Subway Superman: Read & Respond

It’s easy to feel anonymous when you live in New York City. With more than 19 million residents, people often get lost in the crowd. But every so often, someone does something of such ________ that the entire world takes notice.

Choose the word that best fills in the blank.

• Bystander

• Magnitude

• Casualty

• Homage

On January 2, 2007, Wesley Autrey was standing in a subway station with his two daughters. As they waited for their train to arrive, a young man next to them suddenly had a seizure. Autrey watched as the man stumbled off the subway platform and onto the grimy subway tracks. In the distance, Autrey could see the lights of a subway train hurtling toward the man. He knew that this would definitely be a lethal situation if he didn’t do something.

The subway train was most likely

• Moving slowly and silently toward the man

• Nowhere near the man on the tracks

• Moving quickly and loudly toward the man

• Hard to see without it's front lights shining

What most likely would have happened had Autrey not been at the platform?

• The young man would have died.

• Someone else would have helped.

• The young man would have picked himself up.

• The train conductor would have stopped the train.

The story of Autrey’s daring rescue instantly became worldwide news. Newspapers called him “The Subway Superman” and “The Hero of Harlem.” Gifts and cards streamed in from around the globe, paying ________ to him for his brave act. The unknown construction worker was suddenly a downright celebrity. He appeared on several television shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Late Show with David Letterman. Donald Trump gave him $10,000, his daughters received college scholarships and he was a guest of honor at President Bush’s 2007 State of the Union Address.

Choose the word that best fills in the blank.

• Anonymous

• Casualty

• Homage

• Bystander

Why did Autrey’s story attract so much attention? For one thing, his rescue came at a time when there wasn’t a lot of positive news on TV. People saw Autrey’s story as a beam of light in a dark time. But perhaps most of all, Autrey’s brave act showed the world that we all have the power to be heroes.

What is true about Autrey’s story?

• It showed people it was a dark time for TV.

• It was another example of negative news.

• It got no attention since there are too many heroes.

• It was a reminder of good in the world.