Supplementary reading: True Height

By David Naster

His palms were sweating. He needed a towel to dry his grip. A glass of ice water quenched his thirst, but hardly cooled his intensity. It was as hot as the petition he faced today at the National Junior Olympics. The pole was set as 17 feet. That was three inches higher than his personal best. Michael Stone confronted the most challenging day of his pole-vaulting career. 
As long as Michael could remember, he had always dreamed of flying. Michael's mother read him numerous stories about flying when he was growing up. Michael had this one recurring dream. He would be running down a country road. He could feel the rocks and chunks of dirt at his feet. As he raced down the golden-lines wheat fields, he always out-ran the lootives passing by. It was at the exact moment he took a deep breath that he lifted off the ground. He would soar like an eagle. 
From the age of 14, Michael began a very careful and regimented weight-lifting program. The program was carefully monitored by his father. All of Michael's vaults today seemed to be the reward for his hard work. But he wasn't surprised or thrilled about clearing the bar at 17 feet, which made him one of the final two petitors. 
When he cleared the bar at 17 feet 2 inches and 17 feet 4 inches, again he showed no emotion. Now the bar was set at nine inches higher than his personal best. As he lay on his back and heard the crowd moan, he knew the other vaulter had missed his final jump. It was time for his final jump. Since the other vaulter had fewer misses, Michael needed to clear this vault to win. A miss would get him second place. Nothing to be ashamed of, but Michael would not allow himself the thought of not winning first place. 
He rolled over and did his ritual of three finger-tipped push-ups （俯卧撑） along with three Marine-style push-ups. He found his pole, stood and stepped on the runway that led to the most challenging events of his 17-year-old life. 
As he began sprinting down the runway, something felt wonderfully different, yet familiar. The surface below him felt like the country road he used to dream about. The rocks and chunks of dirt, the visions of the golden wheat fields seemed to fill his thoughts. When he took a deep breath, it happened. Michael began to fly, just like in his childhood dreams. Only this time he knew he wasn't dreaming. 
With all the media attention, endorsement possibilities and swarming herds of heartfelt congratulation, Michael's life would never be the same. It wasn't just because he won the National Junior Olympics and set a new world record. And it wasn't because he had just increased his personal best by 9 inches. It was simply because Michael Stone is blind.

After reading thinking:

1. Which sentence impresses you most?

2. This article employs the writing device called “flashback”, how does the author show that the flashback is over and the narration returns to the competition?

3. Can you decide the organization of the article according to the writing devices?

4. Why does the author reveal the ‘blind’ at the end of the article?

5. What is your understanding of the title “true height”?

True - Height(2015-5-22 23.25.23 1479)