I’d thought I was ready for the challenges of graduate school. But when I left Nepal to further my study abroad, I felt as if I had dropped into the vast ocean where every fish swam faster than I could. The coursework wore me out. Instead of being the outgoing person I had been, I suddenly became a shy girl. Worse still, my research was not progressing at the pace I had expected.

I needed something to return to my old self. After a conversation with my friend, I thought I should go to help others. Then I began to search online for volunteer opportunities. Luckily, a local organization that drives senior citizens to their destinations was looking for volunteers. I thought it might be just what I needed.

I was a bit anxious before my first ride, as I had not interacted much with people outside school. But I quickly recovered my poise when I picked up an old woman who wanted to go downtown. She talked with me like my grandmother and shared how thankful she was. Connections like this and the smiles on my passengers’ faces encouraged me to continue driving.

I started to volunteer about three hours every weekend — time I otherwise would have spent oversleeping or looking through information on social media. Sharing stories with my passengers was rewarding. And seeing how eager they were to spend time going out inspired me to think about how to spend my time which used to slip away.

As my confidence grew, I began opening up to my fellow graduate students about the ups and downs in my research and was surprised to discover that all my fellows faced the same challenge — even the student who I had considered to be on top of everything. As these connections grew, my natural personality began to reappear.

【小题1】What did the author volunteer to do?

A．Help with old people’s daily life.

B．Provide transportation for the old.

C．Communicate with senior citizens.

D．Accompany old people to downtown.

【小题2】Which of the following can best explain the underlined word “poise” in paragraph 3?

A．Strength.	B．Courage.
C．Calmness.	D．Enthusiasm.

【小题3】What can we infer about the author from the last paragraph?

A．She worked very hard on her research.

B．She experienced a sense of incompetence.

C．She was in the same boat as her schoolmates.

D．She regained connection with her friends.