The Pygmalion effect (皮格马利翁效应) means that positive expectations lead to better performance while negative expectations lead to worse performance.

I used to teach maths at a summer school. There I had a student who taught me a lot more than what I could ________ have taught him. Let’s call him Joey.

Though he ________ with maths at first, his eagerness and ________ never changed. I quickly ________ him as a star pupil. Joey shared with me one day that his mother passed away when he was young. Neither of his parents finished high school, so his mother’s ________ was just to see him graduate. His dad was a cleaner who worked long hours for low pay. Joey said he wanted to get his diploma ( 文 凭 ) so that he could get a better job because he ________ to see his dad happy.

From that day forward, I promised him to ensure he would pass. I taught him how to understand some of the ________ topics in maths. On the last day of the class, Joey ________ the final test. After all the students left, I ________ to help clean up. The head teacher told me that he was amazed at Joey’s ________ in the test, for he did a really good job _________his disabilities (缺陷).

The teacher went on to explain that Joey had learning disabilities and that some experts said he would never be able to do maths. I was ________ to hear this because I had never found it when I worked with him!

If he had learning disabilities, then how was he able to solve the problems related to difficult maths concepts ________ after some lessons? This question has ________ me for some time. After spending ________ hours searching, I have found the best explanation is the concept of the Pygmalion effect.