The summer before I went off to college, Mom stood me in her usual spot behind the ironing board (烫衣板) and said, “Pay attention: I’m going to teach you to iron.”

Mom clearly explained her reasons ___(1)_____ this lesson. I was going to be in dependent and need to learn this important skill. Also, I would be meeting new people, and ___(2)_____ (proper) ironed clothes would help me make a good ____(3)____ (impress) .

“ Learn to iron a shirt.” Mum said, “_____(4)___ you can iron anything.”

But ironing shirts was not easy work. It didn’t make use of long muscles (肌肉) we used __(5)______ (throw) a baseball, and it wasn’t a special operation like ice-skating. Ironing was __(6)______driving a car on a street that has a stop sign every 10 feet. __(7)______, an iron produced steam and it carried some danger. If you touched the wrong part of it, you’d get ___(8)_____(burn). If you forgot to turn it off when you went away, you might burn down the house.

Over the years, I have learned to iron shirts skillfully, ____(9)____gives me a sense of pride.

____(10)____ failures I suffer in my life, an ironed shirt tells me I am good at something.