5 . My earliest memory of dad is grabbing his hand while we walked together. As I _______ older, I remember my father and I listening to basketball games on the radio. I always fell asleep_______ the game was over. When I woke up in the morning the score sheet with the _______ score on it would be lying next to me. I’ll always remember that.

On cold mornings my father would bring his bread truck by the house. I used to ride on the floor of that bread truck as he delivered the bread to the stores. The _______ and the warmth from the bread made my mouth water and kept me warm. I’ll always remember that.

My father would _______ all my games. One night before an important game my father told me _______ that he wouldn’t be able to watch the game because he had to deliver the bread far away. The next day as the game time approached I thought about my dad. I happened to look across the field and _______ saw his bread truck pulling into the stadium. He managed to _______the game. I’ll always remember that.

Years later I had become a teacher. I’ll never forget the voice on the phone early one morning telling me dad had just been _______ in a traffic accident. I could hear my heart beat in my ears. I hung up the phone and went back to my bedroom. After that nothing really ________to me. I still taught in school ________ I couldn’t focus on my teaching. One day I was on the playground ________ a little boy walked up to me and grabbed my hand. His hand held mine the same way I used to hold my father’s by the last two ________. At that moment I found my ________in life again. You see even though my father was gone, he left something with me. He left me his smile, compassion and touch. From that day on I started. I’ll always remember that!

6 . My father was the gentles and most loving dad in the world — until we had an argument. During those moments, he transformed into a ______ man who never considered that there could be a side other than his own. My words surely never reached his “open mind” because his ears were ______. When he spoke with such ______ that it was easy to begin to doubt my own point of view. He always had the last ______. I could never win.

So when he denied my senior class trip to Montreal, I could do nothing but race from his room in despair And just then a thought ______ my mind. If I couldn’t get him to listen to my side of our arguments, maybe I could get him to ______ it.

With the hope that his eyes would be more open than his ears, I began to write a note that began with “Dear Daddy” and ______ with how much I respected his opinion, how much I hated to fight with him and, _____, how much I loved him. I folded my note into an envelope, ______ it under the door of his bedroom and raced back to my own room where I ______ on my bed.

It was only minutes ______ I heard a knock at my door. Seeing the look on my father’s face, I knew my note ______ his temper and touched his heart.

The victory of winning my dad’s permission was sweet. ______, even sweeter was the discovery of a strategy that enabled me to have an argument with my dad that didn’t end in tears, but instead with a hug. My “Dear Daddy” notes became a ______ to many of our arguments. When his “I’m your father, that’s why!” left me ______,I knew just how to get through to him.

7 . My mother worked as a housekeeper, and she often brought many leftover things home, including used _________as well as many other things.

One December day, an old-model toy car _________ among a load of other things. It was as long as my forearm and took both hands to lift. I immediately began _________ it and polishing (抛光) it to a bright candy-apple red. It was a thing of _________, and I glowed (容光焕发) as much as it did from the pride of _________.

Our relatives from France came to visit that Christmas, and my young French cousin _________ that wonderful, shiny red automobile. He’d been _________ so far in life, suffering several illnesses as a child and _________ himself badly earlier in the year when his bicycle hit a plate-glass window.

By now, everyone _________ how I felt about the car, so nobody dared suggest that I give it to him. But, deep down, I knew it was the __________ thing to do. So when they __________, my red car went with him. Though I was sad to see it go, my heart __________ when I saw the pleasant smile on his face as he tightly held it.

I still __________ that car and miss it to this day. But with that beloved __________ Christmas gift, I bonded with my cousin for life.

Giving that gift __________ showed me that it is better to give than to receive. It was the first gift that I gave that keeps me giving.

9 . My 7-year-old daughter Leeny always has her nose in a book. She even took to reading in the car on the long drive to summer camp, which was where she lost the book. This is the first lost library book in my life. My family has always been over-educated, but we were poor. I didn’t own books. I borrowed books. However, my daughters have more books now than I owned my whole childhood, and I knowingly contribute to it by adding to the stacks (堆). So it’s probably my fault that when Leeny realized she had lost the book, she shrugged. “Sorry. I can’t find it,” she said. “It’s only $20, right? What’s the big deal?”

I felt the need to make her feel responsible for the book. She agreed to help me clean the chicken coop (笼子) in trade for my paying the library fine. I thought this idea was very clever because cleaning the coop is some work I had been avoiding for months. It was summertime and dust floated in the air. But my girl, my animal-loving mini-me, thought shoveling chicken poop (铲鸡粪) was the most fun she’d had on a Saturday morning in a long time. She didn’t feel any of the emotions that punishment is supposed to introduce. In fact, she looked as if she might lose another on purpose in order to clean the coop again. I stood, somewhat dumbfounded (目瞪口呆的), watching her.

It took me a while to realize what had happened, why my punishment had failed so completely and why I didn’t care. The fact is that I had Leeny help me clean the chicken coop. I was there, too, shoveling chicken poop, fetching the clean straw and feed. Leen’s little sister, Vicki, was inside watching a cartoon while my husband paid bills. Only Leeny and I were outside. She had me all to herself for the first time since Vicki was born, and she was enjoying all the attention for once. I don’t know what she learned about responsibility, but I found that I didn’t care about the book any more. We bonded over that unpleasant job and spent quality time together: mother, daughter, and chicken poop.

10 . Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son. Suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. “The door to his room is always shut,” Joanna noted.

Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. “She used to cuddle up (依偎) against me on the sofa and talk,” said Mark. “Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is understanding which time is which.”

Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their mind. “In fact, parents are first on the list,” said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. “This completely changes during the teen years,” Riera explained. “They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last.”

Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental (思想的) break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.