2022年1月浙江英语高考读后续写(3)

I, on the other hand, must have seemed naive, with little to offer. At one point l summoned up my courage and asked him why he seemed so uptight and serious. To my surprise, he replied that he didn’t have time for small talk or petty people and things that would waste his time. He even went on to say that he didn’t have any friends because most socalled friends were just a distraction. But, he added, when he did choose someone to be his friend, they would be a friend for life. I was floored by his cold and cynical response. Right then and there, I realized the end of the semester couldn’t come soon enough.
As the semester wore on, we tried to fashion a simple yet elegant experiment. Part of our job was to ‘students who had voluneered to be subjects for our project. I decided to devote5 myself to the task of working with the subjects, while he developed the scientific model. I put in my two cents’ worth whenever I could, but I still felt he was the driving force.
Then one day I got word that he was in the hospital. Apparently, he had been admitted for a hemorrhaging ulcer. The stress of getting the best grades, holding down a job and helping his girlfriend through the medical crisis she was going through had taken its toll on him.