A lot of kids in my neighborhood knew how to ride．I also wanted to（16）　　，but all the boys told me I couldn't do it because I was a girl．I decided to prove（证明） them（17）　　．Brett let me try his bike．I wasn't on for one minute before I fell off．He came over to see if I was OK，（18）　　then started laughing．

That night I told my dad the whole story about how I wanted to be as good as（19）　　．A few days later，my dad told me he had found a nice bike．

My dad spent four long weeks（20）　　me everything I needed to know about the bike．Day after day he worked with me，and I began to（21）　　．

Each ride on my bike，I got a little（22）　　，and finally I was ready for my first time on a trip with some boys．At first I couldn't keep up and the boys had to wait for me，laughing．

Every time I came back，I would（23）　　，and every time I cried my dad was there to put his arms around me．He would tell me not to（24）　　them and that with more（25）　　，I would be as good as others or better than them．

Things finally got easier，as if I could ride with my eyes closed．I am still made fun of，not because I'm not good，but because they felt threatened（威胁） that a girl can do what they did．

16．A．ride	B．run	C．walk
17．A．stupid	B．strong	C．wrong
18．A．so	B．but	C．or
19．A．boys	B．classmates	C．girls
20．A．showing	B．telling	C．teaching
21．A．know	B．progress	C．understand
22．A．slower	B．easier	C．happier
23．A．shout	B．rest	C．cry
24．A．laugh at	B．listen to	C．look at
25．A．practice	B．study	C．time．