The Person I Admire Most

6 . When I was little, I often helped my mother plant our family’s garden. In April, I would kneel by Mum’s side for hours, carefully digging holes and ______ seeds into the earth.

When I grew up, I was unwilling to do any planting. ______, my mother never said much about my decision until two years ago. I was leaving home when Mum ______ me.

“Would you please help me with the planting today?” she asked, I mumbled (咕哝) something along the ______ of, “Uh, maybe … I’ll see. By the time I left the house, Mum was already in the garden. She ______ for a moment as I walked past, and from the corner of my eye I saw a certain ______ in her stare. A few hours later, I decided to head back home to help her and felt very _____   for my selfless decision. But I was too late.

I ______ little about that day until nearly a year later, Mum unexpectedly ______ her friend Sara to cancer. She went to see how the two children were ______ the sudden loss. There Mum learned the answer. “Mummy made me my own garden,” Rachel said ______, leading her outdoors to see the masterpiece. Sara had decided to plant her children something that would ______ long after she was gone.

As I listened to my mother tearfully tell Sara’s story, I realized the true ______ of a garden. Our annual planting was about kneeling together, planting potential life and creating the best ______ together.

I won’t ever ______ the planting day again.

9 . 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.

10 . On August 23rd, my son was out mountain biking with his teacher and friends. _________, we were waiting at home with lunch ready. At 12:15, he still hadn’t _________ . Then, we got the call that he was badly hurt.

We _________ up the mountain in the car. He was in the kind of _________ you never want to see. We got him to the hospital for X-rays to be told his collarbone(锁骨) was broken. Collarbones are incredibly _________ to treat, as you can’t just put them in a cast(石膏).

We got him a“figure-of-8”support that keeps both his shoulders aligned(成一直线). It was the best _________ for making sure the bone grew back straight. Sleeping was very painful for him, and in the next few months everything came _________ . No sports. No activity. _________birthday party plans. We got into a new _________ at home. We found other things for him to do that weren’t __________, such as reading and making artwork.

I would never __________ an injury on anyone; yet, it is an __________ way to learn how to be patient with life, with the __________ , and with each other. My __________ lesson has been that my child may have learned more from this injury than anything else he’s gone through this year, and, __________, it will serve him for life.