Everything was ready. I was very tired because I worked so hard to build the tower. People in my village heard (1)the news and were coming to look at it. Some of these people [ア laugh ] at me for months. They thought I was strange when I told them I was trying to generate electricity from wind. "Here it goes," I thought.

I was born and brought up in Malawi, a small country in Africa. In December 2000, a terrible famine broke out in the country. First, we had to stop having breakfast to save what we had. Then, we soon had nothing to eat, and my school friends and many others died. Children had to stop going to school.

Even when the famine was over, I still had to stay home to work in the fields because my father had not yet made enough money to send me back to school. (2)I could not blame him.

I said to myself, "If we had a good watering system, we [イ stay ] away from those problems in the future." I wanted to change our life, which was determined by rain and the price of seed. I wanted to build a better future.

I began to study on my own in the library to do something about our problems. My best friend Gilbert would come help me after school. One day, I came across a book titled Using Energy. If I hadn't read that book then, my life [ウ stay ] the same. It showed how to convert natural energy to another form such as electricity. Suddenly, an idea came to me.

My idea was to build a kind of windmill by myself. I kept thinking, "If I had a windmill, I could stay up and read at night." A windmill could also run a pump for water. My family could grow different vegetables, both to eat and to sell in the market. No more dark house or hungry days!

According to the book, I needed blades, a dynamo, and many other things. For the blades, I used old pipes taken from a bathhouse behind my aunt's house. For the rest of the parts I went to search a junkyard every day in the early morning. There, I was able to find a fan in an old car. I also picked up such things as old water pumps and springs for other parts. As I walked around in the junkyard, the students across the street in the school ground saw me and would call out, "Look, it's William. He's playing in the junkyard again!"

One day, when Gilbert and I were walking home together, he asked, "How's your windmill going?"

"Well, I've got most of the parts ready, but I don't know where I can get a dynamo. If I had a dynamo now, I would be able to start building my windmill," I answered.

Just then, we came across a man pushing his bicycle, which had a light. I said, "Look, Gilbert! There's a dynamo!" But I knew I had no money. (3)Then Gilbert went up to the man and asked if he could buy the dynamo on his bicycle. Gilbert's father had given away all their food during the famine. I was pretty sure they were also short of money. Still, Gilbert reached into his pocket, pulled out the money and handed it to the man. I will always remember that moment and cherish his gift of friendship. I ran home and placed the dynamo next to the other materials. It was like adding the last piece to the great puzzle in my life.

At last, I was on top of my finished tower. More and more people were coming to look at the windmill. They were standing around the tower and looking up. From the top, I could see the faces of my friends and the people I knew. There was little wind at first and the windmill did not turn. Then, the wind became stronger, and the fan began to turn. (4)It turned slowly at first, then faster and faster, until the force of its motion rocked the tower. Finally, a small light came on, and then it became stronger.

"It's true!" someone said. "The boy has done it!" Although this was only a little step toward my goal, it definitely brightened our future.

It is said that William Kamkwamba, a young boy, has been trying to make a [ A ]. He has been [ B ] for many different materials in the scrap yard in order to build it. I'm not sure, but he says he can make [ C ] when the fan [ D ] with a strong wind.

Gilbert: Excuse me. Hello. I'm Gilbert. Can I ask you one thing?

A man: Hello. What is it?

Gilbert: Actually, I would like you to do me a favor. My best friend really needs a [ E ]. He has been searching one for a long time but he has never found one. I really want to help him. He has a dream.

A man: What does he want to do? What's his dream?

Gilbert: He is trying to make a windmill and [ F ] electricity in order to study at night. And also, he wants to help his family grow [ G ]. In order to do so, he needs to run a [ H ] to get water from under the ground. Could you please sell your dynamo on your bike to me? I want him to realize his dream.

A man: I understand what you mean now. OK, I'll [ I ] it to you.

Gilbert: Thank you very much.

4 She explained her son's wish and asked if it was possible to give him a ride on a fire engine.

5 Bob thought a while about what he could do and said, "Look, we can do better than that. Get your son ready at seven o'clock Wednesday morning. We'll make him an honorary firefighter for the whole day. He can come down to the fire station, eat with us, and go out on all the fire calls. And, if you give us his sizes, we'll get a real fire uniform made for him."

6 Three days later, Bob picked up Bopsy, dressed him in his fire uniform and escorted him from his hospital bed to the waiting hook-and-ladder truck. Bopsy got to sit on the back of the truck when they went back to the fire station. He was in heaven.

7 There were three fire calls in Phoenix that day and Bopsy got to go out on all three calls. He rode in the different fire engines, the paramedics' van and even the fire chief's car.

8 Bopsy's dream came true because of all the love and attention that was given to him. He was deeply touched by what his parents and the firefighters did for him. He lived three months longer than any doctor thought possible.

9 One night all of his vital signs began to drop dramatically, so the head nurse called the family members to the hospital. She believed that no one should die alone.

10 She also called the fire chief. She asked if a firefighter in uniform could come to the hospital to be with Bopsy.