阅读理解

　　Papa's jaw dropped when Mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams－not to succeed but to fail．“It's unbelievable!” he said．“Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!”

　　“Yes, she has,” said Mama．“But it's not unbelievable．It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team．”

　　“Wanted off the swimming team?” said Papa．“She never said anything about that to me．”

　　“Of course she didn't,” said Mama．“She was afraid you'd blow your top．You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics．Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn't have been much fun．”

　　“Oh, my gosh!” Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead．“I've been so stupid! I just thought she'd want to be a champion swimmer because she's so good at it．”

　　“It's like anything else, dear,” said Mama．“No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore．”

　　Papa put his head in his hands．

　　“She must be really mad at me,” he mumbled．“Maybe I should say sorry to her．”

　　Sister's footsteps could be heard on the stairs．She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents．

　　“Honey,” said Mama with a smile, “your papa and I have decided that there's no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don't want to．”

　　Sister's face lit up like a Christmas tree．“Yippee!” she cried．

　　“And,” added Papa, “there's no need for any more drills．I'm sure you'll bring your grades back up all by yourself．”

　　Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms．She gave him a big hug．“I'm going to go play cards with Lizzy!” she said．“See you later!”

　　From the kitchen window, Mama and Papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy's house．

　　“It's good to see her happy again,” said Mama．

　　“It sure is,” Papa agreed．“As for the swimming team, there's always next year．”

　　“If?” Mama prompted him．

　　“Oh, right,” said Papa．“If she wants to．”

　　Mama smiled．“At least you're learning, dear,” she said．She kissed him．

　　“Well, you know what they say,” Papa said．“Better late than never．”

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　　When my daughter Kelsey was a child, she loved to join me in the garden．To 　　1　　 chaos(混乱)in my own planned garden beds, I provided her a space of her own, so Kelsey's Corner was born．There she was 　　2　　 to dig and plant as she wished．Over time, that little patch grew into a favorite place in the 　　3　　．

　　As she approached high school, Kelsey took her 　　4　　 off the garden．I didn't 　　5　　 this change．It seemed acceptable that something as boring as working in the dirt gave way to the mystery of a(n)　　6　　 social life, so I began to take care of the space．Even so, I knew it always would be Kelsey's Corner．

　　Now my daughter is eighteen and is in the 　　7　　 weeks of her high school career．Our mailbox is filled with college admission materials, 　　8　　 me that the world has come for this young woman and she will soon answer its 　　9　　．Kelsey is looking forward to her wonderful college life 　　10　　 her mother and I are anxious about the coming life we will have 　　11　　 our daughter around．

　　Kelsey's Corner seems extremely deserted in this early spring 　　12　　 Kelsey's leaving．One morning, when I 　　13　　 past Kelsey's Corner, I noticed some green seedlings had 　　14　　 at the foot of some dead stalks(秆)．

　　It's 　　15　　 that life is a cycle．Kelsey's leaving is 　　16　　 one point on the cycle．Now the life wheel will roll with Kelsey as she 　　17　　 into her adult life．

　　Let her live as she will and let her 　　18　　 when she can, and whether she comes alone or in 　　19　　, she will be welcomed home．I'll take care of Kelsey's Corner faithfully．It will also cycle annually．So will my wife and I, rolling on towards a 　　20　　 stage of our lives, one that promises a rich harvest．

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阅读理解

　　Chair Miller and his crew picked up a new B-24 at California’s March Field on Christmas Eve, 1943, and prepared to fly to England．But they decided to have“one more hamburger”before going out for the distant land of fish and chips．

　　As the airmen sat in a local restaurant, a beautiful young waitress approached．“I understand you’re going to England,”she said to Miller．Then she told him that her fiancé, an aviation gunner like Miller, was stationed there．

　　The woman said she was waiting for him to provide an address so she could send him a picture of herself．“You might run into him,”she told Miller hopefully．“Would you take it?”

