I was blind, but I was ashamed of it if it was known. I refused to use a white stick and hated asking for help. After all, I was a teenage girl, and I couldn’t bear people to look at me and think I was not like them. I must have been a terrible danger on the roads. Coming across me wandering through the traffic, motorists probably would have to stop rapidly on their brakes. Apart from that, there were all sorts of disasters that used to occur on the way to and from work.
One evening, I got off the bus about halfway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I ran into something. “I’m awfully sorry,” I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been apologizing to a lamppost. This was just one of the stupid things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop, which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn’t stop unless passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to guess if the bus had arrived.
Generally in this situation, because I hated showing I was blind by asking for help, I tried to guess at the sound. Sometimes I would stop a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to swallow my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.
But at this particular evening no one joined me at the stop; it seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass, or I thought I did. But because I had given up stopping them for fear of making a fool of myself, I let them all go by. I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one. Then I gave up. I decided to walk on to the next stop.
24. The girl refused to ask for help because she thought_________.
A. she might be recognized
B. asking for help looked silly
C. she was normal and independent
D. being found blind was embarrassing
25. After the girl got off the bus that evening, she_________.
A. began to run
B. hit a person as usual
C. hit a lamppost by accident
D. was caught by something
26. What was the problem with guessing at the sound to stop a bus?
A. Other vehicles also stopped there.
B. It was unreliable for making judgments.
C. More lorries than buses responded to the girl.
D. It took too much time for the girl to catch the bus.
27. Finally the girl decided to walk to the next stop, hoping__________.
A. to find people there
B. to find more buses there
C. to find the bus by herself there
D. to find people more helpful there