学进去

Jamil Jan Kochai moved to America from Afghanistan at age one. At home, his family only spoke Pashto (普什图语), so when he reached first grade in an English-speaking school, he was _______ at a loss.

Then came Ms. Lung, Kochai’s second-grade teacher, who quickly realized that Kochai was _______ hard at school. Nearly every day after school, Lung would give Kochai _______ lessons on reading and writing. By the end of the year, Kochai had learned to read and write, and even _______ the first prize in the school reading competition.

Sadly, Kochai _______ the teacher after his family moved several times. “I tried everything to find Ms. Lung, but all proved _______,” he explained. “The problem was that I didn’t know her first name. She’d always just been Ms. Lung to me.”

In the meantime, Kochai was starting to go after a successful career in writing. He has received many writing _______. But he never gave up _______ Ms. Lung.

Two years ago, Lung’s husband, Allen Lung, happened to read an article Kochai wrote for a literary magazine that _______ Ms. Lung. He then ________ Kochai through Facebook. Allen Lung asked Kochai if he wanted to speak with his ________ that same night. Because of the pandemic (疫情) they were only able to ________ each other, but Kochai was excited. This was the moment he had been waiting for years.

Kochai cried when he heard his teacher’s voice. He told Ms. Lung everything he had achieved was all thanks to her. They planned to meet ________ at some point in the future.

However, that moment didn’t come until August 13, 2023, when Kochai was doing a book signing event for his new novel. Allen approached Kochai, introduced himself, and brought him over to reunite with Ms. Lung. “I didn’t know why I didn’t see her ________ , since Ms. lung is sitting in the front row. It has been 22 years since I saw her last time,” Kochai said.

“My father used to say that every child is a rocket filled with ________ and all they need is a single spark (火花) to lift off into the sky,” Kochai said. “Ms. Lung was my spark.”