55．A．hardship B．thought C．money D．experience
If You’re Not Dead，You Can Get Better
Randy Kraus
was paralyzed (瘫痪)．His left side was useless．But his right hand was 36 enough to lift a bucket to his forehead．Once，he’d been a police officer and owned a private-eye agency．Once，he’d been strong and able．Now，he felt he
was nothing．
His 37 started with Parkinson’s (帕金森) disease，but it didn’t 38 there．In July 2002，the 60-year-old Kraus went into the hospital for an operation to
control the shaking． 39 ，during the operation，he had a stroke (中风)．He was
paralyzed．The 40 man，who loved golf，could think，but couldn’t 41 ．Kraus wanted the doctors to 42 it to him straight．“You may never walk again，” they told him．“Maybe you won’t 43 be able to talk．”
Once home，he 44 he couldn’t lift a fork or take a drink
by himself．Physical
treatment was so painful and slow．What did he have to 45 for? So now Kraus held the gun against
his head． 46 the cold metal on his
skin，he began to
consider not his pain，but the pain he 47 cause his wife，daughters and grandchildren．He didn’t pull the trigger (扳机)．
“You are
where you are”，his exercise
physiologist (生理学者)，Andrew Garud told him．“The pace (进度) would be slow；the pain would be 48 ．But as long as you are 49 ，you have the ability to get better．” After three months of 50 with Garud，Kraus wanted to see if he could
51 ．He could．Then he took three steps，sat down and cried like a baby．One step 52 to another．Next he managed a short walk．It was the hardest 53
of Kraus’s life．
Garud kept
saying he could 54 more．Now，Kraus can
brush his teeth，shave himself
and get around the house with a walker．Little success only the paralyzed can 55 understand．