Moststudents,whenaskedabouttheiridealgraduationgift,wouldprobablyreply,“Acar”,or“Moneyforadepositonahouse”.CaiKaiyuan,21,madeadifferentchoice.Asagraduationgifttohimself,hedecidedtoworkasavolunteerteacherinaremotevillageinTibet.
Cai,aseniormajoringinelectricalengineeringatHuanRailwayProfessionalTechnologyCollege,originallyplannedtocyclefromSichuantoTibet.Duringhisjourney,Cai’sideaforadifferentgraduationgifttohimselfbegantotakeshape.“Ididnotknowbeforehandwhatthejourneywouldmeantome.Ijustwanttogainauniqueexperienceandhavepleasureinappreciatingtheviewthere,”hesaid.
Itturnedoutcyclingonaplateauwasextremelychallenging.Andithaskeptchanginghisoutlookonlife.Cai’sfingersevenbecamefrostbittenwhilecyclingupa5008-meter-highmountain,wheretemperaturesoftendroppedto18belowzero.Atnight,theicecoveredtheroadandhefelloffhisbikethreetimes.Thelackofoxygenmadehimfeeldizzyandweak.“Atthemostseriousmoment,Ifeltthatmylifewasontheline,”saidCai.
However,healsogainedsomethingunexpected.AtYa’an,acityinSichuan,hemetagroupoftouristswhoarealsouniversitystudents.AgirlcalledWuLingtoldhimthatsheplannedtoworkasateacherinaprimaryschoolinTibetafterherjourney.Hewasimpressedbytheideaasshelookedslenderandweak.
Itwasnotuntilhereachedafamily-runhotelinShigatsethatCai’sspiritsbegantorise.Thehotelmanager’stwodaughtersenjoyedtalkingwithhim.Thekidsaskedabouthisexperiencesonhistrip,andshowedhimthebeautifullocallakes.“Theytoldmethattheyalwayslikedtotalktoguests,astheywantedtoimprovetheirMandarin,”hesaid,“TheirparentsandmanylocalscanonlyspeakTibetan.”
Caiwastouchedbythegirls’story.TheirsituationistoughandthelocalpeoplehavelittlechancetolearnMandarinbecausetheschoolsareshortofteachers.“Iwanttodosomethingtoimprovethesituationforkidslikethem,”saidCai.Hisparentsfinallygavetheiragreementandhisteachersalsosupportedhim.
小题1:Accordingtothepassage,CaiKaiyuan’sgraduationgifttohimselfis_________.