When the bell rang for the end of the day, I hurried to the school gate where my parents usually waited for me. Looking around, I was surprised to see my new classmate, Rochelle, waving her arms round and making shapes with her fingers to a woman, who did the same in response.
“What are they doing?” I wondered. “Is she her mother and could she be deaf?”
The next morning, when I was memorizing this week’s new words on the playground, I felt a touch on my shoulder. Turning around, I found Rochelle standing shyly behind me. Rochelle only joined our class at the beginning of this week. It must be very hard to start a new school in the middle of the year.
“Shall we test each other?” she asked, pointing to my spelling book.
“Yes, of course,” I responded warmly.
But after we finished going over the new words, I asked the question that had been lingering (萦绕) in my head since yesterday.
“Umm…, what was that hand thing you did with the woman at the school gate yesterday?” I hesitated.
“Signing,” she replied briefly.
“Is it because she’s… deaf?” I asked.
“Yes, both my parents are deaf, so I communicate with them through sign language,” she said coldly.
I should have shut up at the moment, but one of the stupidest remarks slipped off the tongue, “Oh, I’m sorry. So, did your parents need someone to help them look after you when you were a baby?”
“Of course not,” Rochelle got really annoyed. “Why would being deaf mean they can’t look after their children? Being deaf doesn’t mean they’re stupid,” she was almost shouting at me. “In fact, they’re much cleverer than most people I know.”
Before I could apologize, the bell rang and she rushed to the classroom.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After school, I saw Rochelle and her mother gesturing at the gate again.
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When I was at a loss what to do, I saw Rochelle coming over to me.
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