Passage 7
Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three month of travel though Europe’s had been aboard a couple of times, but I could hardly to know my way around the
continent. Moreover my knowledge of foreign languages was 37 to a little college French.
I hesitated. How would I,unable to speak the language, 38 unfamiliar with local geography or transportation systems,set up 39 and do research? It seemed impossible,and with considerable 40 . I sat down to write a letter begging off. Halfway through, thought ran through my mind: you can't learn if you don’t try. So I accepted the assignment.
There were some bad 41 But by the time I had finished the trip I was an experienced traveler. And ever since,I have never hesitated to head for even the most remote of places, without guides or even 42 bookings,confident that somehow I will manage.
The point is that the new, the different,is almost by definition 43 But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you.
I’ve learned to ski at 40,and flown up the Rhine River in a 44 • And I know I’ll go on doing such things. It’s not because I,m braver or more daring than others. I,m not, but I’ll accept anxiety as another name for challenge and I believe I can 45 wonders.