阅读理解

　　I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn’t as if the area was attractive．I was more than puzzled, I was curious．

　　The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her．So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods．

　　“I’ve always loved this place,” she said, “it has a lot of memories for me, and for others．We all used it．They called it ‘Lovers lane’．It’s not much of a lane, and it doesn’t go anywhere important, but that’s why we all came here．To be away from people, to be by ourselves．” she added．

　　It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard．Squirrels watched from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear．I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing．The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman’s strange ideas．

　　“Take this tree,” she said pausing after a short while．“To you it is just that, a tree．Not unlike many others here．” She gently touched the bark, “Look here, under this branch, what can you see?”

　　“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife．” I said after a cursory inspection．

　　“Yes, that’s what it is!” she said softly．

　　She went on, “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve them．We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army．I had guessed of course．It was the last evening we ever spent together, because he went away the next day, back to his Unit．”

　　Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed．“His mother showed me the telegram．‘Sergeant R Holmes…Killed in action in the invasion of France．’…”

　　“I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married．” she said, “He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies’- she was like that!”

　　“Two years later she too was dead．‘Pneumonia(肺炎), following a chill on the chest’ was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart．A child would have helped both of us．”

　　There was a further pause．Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him．“And now they want to take our tree away from me．” Another quiet sob, then she turned to me．“I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn’t always the old woman you see here now．I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forward to．”

　　She paused again and looked around．The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound．“There were others, of course, but no one can match my Robin!” she said strongly．“And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds．If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him．Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did．Yes, I would tell him!”

　　I turned away, sick at heart．

阅读理解

　　It looks exactly like other handicraft (手工艺品) shops in a traditional Chinese hutong, or alley, except that each item has a story．The city’s first-of-its-kind charity shop, owned by Nathan Zhang, sells Chinese handicrafts along with used books, clothes and other items．The concept is that money from what is sold is donated to help rural (农村的) women in China．

　　“Many NGOs (non-governmental organizations) produce their own things but don’t have a place to sell it,”said Zhang, who returned to Beijing in 2008 after working in Canada for nearly a decade in the telecommunications world．“A rural women’s group tried to open a little shop but only sold two things．When they put their products in my shop, everything sold out．”

　　Located in Wudaoying Hutong in Dongcheng district, Brand Nu’s walls are lined with handicrafts from a number of different NGO supported projects aimed at benefiting women across the country．The other half of the space is filled with almost brand-new clothes that have been donated from Beijing citizens．The jackets, dresses, tops and pants sell for around 30 yuan (＄4.40) each．

　　Most of the money Brand Nu gets goes directly to the Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women．The NGO offers a number of programs for poor women, including literacy classes (识字班), support networks and mental health education．

　　Zhang is also working with a local Scottish designer to create a clothing line made from the fabric (织物) of second-hand garments．And he is collecting books and raising money to help the NGO build a library near Beijing．He plans on expanding his product line soon as well, engaging more disadvantaged women to make sweaters, soaps and other items that he can sell in Beijing to help raise their socioeconomic status in the countryside．

　　Yet with ambitions come worries．Right now Zhang is operating on a shoestring budget and looking for work on the side to support both his business and his family．“I wanted to do something meaningful,”said Zhang．“If you can help one woman, you can help an entire family．”