55．A．turned B．led C．went D．came
A
As Amy Hagadorn rounded the corner across
the hall from her classroom, she collided with a tall boy from the fifth
grade running in the opposite direction．
“Watch it,
Squirt,” the boy yelled, as he moved quickly around the little third grader．Then, with a self-satisfied smile
on his face, the boy took hold of his right leg and imitated the way Amy limped
when she walked．
Amy closed
her eyes for a moment．
‘Ignore
him,’ she told herself as she headed for her classroom．
But at the
end of the day, Amy was still thinking about the tall boy's mean teasing．It wasn't as if he were the only
one．It seemed
that ever since Amy started the third grade, someone teased her every single
day．Kids teased
her about her speech or her limping．Amy was tired of it．Sometimes, even in a classroom full of other students, the teasing
made her feel all alone．
Back home at
the dinner table that evening Amy was quiet．Her mother knew that things were not going well at school．That's why Patti Hagadorn was happy
to have some exciting news to share with her daughter．
“There's a
Christmas Wish Contest on the radio station,” Amy's mom announced．“Write a letter to Santa and you
might win a prize．I think
someone at this table with blond curly hair should enter．”
Amy giggled．The contest sounded like fun．She started thinking about what she
wanted most for Christmas．
A smile took
hold of Amy when the idea first came to her．Out came pencil and paper and Amy went to work on her letter．“Dear Santa Claus,” she began．
While Amy
worked away at her best printing, the rest of the family tried to guess what
she might ask from Santa．Amy's sister, Jamie, and Amy's mom both thought a 3-foot Barbie Doll
would top Amy's wish list．Amy's dad guessed a picture book．But Amy wasn't ready to reveal her secret Christmas wish just then．Here is Amy's letter to Santa, just
as she wrote it that night:
Dear Santa Claus,
My name is Amy．I am 9 years old．I have a problem at school．Can you help me, Santa? Kids laugh at me because of the way I walk
and run and talk．I have
cerebral palsy．I just want
one day where no one laughs at me or makes fun of me．
Love,
Amy