　　Miller knew it was unlikely he’d ever see her fiancé．But he didn’t want to disappoint the woman．He took the picture and placed it in his wallet．Later he realized he hadn’t even asked the man’s name．Then he was on to Europe and the war．

　　On August 9,1944, Miller’s plane was shot down, and he was forced to parachute to an island off the coast of Holland．Captured by the Nazis, he spent the next nine months as a prisoner of war．

　　It was on Christmas Eve that someone told him a 19-year-old American prisoner down the hall was badly depressed and possibly suicidal(有自杀倾向)．Miller decided to pay the man a visit．

　　To break the ice, he mentioned the POW band he’s started, with the help of the Red Gross．The young man, he learned, played the saxophone．The two began to exchange details about their families．Was he married, the kid asked．“Yeah, since 1938,”responded Miller．

　　“Have you got her picture?”the soldier asked．So Miller reached for his wallet, and pulled out a photograph of his wife．

　　“She’s beautiful!”the young man responded．Then he noticed that a second picture had fallen out, and an expression of wonder crossed his face．“Where did you get that?”Miller told the story of the waitress at the California hamburger stand．

　　“That’s my fiancée,”the surprised man said．Miller kept his promise to the beautiful girl back home and turned the picture over to its rightful owner．

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阅读理解

　　When JayRon Grevious was in first grade, he had some trouble reading．

　　But once a week for four years, Janet Rink came to JayRon's elementary school to sit with him and help him figure out the words he didn't know through a program called Every1Reads．

　　Without Rink's help, JayRon, now a 12-year-old sixth-reader, says there are hundreds of words he might not have learned．

　　“She's loyal,” JayRon said of Rink, “She's a good friend．To me, she is like a grandmother．”

　　When Rink retired from her career as a writer, she decided she wanted to start volunteering, and she knew it had to be with children．At first, she organized a group at church to work at a homeless shelter as children's advocates．After 10 years, it became increasingly hard to get volunteers, so she looked for things she could do independently．

　　She began volunteering with Every1Reads, which takes volunteers into Louisville schools to work one-to-one with students．She also tutors eighth-graders on writing at Nativity Academy, a small private school that JayRon attends．

　　Since 2006, she has worked at The Center for Women and Families, a shelter for victims of domestic violence．Twice a week, Rink goes to the center to work with children staying there playing games and doing art projects with them．

　　“The kids just run to her,” said Janet Tinsley, the center's volunteer manager．

　　For the children, Rink, 68, said, her visits give them an opportunity to just be kids, playing and enjoying themselves despite the stresses in their lives．

　　“They come from families where they experience violence of fear,” Rink said．“This gives them a chance to explore their creativity．”

　　Rink said the experience of volunteering with children at the center has taught her about the resiliency(恢复)of the human spirit and “the ability to stay joyful．”

　　Rink said she enjoys every minute．“For me, what life should be about is making life easier and better and more fulfilling for other people．” she said．

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阅读理解

　　Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5∶30 and at 6∶30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club．At last, the traffic was moving．She swung quickly racing to her house．As she opened the door, she nearly tripped over Sheba．

　　“Hey, Sheba,” she said, “I've got no time for you now, but I'll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club．” Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking．Obviously, she could hardly breathe．Immediately, Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet．

　　When she got there, the vet was just about to close for the day．Seeing the state of Sheba, Dr．Sterne brought her quickly into his office．

　　“Listen, doctor, I'm really in a rush to get to a meeting, can I leave her with you, and go and get changed? I'll be back in ten minutes to pick her up, and then I'll take her on to the meeting with me．Is that OK?”

　　“Sure．” said the doctor．

　　Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes．As she was once more entering the hallway, the phone by the door began to ring．

　　“This is Dr．Sterne,” said an anxious voice．“I want you to get out of that house immediately, ”said the doctor's voice．“I'm coming round right away, and the police will be there any time now．Wait outside!”

　　At that moment, a police car screeched to a stop outside the house．Two policemen got out and ran into the house．Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened．Then the doctor arrived．

　　“Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?” shouted Joanne．

　　“She’s fine, Joanne．I took out the thing which was choking her, and she’s OK now．”

　　Just then, the two policemen reappeared from the house, half-carrying a white-faced man, who could hardly walk．There was blood all over him．

　　“My God,” said Joanne, “how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”

　　“I think he must be a burglar．” said the doctor．“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat：it turned out to be three human fingers．”

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