The Whisper Test
耳语测试
I grew up knowing I was different，and I hated it. I was born with a cleft palate ，and when I started to go to school，my classmates—who were constantly teasing—made it clear to me how I must look to others: a little girl with a misshapen lip，crooked nose，lopsided teeth，and hollow and somewhat garbled speech. I couldn't even blow up a balloon without holding my nose，and when I bent to drink from a fountain ，the water spilled out of my nose.
And then I entered the second grade，and Mrs. Leonard's class. She was round and pretty and fragrant，with shining brown hair and warm dark eyes that smiled even on the rare occasions when her mouth didn't.Everyone adored her. But no one came to love her more than I did.
后来我升入二年级，进了伦纳德夫人的班。她身材丰满，长相靓丽，浑身散发着芳香，还有着一头亮泽的棕发和一双热情的黑眼睛。即便是偶尔嘴上不笑的时候，她那双眼睛里也会流露出微笑。每个人都喜欢她，但没人比我更爱她。
The time came for the annual "hearing tests" given at our school. I was barely able to hear anything out of one ear，and was not about to reveal yet another problem that would single me out as different. And so I cheated. I had learned to watch other children and raised my hand when they did during group testing. The "whisper test" however，required a different kind of deception : Each child would go to the door of the classroom，turn sideways，close one ear with a finger，and the teacher would whisper something from her desk，which the child would repeat. Then the same thing was done for the other ear. I had discovered in kindergarten that nobody checked to see how tightly the untested ear was being covered，so I merely pretended to block mine. As usual，I was last，but all through the testing I wondered what Mrs. Leonard might say to me. I knew from previous years that she whispered things like "The sky is blue" or "Do you have new shoes?"
My turn came up. I turned my bad ear to her plugging up the other solidly with my finger，then gently backed my finger out enough to be able to hear. I waited and then heard the words that changed my life forever. Mrs. Leonard，the pretty，fragrant teacher I adored，said softly，"I wish you were my little girl."
