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As the names were announced one by one, Mike's heart
seemed to pound harder and harder. He felt as if it
was amplified throughout the school hall for all to ___1___.
Today, Mike was receiving his PSLE results. He
practically had butterflies in his ___2___.
The night before, after he ___3___
over the news that the results would be released
today, he had been restless the whole evening. It
seemed as though nothing he did could distract him.
Even at night during bedtime, he had a ___4___
time falling asleep. He tossed and ___5___
in bed the entire night. Still, when he woke up this
morning, he did not feel ___6___
at all. The anxiety of the situation kept the
adrenalin coursing through his veins and that ___7___
him going.
All the pupils were assembled in the school hall.
They were seated ___8___
to their classes. At the head of the hall, tables
and chairs had already been set up. Some pupils
chatted with their ___9___,
airing their concerns. Others, like Mike, sat in
silence. When the class teachers started streaming
into the hall carrying the result slips, everybody
hushed. It was so ___10___
that one could even hear a pin fall to the ground.
The air was filled with tension and suspense.
The principal first gave a congratulatory ___11___
and expressed her happiness that the cohort had done
well. Then, she left the hall and the class teachers
started ___12___
up their pupils individually to collect the result
slips.
When Mike heard his name being called, he stood
up and walked over to his teacher with tentative
steps. He tied to decipher the expression on his
teacher's ___13___
as an indication of how he had done but it was
expressionless. He sat down in the chair in front of
the teacher and gripped the sides until his knuckles
were white. At that moment when he finally dared to
look at his teacher, she ___14___
out into a broad smile.
"Congratulations, Mike ! You have done well," she
beamed at him.
Mike stared at the slip of paper in front of him
with shaking hands. He could not ___15___
what he was looking at. He had done better than he
had expected. It was only then did he break out into
a smile as well. He finally felt as if he could
breathe again. |
