Last May I bought some sweet potatoes for food. Several days later, a tuber （块茎） left in the kitchen was sprouting （发芽）. Thinking it was a waste of money to throw it away, I1the tuber into a pot hoping it might take root and2something that could be put on the dinner table.
3, the tuber did take root and began to grow. In the following months I4it when necessary and it grew very well. Seeing that it was autumn and that the plant would not grow any longer, I decided to5. I pulled out the plant, which took some6and began to dig with my fingers to see if there was any tuber in the pot. When my fingers could almost7the bottom of the pot, I took the root and pulled it carefully, for the potato could8easily. As almost no earth was left, I tried to pull again and again but I failed to lift it up. In9, I pushed the pot over and found the root was outside the pot! It had grown through one of the holes in the bottom.
Then and there I changed my opinion of this plant, for the seemingly soft plant gained the10of me. Very carefully I11all the soil out of the pot,12the root might be harmed or broken. Holding the root, I was deep in thought. The root outside the pot looked like a13and strong finger of an old farmer who has14his life to make a living. The end of the root was dark grey and15. Obviously, the peel （皮） must have been removed during its struggle with the16of the heavy pot. It struck me that the tuber, though seriously17, had struggled hard and it seemed it had never18Such is a sweet potato, an ordinary-looking plant with19characteristics. It managed to grow where I thought it was almost impossible to20.
