The children were making a snowman,
5 . Christmas 2020 was shaping up to be a heartbreaker for Melanie Lee. A few weeks earlier, her 33-year-old son had lost his battle with a long illness. Then the engine of her car conked down. She had no means of paying for it to be fixed.
“When it broke down, I broke down,” Lee told CNN. “Now I don’t have my baby, now I don’t have transportation. How am I supposed to stay active in my grandchildren’s lives?”
Middleton, 38, the owner of a barbecue restaurant and former auto mechanic who, in his free time, repairs and gives away used cars. He’d heard about Lee’s predicament from Frank, the mayor of South Carolina. On Christmas morning, Middleton showed up at Lee’s home with a gift: a white 1993 Oldsmobile.
“I had no idea what was going on,” said Lee. “He handed me the keys and didn’t ask for anything.” Once again, she’s able to pick up her granddaughters from school and take them to dance class. “I got my freedom back. ”
The idea for the used-car giveaway came to Middleton a year earlier during a food drive he’d organized. Many of those who’d lined up for a meal walked up to four miles to get there because they didn’t have cars.
Cars are a lifeline in this part of South Carolina, Middleton told CBS. “There’s no public transportation, no Ubers, no taxis to take people to job interviews, doctor appointments, even food shopping. ”So he posted on Facebook an offer to trade his restaurant’s barbecued ribs for broken-down vehicles. Since then, friends and strangers have dropped off more than 100 cars in various states of disrepair. Many sit in Middleton’s yard waiting to be repaired and donated, usually to those he’s heard about through word of mouth. It’s a list of names that grows daily.
“People think Middleton is an angel,” Mayor Frank told the Washington Post. “And I do too.”
1. Why was Christmas 2020 a heartbreaker for Melanie Lee?| A．Her car was stolen. |
| B．She was in financial trouble. |
| C．Her son was beaten in a battle. |
| D．She lost one of her families. |
| A．Adventure. | B．Difficulty. | C．Failure. | D．Hesitation. |
| A．He saw many people lining up for meals. |
| B．He learnt about the huge profit of his restaurant. |
| C．He noticed the inconvenience of the people with no cars. |
| D．He witnessed many abandoned cars around his restaurant. |
| A．An angel ready to help those in need. |
| B．A mechanic repairing cars for neighbors. |
| C．A kind-hearted chef offering food for free. |
| D．An official calling on environment protection. |
