阅读理解

　　I was 9 years old when I found out my father was ill．It was, but I can remember my mother's words as if it were yesterday：“Kerrel, I don't want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS．Be very careful when you are around him.”

　　AIDS wasn't something we talked about in my country when I was growing up．From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret．My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone．For a while, he could take care of himself．But when I was 12, his condition worsened．My father's other children lived far away, so it fell to me to look after him．

　　We couldn't afford all the necessary medication for him, and because Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn't even buy food for dinner．I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher's words muffled as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage．

　　I did not share my burden with anyone．I had seen how people reacted to AIDS．Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease．And even adults could be cruel．When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was too weak to feed himself．

　　I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his condition a secret．I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days．Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at the nonprofit National AIDS Support．That day, she kept me on the phone for hours．I was so lucky to find someone who cared．She saved my life．

　　I was 15 when my father died．He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me．He didn't want to call attention to AIDS．I do．

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阅读理解

　　On the first day of school we were challenged to get to know a new classmate．I was looking around, when a gentle hand touched my shoulder．I found a little old lady with a warm smile．

　　She said, “Hi, handsome! I'm Rose．I'm 87 years old．Can I give you a hug(拥抱)?” I laughed and heartily responded, “Of course!”

　　“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent(天真的)age?” I asked．

　　She jokingly replied, “I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have children, and then travel around．”

　　“No, seriously,” I asked．I was curious why she took on this challenge at this age．

　　“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!” She told me．We became instant friends．

　　Over the year, Rose became a campus icon(偶像)and she easily made friends wherever she went．She loved to dress up and she enjoyed the attention from the other students．She was living it up．

　　At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet．I'll never forget what she taught us．

　　“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing．Here are the secrets to staying young．You have to laugh and find humor every day．You've got to have a dream．When you lose your dreams, you die．We have many people walking around who are dead, and they don't even know it!” she said．

　　“There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up．Anybody can grow older．That doesn't take any talent or ability,” she added．“But growing up requires finding the opportunity in change．The elderly usually don't have regrets for what they did, but rather for things they did not do．”

　　One week after graduation that year, Rose died peacefully in her sleep．She taught us by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be．

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