In October, I told the eight-year-olds in the religion class I teach in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, about my plan. “I’d like all of you to do extra jobs around the house to earn some money,” I said. “Then we'll buy food for a Thanksgiving dinner for someone who might not have a nice dinner otherwise.” I hope they could experience a sense of their own power to effect change.
Early in Thanksgiving week, the boys and girls arrived in class with their hard-earned money. They had set tables, washed dishes and helped with baby-sitting. And now they couldn’t wait to go shopping. I watched while they dashed up and down the supermarket aisles(过道). At last we headed toward the checkout, pushing a cart filled with turkey and all the items needed. Much to my surprise, I saw a pot of purple chrysanthemums(菊花) on top of the cart. It was more reasonable to use any extra money to buy food. “You can’t eat flowers.” I pronounced. But the children insisted and placed the purple plant into the cart.
An agency had given us the name and address of a needy grandmother who had lived alone for years. Soon we were arriving at her house. Between the laughing and those purple flowers, I wasn’t sure that any lesson about giving and receiving was getting through.
We finally pulled up in front of a small house in the woods.
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Then we returned to the car. As we fastened our seat belts, we could see the kitchen window.
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On a Friday evening in December, two weeks before Christmas, I lost my job. I hadn’t seen it coming. I was excited for the weekend, when my daughter, Kristil, then 13, and I planned to get our Christmas tree. Then I listened to my voicemail: “We’re sorry but your work assignment has ended as of today.” My heart sank.
I wasn’t just a single parent; I was the only parent. The next day as we searched for our tree, I struggled to be cheerful as I eyed each price tag. “Is everything OK?” Kristil asked. “You seem worried.” “I got some bad news yesterday,” I told her. “I lost my job!” “Oh no,” Kristil said. “Well, I have $100 from Grandma I can give you.” “Absolutely not,” I told her. Monday morning, I dropped Kristil at school and set off on my moneymaking pursuits. I headed to the pawnshop (当铺) with a ring set in 14-karat gold that my mother had given me a decade earlier.
“Best I can do is $70,” the owner said. “The stones are worthless; we’re only interested in the gold.”
Next was the antiques store. I sold six Precious Moments figurines for $150 and ended the day $220 richer.
Over the next week, I furiously applied for jobs as my bank account grew smaller. I felt as if the world was closing in on me.
On a weekend afternoon, I dropped Kristil in a wealthy gated community for a birthday party. I watched as she went in, surrounded by all the nice things we couldn’t afford. I drove home defeated.
Back at home, I glanced out of the window. It had been snowing on and off all morning. I noticed a slim woman with short white hair struggling to open her car door against the wind. As she got out, I realized it was my old professor Sister Esther Heffernan. I hadn’t seen her since we’d met for lunch three months ago.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I’d first met Sister Esther 10 years earlier when I was her student at Edgewood College.
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Sister Esther said, “I have gifts for you and Kristil.”
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It was hard to say goodbye to a pet, especially for children. Nancy Lowe. 5, from Walton-on Thames, England, experienced the loss of her beloved cat, Tintin, earlier this year. She died from heart failure and Nancy had been struggling to adjust to life without her best friend. Concerned and anxious, Nancy’s mom, Tamara, said, “Nancy and Tintin were best friends, and they had a really close bond, Whenever they saw each other, the two of them were so happy.”
Nancy desperately missed Tintin and she was worried the cat would be lonely, so she decided to write a letter to her cat up in heaven. She was warned by her mother, who told her that heaven might be too far away and that Tintin might have found a new friend, but Nancy insisted on writing the letter. When she was asked what she had written, she showed the letter to her mother generously. It read, “Dear Tintin, I miss you. Have you found a new friend in heaven?” Tamara was touched by her daughter’s sincere love and kindness. She didn’t want to disappoint her daughter so they posted the letter together.
Before they put the letter in a post box, once again Tamara tried to let her know she probably wouldn’t receive a reply, but Nancy addressed the envelope to “heaven” and mail edit off anyway.
Tamara said, “When we sent the letter I didn’t expect anything to comeback and I don’t think Nancy did, either. But it was important for her to say a proper goodbye. Getting a response was the last thing we expected.” Tamara and Nancy didn’t know a postman named Clive Edwards was on duty that day and he saw the letter addressed to heaven and wanted to help Nancy find some comfort in her loss.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
To their surprise, they received a letter from “Tintin” just a week later!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tamara shared the story on the Internet hoping to find the sender.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We sat on the bus waiting while other passengers piled on. A blond-haired girl, about nineteen years old, took the seat in front of us. The bus driver followed behind her. He demanded her fare.
“You pay $40 or get off the bus!” the driver said.
“I paid already. Yesterday, online,” the girl insisted.
“No, no record of it!” the bus driver pointed to the paper in his hand and waved it in her face. “See. No pay! You pay, or you must get off.” He angrily pointed to the exit door.
“But I don’t have money. And I paid already. Please.”
The bus driver picked up his mobile phone and made a call to find out if there had been an error with the paperwork. After failing to get through, he was getting angrier with the girl. So he cut the call and didn’t try.
“No, you have not paid. You must pay.”
“But please, I don’t have any money on me. I must get to LA today. Please.”
Tears streamed down her face.
I had boarded a bus headed to Los Angeles. I was very excited about experiencing LA. My dream of visiting Disney Land was about to come true. But while I sat there comfortably in my seat, thinking about my next adventure, this young girl was in tears, with a man standing over her, demanding money.
I wasn’t sure what I should do. Was she telling the truth? It wouldn’t be the first time someone had extracted money by telling a sad story that turned out untrue. Did she really not have any money? Maybe the bus driver would show some sympathy and allow her to sort the payment out later?
But no, the bus driver continued to demand she pay $40 or get off the bus. The young girl insisted that she didn’t have enough money for the fare and had no one she could contact for help. It seemed the driver would throw her off the bus.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly, a messy grey-haired woman with a weathered face stood up.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At the next rest stop, I noticed that woman had no money for food.
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