原版英语小短文 170. It Was Worth It

　　The phone rang. It was her son. Six years ago she had left her home country. She had sold her business. She wanted her son to get an education in America. She spoke¹ no English. Her son spoke little English. Her friends and family said she was crazy. She moved to America. She put her son in school. School was difficult. He was in remedial English classes. She walked him to school. She hired tutors for him. He hated school. She put her foot down. She made him study. His English improved. His grades improved. He became a good student. He graduated from high school. He went to junior college. He finished junior college. He applied² to transfer to a four-year university. "Mom, I got accepted to USC!" he said. "Oh, congratulations!" she said, over and over. She was so proud of her son. She sat down and cried.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。