There was a time when I thought my dad I didn’t   36   him ever saying the words “I love you.” It seemed to me his only purpose in life was to say “  37  ”to anything I wanted to do, including getting a  38  . Some parents bought their kids cars when they got their driver’s licenses,   39  my dad---he said that I’d have to get a job and buy my own.

So that’s what I did. I got a job at a very nice restaurant and   40  every penny I could. And when I had enough to buy my car, I   41  ! The day I brought that car home, my dad was the first one I wanted to show it  42  to. “Look, dad, a car of my own. If you ever want a ride, I’ll only  43  you five dollars.” I offered with a smile. “I see,” was all he said.

One day, there was something wrong with my father’s truck. So he needed a  44  to work.

The sun wasn’t even up when we left the house,    45  it was already getting warm out. It was going to be a   46  day. As I dropped my dad off, I  47  him, dressed in his work clothes, getting his  48  from the trunk（车尾箱）of my car. Watching his sun-weathered face, and even from a distance I could tell there were   49   lines than I ever remembered being there before. I realized how hard my dad worked for his family. My father is a cement finisher（水泥修整工）.

In that instant, it  50  to me that he actually got down on his hands and knees to sweat over hot concrete to make a living for his family. And he did this   51  ,no matter how hot it got. Never, not once, had I heard him   52  about it. To him, we were “worth” it. And never once did he “charge” us for it.

When he closed the truck, his tools set off to the side, he walked over to my window to  53  me five dollars. I rolled down the window and said, “Good-bye, dad. Keep your five dollars. It’s  54  me. Don’t work too hard. I love you.”

His eyes met mine, then glanced away in the direction of his waiting tools, he cleared his  55   and said, “Oh, and…me, too.”

When Frank began his story, we all listened. “I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home.” He looked at us and said, “I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was robust from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled the ocean.”
Frank’s voice dropped a bit. “When the weather was bad, he would drive me to school. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me good-bye!”
He paused and then went on, “I remember the day I thought I was too old for a good-bye kiss. When we got to the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, ‘No, Dad.’ It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised look on his face. I said, ‘ Dad, I’m too old for a good-bye kiss. I’m too old for any kind of kiss.’ My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked our the windshield. ‘ You‘re right,’ he said. ‘ You are a big boy… a man. I won’t kiss you anymore..’”
For the moment, Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes. “It wasn’t long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back.”
I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again. “ Guys, you don’t know what I would give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek… to feel his rough old face… to smell the ocean on him… to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a good-bye kiss.”
【小题1】Which word can replace the underline word in the first paragraph?

    To all of you at Chinese love links,

I am 44 years old and never married. I have always wanted to find that perfect someone that I dream about. For about the last five years I have almost given up the hope of ever finding the one I truly wish to spend the rest of my life with.

I have always tried to be a nice guy. I had found your website some four or five months before. I did not know what to expect. I don’t know how to speak Chinese and never thought truly of how I was to an Asian woman.

Well, I had a lot of replies from some very nice and pretty women. I had a hard time finding only a couple to write to. But one stood out from the rest. She was cute, nice and seemed to hold a lot of the same values as I do. In a short time I had decided to write only to her. We communicated via e – mails 2 – 3 times a day and phone calls once or twice a week.

I went and met her and her family only a week ago. Her name is Ying and she lives in Nanning. I found Nanning to be one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been to. We had even decided to marry and to bring her to the USA under the fiancée visa. Not only did she meet everything I had ever hoped to find in someone else but turned out to be what every woman should be like, at least the ones I have met. We plan to marry as soon as she is here and start a family together as neither of us has children but we both want them.

So to anyone out there reading this, I can only say this: You may not find what you are looking for if you’re not honest with your partner and yourself. This site worked for me mostly because I was honest with something that I wanted in someone else. When I did find her, love can work even across the other side of the world, between language differences and cultural differences. I wish you all luck in finding your perfect match. I have finally found mine and wish to give all my thanks to those at Chinese love links to help make it happen.

Sincerely yours,

Arthur

1．We can infer from the letter that Chinese love links is a website to         .

       A．help foreigners to travel in China

       B．help both Chinese and foreigners to find one they want to marry

       C．help Chinese and foreigners make friends

       D．receive letters from the USA

2．Which of the following is true about Arthur’s story?

       A．He was sure of finding a Chinese woman as his wife at first.

       B．He was determined to find a Chinese woman as his wife.

       C．He almost lost hope in finding a perfect wife until he found Ying.

       D．No women wrote to him before Ying.

3．Ying stood out from the rest because         .

       A．she was a Chinese

       B．she had much in common with Arthur

       C．other women stopped writing to Arthur

       D．she was cute and nice and often phoned to Arthur

4．Arthur thinks       is the most important in finding someone one wants to marry.

       A．being honest with the partner and oneself

       B．help from the website

       C．difference in languages and places

       D．difference in cultures

To all of you at Chinese love links.
I am 44 years old and never married. I have always wanted to find that perfect someone that I dream about. For about the last five years I have almost given up the hope of ever finding the one I truly wish to spend the rest of my life with.
I have always tried to be a nice guy. I had found your website some four or five months before. I did not know what to expect. I don’t know how to speak Chinese and never thought truly of how I was to an Asian woman.
Well, I had a lot of replies from some very nice and pretty women. I had a hard time finding only a couple to write to. But one stood out from the rest. She was cute, nice and seemed to hold a lot of the same values as I do. In a short time I had decided to write only to her. We communicate via e-mails 2-3 times a day and phone calls once or twice a week.
I went and met her and her family only a week ago. Her name is Yun and she lives in Nanning. I found Nanning to be one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been to. We had even decided to marry and bring her to the USA under the finance visa. Not only did she meet everything I had ever hoped to find in someone else but turned out to be what every woman should be like, at least the ones I have met. We plan to marry as soon as she is here and start a family together as neither of us has children but we both want them.
So to anyone out there reading this, I can only say this: You may not find what you are looking for if you’re not honest with your partner and yourself. This site worked for me mostly because I was honest with something that I wanted in someone else. When I did find her, love can work even across the other side of the world, between language differences and cultural differences. I wish you all luck in finding your perfect match. I have finally found mine and wish to give all my thanks to those at Chinese love links to help make it happen.
Sincerely yours,
Arthur
【小题1】We can infer from the letter that Chinese love links is a website to ____________.