I had never noticed her. She was not the kind of girl who could draw attention. She was not tall1looked ordinary. In class, she liked sitting at the back, reading or writing notes. One day I asked her2aloud the text. When I heard her standard （标准）American English, I looked at her with new eyes. And I remembered her name—Kelly. Later on, the National College Speech Competition would be held. One student in our school3to attend. I thought it over and filled in her name. Kelly practised4for the competition. However, I was a little worried
5she was always too quiet. Could she really6well in the competition?
7the night of the competition, I sat in the front row of the hall very early. I told her to take it easy. Her face turned red and she said nothing8seemed that she was really nervous. I felt upset, but I just patted her on9shoulder and let her go to draw lots （抽签）. As a result, she drew No. 9 while No. 8 was a boy who was very good at giving speeches.
Sure enough, No. 8 was very10The whole audience made a warm applause.
While they11about his speech with excitement, Kelly appeared on the stage. I with no courage to look at her. It was her12time to go up the stage, so I couldn't be angry with her for any small mistakes. But at that moment, I found13I was so afraid of her failure（失败）.
The strong spotlight and large hall made14so small that nobody seemed to notice she had been on the stage. I felt hopeless.
But the moment that surprised me came. I clearly heard a voice, a very loud voice, “Now, please focus on me.”
Three times in all, louder and louder.
The whole audience fell silent.
I could hardly believe that loud voice came from the girl, who was usually soft-voiced and didn't catch attention at all. She gave a perfect speech.
I think I will never forget this touching lesson15my student taught me — never underestimate（低估）the power of the silent people.
