Directions: Read the following text carefully. A Birthday Song 1. One morning, John Evans shuffled into my life . A raged- looking boy, he was decked out in oversized , hand-me-down clothes and worn-out shoes that split apart at the seams. 2. John was the son of black migrant workers who had recently arrived in our small North Carolina town for a season of apple picking. These laborers were the poorest of the poor, earning barely enough to feed their families. 3. Standing at the head of our second-grade class that morning, John Evans was a miserable sight. He shifted from foot to foot as our teacher.Mrs. Parmele, penned his name in the attendance book. We weren't sure what to make of the shoddy newcomer, but whispers of disapproval began drifting from row to row. 4. "What is that?" the boy behind me mumbled . "Somebody open a window," a girl said, giggling. Mrs . Parmele looked up at us from behind her reading glasses . The murmuring stopped, and she went back to her paper work. 5. "Class, this is John Evans," Mrs. Parmele announced, trying to sound enthusiastic. John looked around and smiled hoping somebody would smile back Nobody did. He kept on grinning anyway. 6. I held my breath, hopping Mrs. Parmele wouldn't notice the empty desk next to mine. She did, and pointed him in that direction. He loked over at me and slid into the seat, but I averted my eyes so he wouldn't think that I could be a possible new friend. 7. By the end of his first week, John had found firm footing at the bottom of our school's social ladder. "It's his own fault," I told my mother one evening at dinner. "He barely even knows how to count." 8. My mother had grown to known John quite well through my nightly commentary. She always listened patiently but rarely said anything more than a thoughtful "hmmm" or "I see." 9. "Can I sit by you?"John stood in front of me, lunch tray in his hands, and a grin on his face , I looked around to see who was watching. "Okay," I replied feebly. 10. As I watched him eat and listened to him ramble on, it occurred to me that maybe some of the ridiculed heaped on John was unreasonable. He was actually pleasant to be around and was by far the most cheerful boy I knew. 11. After lunch, we joined forces to conquer the playground, moving from monkey bars to swing set to sandbox. As we lined up behind Mrs . Parmele for the march back to class, I made up my mind that John will remain friendless no longer. 12. "Why do you think the kids treat John so badly?" I asked one night as Mother tucked me into bed. 13. "I don't know," she said sadly."Maybe that's all they know." 14. "Mother, tomorrow is his birthday, and he's not going to get 15. Mother and I both knew that whenever a kid had a birthday, his mother would bring cuncakes and narty favors for the entire class. Between my birthday and my sister's my mom.