Fear started taking over. I was walking into my first school in America. I had traveled a long distance from India in order to join my mother, who had been here for three years, hoping America would help my future. I was afraid how I would do. I didn’t know anybody in my classes. On the first day, I went to my second period class after I had missed my first. I was already confused because in India the teachers switch classes according to periods while most of the students have the same period. With anxiety on one hand and fear on the other, I reached for the doorknob, opening it slowly.

Everyone’s eyes were on me as I entered the room. Without paying attention to them, I went straight to the teacher and asked if this was the right class. With a soft voice he answered, “Yes.” His voice comforted me a little. He gave me a sheet called Course Requirements, which I would never get in India because we didn’t have anything like that. Then he asked me to choose where I would sit. I chose the seat closest to the door instead of the corner where all of the boys were sitting. I didn’t actually want to pick a seat. In India we had assigned seats, so I never needed to worry about that. I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the image produced by the class projector.

Internet: <www.teenink.com> (adapted).

Judge if the translation suggested in item grammatically correct and maintains the meaning of the original text.

“With anxiety on one hand and fear on the other, I reached for the doorknob” = Com ansiedade, por um lado, e medo, por outro, eu alcancei a maçaneta.