Life never really turns out the way we expect it to. We have dreams and expectations. And dream-come-true stories are everywhere — except, it may seem, in our own lives.
As a child, Barbara never quite found the bond with her parents that all children need. Her father left the family early, and her mother did menial jobs.
“I couldn’t let my life keep me from caring about other people,” she says. “Maybe it’s unfair or just the way it turns out for people, but I still have a son.”
Barbara raised her son the best she knew how and “he turned out pretty well,” she says, smiling. And after the hard years of making ends meet and giving him a good start, she made a career change.
“I never thought I was supposed to feel sorry for myself,” she says. “And I like people.”
Barbara works as an in-home caregiver for elderly people in their last year of life. She spends 10-hour days, six days a week, with people who have Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, sometimes sleeping on their sofa when they are afraid to spend a night alone. Most don’t have families close by, and Barbara becomes the person they rely on for everything: meals, bathing, bathroom duties, daily walks if they can, mental exercises like crossword puzzles and re-learning family faces.
She only charges what the family can afford and only works with one client at a time. “They become the family I never had, over and over again,” she says, laughing.
The spaces left empty in Barbra’s childhood are filled with memories shared with her from lives fading away in the dusk. For 30 years, she has been making people feel good at a time when most would just be waiting to die, alone and unnoticed. When seeing their faces when they are with Barbara, you’d think the last years were the best.
“I’ve found something I never had,” Barbara says. “We make each other happy. So I try to give them what they want most.”
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。
She’s learned from her experiences that old people want their loved ones to visit them.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I posted Barbara’s story online to call on children to visit their parents.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
相似题推荐
Emily White came to the world 17 years ago, with so many birth problems in her body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. No one expected her to survive long. She did make it but with her strange body figure, everyone could recognize her, even from a distance.
In her hometown, a yearly outdoor performance was held in the school auditorium(礼堂). It had been performed for so many years and actually had become one of the most important events of the Christmas season for many of the town's people.
Many people tried out each year for it, but so many were turned away. It can only include the most excellent people in the field.
Emily had a beautiful singing voice. Last year she went to Mrs. Owens- her music teacher to ask to join in the performance. Without letting her sing, Mrs. Owens took a glance at Amy's body and said, "Child, you are just not suitable. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable, too.”
Without singing a single note, Emily was sent back through the door of the choral room. Hurt and upset, she decided never to try out again. But Mrs. Owens then retired.
This year, there came a new music teacher, Mr. Butler. He heard about Emily and suggested that she have a try.
Emily didn't want to be rejected again, so she hesitated about it. As Emily struggled, the door was pushed open and Mr. Butler called, “Emily, you're next." Kind of nervous as she was, Emily did as Mr. Butler told her to. Mr. Butler sat by the piano to keep Emily company. When Emily finished her testing performance, she thanked Mr. Butler and knew the result would be posted on the door of the choral room the next day.
Emily couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned in bed one thousand times. She was suffering from the feelings that she didn't fit and the great need to be accepted. By the next morning, her stomach was even in pain due to stress.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1：
Emily hurried to the choral room and anxiously glanced at the list on the door.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
Finally, the day of performance came.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was a hot July day in Philadelphia and I can feel it still, 56 years later. The five boys I was with had grown tired of playing marbles and were seeking for something different.
“Hey!” said freckle-faced (脸上有雀斑的) little Ned. “I got an idea. We haven’t climbed the cliff (悬崖) for a long while.”
“Let’s go!” said someone else excitedly. I hesitated. I longed to be brave and active like them, but I’d been a sickly child most of my eight years and my mother warned me not to take chances.
“Come on!” called Jerry, my best friend. “Just being sick is no reason to a coward (胆小鬼).”
“I’m coming!” I yelled, running after them.
We finally came to the cliff, a near vertical (垂直的) wall of rocks sticking out dangerously, and earth slides, scraggly (乱蓬蓬的) bushes and young trees. It was only about 60 feet high, but to me it looked like the very symbol of the Forbidden and Impossible.
One by one, the other boys climbed upward, finding handholds and toeholds on rock. Trembling and sweating, I began to climb. A hand here, a foot there, my heart pounding in my skinny chest, I made my way up and up.
At some point, I looked back and was horrified. The ground at the base of the cliff seemed very far below; one slip and I would fall, bouncing off the cliff face and ending on the rocks.
In a few minutes the boys started up to the top, from where they would walk home by a roundabout (迂回) route. Before they left, they glanced down at me.
“Hey, wait!” I begged.
“You can stay if you want to,” teased Ned, and the other laughed.
Jerry looked concerned, but he went with the others.
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。
Time passed and I looked down.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As darkness began to fall, I heard the voices of Jerry and my father.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I occasionally would think of my dad. I flashed to Dad holding the handlebar and jogging alongside my bike until I felt ready to ride on my own. I saw him pulling up to my broken-down car at night and doing a quick fix. I thought of the hug we shared at my wedding. But what impressed me most was the grass cutting days. Dad was always full of advice，and he taught me one of the big lessons one summer was about having a strong work ethic.
Memories came flooding back. When my brother and I were growing up, we mowed yards during the summer to earn pocket change. Dad was our salesman. He told our neighbors about our service and offered a price they could not refuse. My brother and I got﹩10 per yard. However, I later found out that our friends were charging $20 or more for the same amount of work.
Every time we headed out to mow lawns, Dad was there to watch. I used to wonder why he came with us. He stood supervising our work in the heat when he could have been inside relaxing with air conditioning and an icy drinking. My dad always watched over us and instructed strictly, until we finished our job as he satisfied. Sometimes his tough and cruel attitude really made my brother and me annoyed.
One day we were cutting our next-door neighbor’s yard. She always waited until the grass was knee-high to call us over. To make maters worse, we had an old lawn mower. This particular afternoon, I was finishing up and was tired and sweaty.
I was just about to cut off the lawn mower when I saw Dad pointing to one piece of grass. I ignored him and kept walking. Dad called me again and yelled, “Hey, son. You missed a piece.” I frowned, hoping he would let it slide and let me go home. But he kept pointing and shouting.
Paragraph 1：
Tired and disappointed, I went back to cut that piece of grass.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
The lesson my dad taught me stayed with me:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
