阅读下面短文，按照首字母提示，在空格处填入一个适当的词。

Here's a story about how I learnt to swim. For some people, sis a piece of cake. They learnt how to swim when they were c. I was afraid o water when I was a five-year-old girl. But I decided to l   to swim!

I had swimming lessons. During the first two lessons, I did b  . I felt very sad, so I told my problems to my friend, and asked h to give me some advice. My friend said I was not patient(耐心的) enough. I thought she was right. From then on, I got up at 6 am every day a went to the pool to practise. Little by little, I improved.

At the moment, I can swim b  than before. And I believe that if I keep on p, I will be able to swim very well in two w . Be patient and hard-working—this is what I learnt from my swimming lessons. I feel very happy.