2014届高三英语二轮专题精品特训：阅读理解35.docVIP

2014届高三英语二轮专题精品特训：阅读理解 I stood outside New Yorks Madison Square Garden and just stared, almost speechless. I was a farm boy from County Kilkenny, a child who some thought would never walk, let alone go as far as I had in the world. From the day I was born, there was a problem. The doctors at the Dublin hospital told my parents I had phocomelia, a deformity that affected both legs below the knee, which were outward and shorter than normal and each foot had just three toes. Life was tough. I couldnt stand, much less walk. I rarely, left the farmhouse-and then only in someones arms. Mam bundled me up whenever she took me to town, no matter the season. “The world will see him when he can walk,” she told Dad. “And he will walk.” Mam devoted herself to helping me. She tried everything to get me on my feet. When I was three, she and Dad took me to a clinic in Dublin. A few weeks later we returned to Dublin with my artificial limbs (肢). Back home I practiced walking with my new limbs. “Theres nothing anyone can do but you cant,” Mam said. “You and I are going to walk through town.” The next day Mam dressed me in my finest clothes. She wore a summer dress and fixed her hair and makeup. Dad drove us to the church. We stepped out of the car. Mam took my hand. “Hold your head up high, now, Ronan,” she said. We walked 300 meters to the post office. It was the farthest Id walked, and I was sweating from the effort. Then we left the post office and continued down the street, Mares eyes shining with a mothers pride. That night, back on our farm, I lay exhausted on my bed. It meant nothing, though, compared to what Id done on my walk. Then I began to pursue my dream of singing. And at every step Mams words came back to me—Ronan, you can do anything anyone else can do—and the faith she had in God, who would help me do it. Ive sung from the grandest stages in Europe, to music played by the worlds finest musicians. That night, I stood at the Madison S