13. On a cold morning in Austria, 16-year-old skier Ann Thompson was about to make her last practice run.
As she went down the (1)
on her skis, Thompson had a terrible accident. She fell and badly hurt her spinal cord (脊髓). As a result, Thompson could no longer walk.
"The accident didn't (2)
anything." Thompson said. "I' m the same person I was before."
After her accident, Thompson (3)
the Cruisers, a program for wheelchair athletes (运动员) in Connecticut, Thompson's home state.
"We brought her down to see what was happening," said Don Chaffee, a Cruiser official. "At first, she said, 'I can't do that.' Then she realized, 'I can do that. I'm going to do that.' "
Just over a year after her accident, Thompson was a good wheelchair athlete. Her (4)
was track and field (田径).
Thompson also played basketball in her college. It wasn't (5)
for her. She had never played basketball before her accident. Now she was learning the sport in a wheelchair. She tried out for the U. S. Paralympic women's basketball team, and she (6)
it.
Thompson is a role model for millions of people. She wanted to tell kids through her story. "Try," she said. "Really try. If you want to do something, try your best to do it. If you really want to do something, you can find a (7)
to do it."
Kids who watch her practice see that anything is possible.
"They see this lady in her wheelchair going around and (8)
life," said Chaffee. "And they say, Hey, I can make it, too."