(A)
Max awoke to the gentle sunlight of an autumn day. Right on schedule, he swung his legs off the bed and took a deep, satisfying breath. He began his morning the same way he usually did, getting dressed and going to school. Today was going to be another perfect day until he ran into Mr. Kapoor, his science teacher. “Just to remind (a) you. Science fair projects are due next Wednesday. Don’t forget to submit your final draft on time,” Mr. Kapoor said.
(B)
Max thought for a moment. “I guess…. I can do that by rescheduling tonight’s baseball lesson.” Jeremy beamed. “See? That’s you finding a solution.” Max felt a genuine smile spreading. The next Wednesday, (b) he successfully handed in the final draft on time with satisfaction. From then on, he still loved order and routines, but also embraced the messy, unpredictable bits of life too.
(C)
Max froze. What? It can’t be! It was due next Friday! After school, he came home worrying that his whole perfectly planned week was going to be ruined. Without his usual greeting, Max headed to his room in haste. “What’s wrong Max?,” Jeremy, his dad, followed Max, worrying about him. Max furiously browsed through his planner without answering (c) him, only to find the wrong date written in it.
(D)
Fighting through tears, Max finally managed to explain the unending pressure to be perfect to (d) his dad. To his surprise, Jeremy laughed. “Max, guess what? Perfect is a great goal, but nobody gets there all the time. What matters is what we do when things get messy.” That made him feel a little better. “You are saying (e) I can fix this?” “Absolutely, try to deal with problems in a logical way,” Jeremy said.