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【完形填空】Cloze: The Potter's Lesson
Mira ran a small pottery studio in a town (1) clay was still packed by hand.
She was intelligent, creative, and known for her (2) at the wheel.
Her classes began at dawn, and she would (3) each session with a short talk on form.
Students sat in a circle, surrounded by wet earth and half-finished bowls.
One morning a stranger arrived. He was tall and quiet. His clothes (4) wealth, yet his manner had no trace of the proud air of a collector.
He said he had come to learn. Mira watched him knead the clay. His hands were steady. There was an incongruity, though: for a beginner, he showed no fear of failure. He worked with an emphasis (5) patience, not speed. It terrified the other students. They were susceptible to doubt. He was not.
Mira tried to (6) the lesson. She set a task: make a cup that could hold water. The stranger's first attempt collapsed. He smiled. "Failure is not obscene," he said. "It is data." Mira felt a clot of anger, then let it go. She knew that violence against clay never worked. You had to apply gentle pressure. You had to listen.
The wheel's reign over the room was absolute. (7) , the ecliptic path of the sun ruled the drying racks. Nothing could precede the slow work of drying. An extrusion of wet clay, forced too fast, would crack.
By the third week, the stranger's pots were better than hers. This caused a quiet disillusionment in Mira. She had built her identity on being the best. Now she saw her own limits. The stranger, it (8) , was a famous designer. He had come to study her technique. He wanted to unravel the secret of her glaze. He said he admired her humanity, her lack of conformity. "You are not ubiquitous," he said. "That is your strength." The words were a gift and a wound.
Mira decided to change her class. She dropped the old rules. Instead of one method, she taught (9) approaches. She asked students to trust their own personality. She reinforced the idea that creativity is not a property to own. It is a practice. She used elicitation rather than instruction. She asked questions. She let silence do its work. The results were effective. Her students became more inventive. They began to surround each other with support, not rivalry.
Mira realized that her (10) moment had come not from success but from being humbled. She had been innocent about her own ego. Now she saw it clearly. The studio filled with new energy. And the stranger, before he left, gave her a small bowl. It was imperfect. It was enough.
Choices
(1) A. where B. which C. that D. when
(2) A. ignorance B. prowess C. weakness D. laziness
(3) A. commence B. conclude C. terminate D. interrupt
(4) A. resulted in B. hinted at C. pointed out D. looked after
(5) A. in B. on C. for D. with
(6) A. expand B. celebrate C. circumscribe D. ignore
(7) A. Similarly B. However C. Therefore D. Nevertheless
(8) A. turned up B. turned out C. turned down D. turned over
(9) A. narrow B. same C. rigid D. diverse
(10) A. minor B. trivial C. pivotal D. ordinary