阅读理解

　　Ever since I was a child, my mouth has caused me trouble．I’m not a bad person; I have a hard time learning when to keep my mouth closed．

　　My mom has told me again and again,“Robert, your constant bad words are hurting me．If you continue to be this rude, you will get into big trouble．”

　　It’s been a problem at school several times too when teachers have told me something I didn’t want to hear．I used to feel it was my duty to stand up for myself．

　　One day in English class I began working on my homework until I heard a classmate talking behind me．It was Nathaniel, talking to himself as usual．

　　I said ever so nicely,“Nathaniel, would you be quiet?”

　　Nathaniel continued talking to himself．I quickly shouted“Nathaniel, shut up!”

　　For the next five minutes, we threw hurtful words back and forth at each other．

　　“At least I don’t have an ugly lazy eye like you!”I shouted．

　　I knew this would upset him deep inside．It would hurt his feelings and shut him up．

　　What I said filled him with anger．He tried to reach over my seat and grab me as he shouted,“That’s it!That’s it!”

　　Surprised at his reaction, I sat back in my seat．Never had I seen Nathaniel act like this before．

　　Later on, we were taken to the principal’s office．

　　There, Mr．Black, the principal, told us to discuss the matter．It wasn’t until then that I finally found that when I hurt someone physically, the wounds eventually heal．But when I hurt them with my words, sometimes the pain(痛苦)never goes away．

　　At the end of the discussion, I said sorry to Nathaniel．

　　When I headed back to my room, I spent some time praying．I began to think about how often what I said hurt others．But I believe that as I keep praying and asking God to help me he’ll tell me when to keep my mouth closed．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)