He understood not the first thing of arithmetic, he filled his compositions with absurdities, he never succeeded in retaining a phrase in his mind; and now he solves problems, writes correctly, and sings his lessons like a song.

他起初毫不懂算术，作文时只写些无谓的话，读本上一句也记不得。现在是算术的问题也能做，文也会写，读本熟得和唱歌一样了。