but went on and on. And I thought I could do the same. So I recited it bit by bit, and did not 14 ." said Tom.
"Well done, Tom!" said the teacher. "Now boys, let us give a good cheer for Tom and the snail on the wall." The classroom rang with loud 15 . Everyone was glad that "Slow Tom" won the prize at last.
