A boy aged eight who suffered brain damage at birth has spoken his first words after makin

g friends with a dolphin. Well-wishers raised more than $10,000 to send Nikki Brice to Miami for treatment at a therapy center where handicapped youngsters are encouraged to swim with dolphins.

After eight years of silence, Nikki's mother, Tabitha was astonished to hear him say "in" as she helped him out of the pool where he had been swimming with four dolphins, including their most famous, Flipper. Since that first breakthrough, eight days ago, he has learnt to say "please" and "duck".

Family, friends and celebrities including the Spice Girls, the musician Ben Elton and film-actress Deborah Kerr helped to raise the money for him to spend nearly three weeks at the Human Dolphin Therapy Center at Miami's Sea-quarium. The center uses 40-minute sessions with trained dolphins alongside intensive conventional therapies. The conventional therapies included the usual one-to-one speech therapy sessions.

Although Nikki had been nervous, his mother said that he soon enjoyed playing with the dolphins. Mrs. Brice, 30, said: "On the third day he was swimming in the dolphin enclosure. We hadn't been there for long when Nikki was told to get out of the water, at the end of the session, and he stood very quietly at the edge of the tank."

"Nikki must have thought he wasn't going to be allowed to go swimming with the dolphins again because he suddenly pointed at the water and said 'in'. He was telling us he wanted to get back in to the water. We just stood there in shock because it was so unexpected. Once we got over it we quickly told him he could go in again and he soon cheered up. For years, I have hoped to hear Nikki speak."

The person in charge of Nikki's treatment is David Nathanson, who pioneered dolphin therapy 20 years ago. The center claims to have helped more than 1,000 children to overcome problems, from brain damage to learning difficulties. However, the reasons behind is still unknown.

According to the article, which of the following statements is TRUE about the boy in the story？

A．He has a heating problem.

B．He suffered brain damage at birth.

C．He is afraid of dolphins.

D．He cannot swim.