I’ve never been the kind of person to say,“It’s the thought counts”(贵在心意)when it comes to gifts. That was until a couple of weeks ago when my kids gave me a present that blew me away.

For years now. I’ve been wanting to sell our home,the place where my husband and I raised our kids. But to me,this house is much more than just building.

In the front room,there is a wall that has hundreds of pencil lines,marking the progress of my children’s growth. Every growth stage is marked in grey,with each child’s name and the date on which they were measured. Of all the objects and all the memories,It’s this one thing that’s the hardest to leave behind. Friends I know have returned home after work only to discover their wall of heights that has been freshly painted over. A new paint job wouldn’t normally be greeted by tears,but erasing that evidence(证据)of motherhood hurts more than it should. Our kids grow in so many ways,but the wall is a piece of physical evidence of their progress,right there for everyone to see.

Over the years,I’ve talked about how much I would hate leaving that wall behind when I moved,even thought the last marks were made ten years ago when my kids stopped growing.

So one day,my children decided to do something about it.

They hired Jacquie Manning,a professional photographer whose work is about capturing(拍摄)the beautiful things in life,from clear lakes and skies to diamonds and ball gowns. She came to our house while I was at work,and over several hours,took photos of the hundreds of drawings and lines,little grey fingerprints and old marks. Somehow,she managed to photograph all those years of memories perfectly. Afterwards,she put all the photos together into one image(影像),turning them into a beautiful history of my family.

Three weeks later,my children’s wonderful gift made its way to me—a life-size-photo of the pencil lines and fingerprints that represents(代表)love and growth.

1.What was the hardest thing to leave behind when the author planned to move?

A.The presents friends gave her. B.Some expensive objects.

C.Some old photos. D.The pencil lines and fingerprints on a wall.

2.Who came up with the idea of the photo gift?

A.A professional photographer. B.The author herself.

C.The author’s children. D.The author’s friends.

3.We can include from the article that the author .

A.was strongly against selling her home

B.was not happy with the gift from her family

C.measures her children’s heights every Christmas

D.put great love and care in raising her children

4.The author used the example of her friends(in paragraph 4)to .

A.persuade her family to leave the wall as it was

B.stress the meaning of keeping good memories

C.explain why her house needed a new paint job

D.share her memory of being a mother with her readers

5.The main purpose of the article is to .

A.give advice on picking gifts for parents

B.introduce effective ways of communicating with children

C.explain why memories of love and growth are important

D.recommend a unique way of recording family history

Read the passage and fill in the blanks with proper words

What is life? It is like a game in which you are playing with f1. balls in the air. You name them work, family, health, friends and spirit and you keep all of them in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

But the other four balls, family, health, friends and spirit, are made of g2.. If you drop one of these, they will break. They will never be the same. You must understand that and try to have balance in your life. How?

Don’t look on your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different and each of us is s3..

Don’t let other people set goals for you. Only you know what is best for yourself.

Don’t give up when you still have something to give. N4. is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don’t be afraid of difficulties. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible. The quickest way to r5. love is to give it; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don’t run t6. life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.

Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless. It’s a treasure (珍宝) you can always carry easily.

Don’t use time or words carelessly. You can’t get them back. Yesterday is h7., tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift: that’s why we call it “the p8.”. Life is not a competition, but a trip, step by step.

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