When we are unfamiliar with something, we may feel nervous and fearful. The help of others is a good 35 to help us pull through.
I write for a big newspaper, and I wanted to 36 a story about parachute jumping（跳傘）. To make it a realistic as well as exciting story, I decided that I had to make a jump myself 37 . Unluckily, I’m not good at any sport, let alone（更不用說(shuō)）parachute jumping.
My friend Mr. Smith was willing to give me a 38 . He took me to a ground school. The first day’s 39 included several hours of instruction but not my first drop from an airplane. For this, I had to wait until the following morning.
The next morning, I was taken to the airfield. There, a heavy parachute was put on my back. Then I was asked to make my way to a small plane which had just stopped slowly on the runway. Once on board, the plane was soon 40 . I began to feel nervous. As we reached one thousand meters, Harry, my teacher, hooked（鉤）a 41 from my parachute to a steel（鋼制品）ring inside the plane. The line was to pull my parachute 42 after I jumped.
“Get ready, Henry,” Harry said. I moved carefully to the door. I wanted to cry, “NO, no, no!” But no word came.
“Jump!” Harry called loudly. “Jump!”
Away from the plane, and down, down I fell, arms stretched. It worked! All at once I was very happy. Then I felt a quick 43 . My big parachute had opened! It was the best
44 I ever had. I looked down. There were rivers, trees, fields and houses. I heard the soft sound of the air. This was fun.
35. A. way B. chance C. idea D. value
36. A. tell B. write C. read D. copy
37. A. secretly B. instead C. finally D. first
38. A. try B. hand C. gift D. suggestion
39. A. jumping B. journey C. training D. entertainment
40. A. slowing B. climbing C. landing D. filling
41. A. bag B. steel C. line D. seat
42. A. light B. broken C. fixed D. open
43. A. comfort B. wind C. pull D. push
44. A. failure B. experience C. competition D. danger
