The coming of warm weather here in Maine calls for a seasonal ritual that, for me, puts an end to winter—fetching the wooden screen door.
Note that I wrote “wooden”. The aluminum models just won’t do it — they close too neatly and keep their perfect form for decades. In the 1960s, a time of imperfection, there was no perfect house, no perfect car, no perfect kids or parents. Why should a screen door be an exception?
I grew up with my siblings in a working-class neighborhood in New Jersey. When the warm weather arrived, my dad would pull out the wooden screen door and install it over the back door, which could then be left wide open, admitting a refreshing breeze (we had no air conditioning).
My father was a Mr. Fix-it, so keeping the screen door serviceable was one of his hobbies. Every few years he gave it a fresh coat of paint and fixed it a bit. I clearly remember him putting the last screw in the last hinge, and swinging the door shut with a “crack”!
A good, wooden screen door, although it was not beautiful, had an invaluable function in the age of the stay-at-home mom: It reminded her of the coming and going of the kids. My siblings, and my friends ran in and out of the house, tearing the screen door open and letting it shut with a bang behind us. A hundred times a day. It was all good, and my mom never complained about the noise, because that was the purpose of a wooden screen door — to slam shut and thus announce that her children were within earshot.
Several years ago, in a fit of nostalgia, I went shopping for a wooden screen door. I was disappointed in the choices available. They looked a bit too solid, too well made. But I found one online, and within a week it was delivered to my doorstep.
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。
The firm had sent me one with the wrong dimensions, so I asked my carpenter to make the necessary adjustments.
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He went about his work again and a short while later the task was done.
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It was a long, tiring day because Carl had driven for 12 hours without a break. He was crossing a corner when he noticed a panic-stricken woman getting out of a taxi with a child in her arms.
“Why is the woman shouting at the driver?” Carl wondered and slowed down near them. Then he realized the woman was pleading (恳求) with the driver not to leave.
“Hey... Please ... I’ll pay you more...”
But the taxi driver coldly drove away.
Carl was curious and got out of his car to find out what had happened. Then he saw that the little boy held by the woman was having difficulty breathing. Carl realized he was having a seizure (发病). “Get in my taxi. I’ll take you to hospital,” said Carl.
Carl drove as fast as he could, hoping not to get trapped in heavy traffic. The woman told Carl that she and her four-year-old son, Tyler, were returning from the park when it started raining. “I told the driver I would pay him once I got home because I didn’t have my purse with me. But when my son suddenly had a seizure and I asked him to take us to the Children’s Hospital instead, he refused,” said the woman in a sad, worried voice.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you there soon.”
A few minutes later, they arrived at the hospital, and Tyler was rushed inside for treatment.
An hour later, the boy was out of danger. “It could have been fatal (致命的) if you hadn’t made it here in time.” said the doctor. The woman couldn’t help crying and thanked Carl for saving her son’s life. Carl was just glad Tyler was safe. Then Carl dropped them off at home, and when the woman asked Carl to wait for a few minutes so that she could pay him, he refused —“I have a principle: No fees for those making trips to hospital!”
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右； 2.请按如下格式在以下的相应位置作答。
Many years later, 66-year-old Carl was going to hospital for some tests.
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“Free trips to hospital? But why?” Carl asked in surprise.
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We were three thousand miles away from home on a Random Acts of Kindness and Volunteerism Road Trip. Our funds were running low, so we had two goals today. Firstly, try out our new “Smile!” signs and see how much kindness and joy we could spread. Secondly, raise a pitiful $20 a piece by doing street performances. Singing, drawing cartoons, storytelling, as long as it is enough for the trip to Portland.
We weren’t sure how people would react to our signs. I nervously raised one up and shouted “Hi there!” to a young couple. They looked over, momently confused, then read my sign and broke into smiles. It worked.
Before long, our signs were popular. Strangers stopped to ask us about them. The signs are more than an invitation to “Smile!”. They’re an excuse to connect with strangers and to remember this world is full of good people. We got so wrapped up in our “Smile!” project that we forgot our other goal. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, and we had no money for our trip to Portland.
Then we noticed that a blind musician was playing guitar when suddenly a passing crowd kicked over his change jar. Change and cash scattered everywhere. Before we could run over, another man rushed to collect all the money for him. And we met the dogooder, Jared. “We want to praise you on your good deed,” I said. Jared looked at my signs curiously. We told him about our road trip, which reminded him of something similar he did when he was young. He seemed moved.
注意：
1. 只需续写第一段，词数应为100左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
提醒：注意一二两段的衔接。
Para 1:
We sat down to watch a musician play the guitar while we thought about our second goal.
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Para 2:
Our little band of five attracted a large audience.
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Jeff and I had many conversations during the year, but I will always remember the time he told me about his family. His father, a successful physician, was cold and strict in Jeffs words. His father had even paved the way for Jeff to attend the same college from which he had graduated.
Jeff was twenty-seven and a successful business planner at a company — without a degree. His passion was skiing. When he graduated from high school, he decided to decline his father’s offer and, instead, to work with a ski patrol (滑雪巡逻队). With pain in his eyes, Jeff told me he still remembered the day when he told his father he was going to give up college and take a job at a ski resort.
Hearing Jeffs decision, his father looked off into the distance. Then came the words that still echoed in Jeff’s mind: “You lazy kid. No son of mine is going to work with a ski patrol and does not attend college. I should have known you’d never amount to anything!” The two had not spoken since that conversation.
Later, he was back in the area near where he grew up and he certainly did not want his father to know he was attending college. He was doing this for himself, not for his father. He said it over and over again. Jeff’s sister had always remained supportive of Jeffs decisions. She stayed in contact with their father, but Jeff had made her promise that she would not share any information about his life with him.
The day when the graduation ceremony came, I walked around talking to people before it started. I noticed a man with a confused expression.
“Excuse me,” he said as he politely approached me. “What is happening here today?”
“It’s graduation day,” I replied, smiling. “Well, that’s odd,” he said, “my daughter asked me to meet her at this address.” His eyes sparkled and he smiled. “Maybe she completed her associate’s degree and wanted to surprise me!”
I helped him find a seat.
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。
Paragraph 1: As I left him, he said, “Thank you. By the way, my name’s Dr. Holstrom.”
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Paragraph 2: Jeff was the last person to cross the stage.
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