Mrs. Ivanova nodded, beaming. Sasha looked down at his screen. The GDZ hadn't mentioned the tea. It had given him the skeleton of the story, but Katya had found its heart.
If you are using the Reader for the 10-11th grade (likely the one by Afanasyeva and Mikheeva), try reading the text once without looking at any translations. Mark the words that appear more than three times—those are the ones that actually matter for the "soul" of the story. Mrs. Ivanova nodded
Here is a short story about Sasha, a high schooler who stopped looking for the answers and started looking for the meaning. The Paper Bridge Mrs. Ivanova nodded