1 . Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson Arizona. My earliest memories of my father are of a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and family, but uncomfortable with his children. As a child I loved him, as a schoolgirl and young adult I feared him and felt bitter about him. He seemed unhappy with me unless I got straight A’s and unhappy with my boyfriends if their fathers were not as “successful” as he was. Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to struggle to think up things to say, feeling on guard.

On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father’s friends for lunch at an outdoor café. We walked along that afternoon, did some shopping, ate on the street table, and laughed over my son’s funny facial expressions. Gone were my father’s critical (挑剔的) air and strict rules. Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around? What had held him back before?

The next day, my dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood. Although our times together became easier over the years, never felt closer to him at that moment. After so many years, I’m at last seeing another side of my father. And in doing so, I’m delighted with my new friend. My dad, in his new home in Arizona, is back to me from where he was.

I have a fifteen-year-old son. He    1     (be) a perfect boy. I love my son with all my heart.

Last summer he worked to earn money for his new bicycle instead of     2     (ask) money from me. Then he spent hours and hours on it. Later I bought him a pair    3    glasses and gloves. My son rode the bicycle with the glasses and the gloves, and he looked so cool. He dreamed of taking part in a race and winning.

On November 10, my birthday, when I went to the kitchen to start the milk and bread in the morning, I     4     (notice) a beautiful guitar on the table, beside which was a card. It said, “Happy birthday to my    5     (wonder) mother, all my love, your son.” I was very    6    (surprise) and then began to sob (抽泣). I remembered once I joked to my family that I wished    7     (learn) to play the guitar to make my life more colorful. I had forgotten it, but my son remembered. He took it    8     (serious), and bought one for me as my birthday gift. When I wondered     9     my son could buy this expensive gift, I realized that my son sold his bicycle to get me     10     guitar.

9 . When my father was getting ready for work, our house was ruled by _________ and words. He used to come downstairs to _________ .

The morning paper lay beside his plate. He always read the “Deaths” first, and then he knocked _________ on the table. One of my sisters brought his bread, already _________ for him. Usually he said nothing,   _________ once I heard him say, “I love you very much, Edith. I would love _________ if you buttered my bread on both sides.” He read the paper all through breakfast.

Two knocks on the table meant “I am ready for my tea.” If a single knock followed, that meant, “More _________ , please.”

_________ a breakfast he said, “Boots.” The paper was spread (展开) for him over the _________ of an arm chair. Yesterday’s paper was put on the chair for his feet, and his boots were brought to him,   __________ cleaned. He read standing at the same time putting on his boots. With one boot __________ he said, “Bus.” At that point one of the girls went outside to the garden gate and __________ there. Her job was to __________ a bus when it came. It came __________ sometimes and it had to wait for my father. “Overcoat, hat.” One of my sisters had already brushed his overcoat. Now she held it __________ for him. __________ girl came with his hat, nicely brushed. “Handkerchief, pipe (烟斗).” They were brought and put, with his tobacco (烟草), into his pocket. He looked out of the window and said __________ “Walking stick” or “Umbrella”. It was handed to him. Ready now, he was __________ reading the paper. He didn’t put it down __________ he heard the shout “Bus coming!” Then he kissed my mother and went out. The girls breathed freely.

How lucky a man was to have a wife and five __________ .

10 . It was not turning out to be the great fishing trip we had imagined. It certainly was not the one Father had promised. All day the rain beat against the roof of our cabin.

Father sat at the window, looking out over the lake. My older brother Jeremy, who had recently turned sixteen years old, lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. I paced the room, occasionally glancing toward Father to see if there was any sign that the rain would let up.

“I wish we’d never come out to this boring place,” Jeremy said.

I stopped pacing and looked at Father. He gave no sign that he had heard, and I hoped he hadn’t. This trip meant a lot to him. He used to come out here with own father.

I started pacing again.

“I mean, if we’d stayed home, at least I could watch TV, go out with my friends or play my guitar,” Jeremy continued.

Silence continued for some time. I kept pacing, imagining the trip I had dreamed of before the bad weather had set in. I saw us in the boat, anchor dropped in a calm bay casting our lines toward shore, the way Father had described it when he was trying to convince Jeremy to come along.

Father stood up and turned to face us. He smiled at me. “Come on, get up, Jeremy,” he said. “Let’s go fishing, boys.” He picked up his fishing rod and the tool box, opened the door, and walked out into the rain.

Jeremy and I watched Father walk down the pathway toward the dock (码头)，the wind whipping (打) at his hair,the rain wetting his clothes. Jeremy shook his head. “He's crazy if he thinks I’m going with him,” he said. “Maybe I would have when I was a little kid, but not now,” he said.

I waited for a while, unsure of what to do, looking out the open door at Father, who was walking onto the dock, facing against the storm. Jeremy couldn’t believe I picked up my rod and walked out into the storm after Father. I couldn’t quite hear what Jeremy said because of the wind in my ears, but I heard his footsteps behind me as he began to follow me out to the boat.