完型填空

　　I was 15 when my mother died．As I walked out of church after the funeral, it 　　1　　 me：we never got to have one of those heart-to-heart mother-daughter 　　2　　．At that moment, I believe, God had a plan for us：　　3　　 Mom so much, we’d learn to know Dad．Our father had always been loving us, working hard as a high-school teacher．He always had Mom talk to us about 　　4　　 things．He’d get embarrassed to talk them–it was his upbringing, I guess．

　　Now here he was with three teenage girls 　　5　　．Suddenly he had to 　　6　　 things like dating(约会)and bra(乳罩)．The man who 　　7　　 showed his emotions became a man who’d listen to all our deepest heartaches．

　　When I was in college, my boyfriend, Paul, 　　8　　 with me．I thought it was the end of the world．When I came home for the weekend, dad saw something was wrong 　　9　　 I walked in the door．I 　　10　　 him, and everything spilled out．He didn’t have a lot of answers, but he was there to listen．I never felt that 　　11　　 could have done better．

　　Dad’s support helped me get things through：Paul and I decided to 　　12　　．And when it came time, Dad insisted on doing the reception．I was so 　　13　　 to be getting married that I never thought I’d be a nervous bride．But 　　14　　 Dad walked me down the passageway of the church, tears rolled down my checks．When I looked over at him, he was 　　15　　 too．

　　Paul and I now have three kids, and Grandpa is part of their life too．Every Thanksgiving and Christmas we go back to 　　16　　．Then recently we decided with my brothers and sisters to take a camping trip the way we used to 　　17　　 Mom．We camped out for a week–2 of us–Dad and all his kids and grandchildren．

　　Dad helped me 　　18　　 that every person is here for a reason, affecting 　　19　　 in ways we cannot see．We all miss Mom 　　20　　 words can express, but we were given the best mom a dad could be．

完形填空

　　One night I was sitting in my kitchen half-listening as my 15-year-old brother Tommy antagonized(招惹)my 12-year-old brother Kevin．I didn’t pay attention when Kevin 　　1　　 up the stairs with the hurt on his face．

　　About 20 minutes later, I heard Kevin crying inside the 　　2　　．I knocked on the door and asked, “Hey, Kev, do you want a talk?” No response．So, I grabbed some index(索引)cards and a pencil and wrote, “If you don’t want to 　　3　　, we can write notes to each other．”

　　An hour later I was still 　　4　　 on the floor outside the bathroom with two piles of index cards in front of me．One was 　　5　　 and one was cards from Kevin on which he had translated all his unpleasant feelings into words．　　6　　 I read one Kevin’s notes, tears came to my eyes．It said,“　　7　　 in this family cares about me．I’m not the youngest, and I’m not the oldest, and I’m not 　　8　　．Tommy thinks I can do nothing and Dad 　　9　　 he had the other Kevin as a(n)　　10　　 because he’s better at basketball．And you’re never around to even 　　1　　 me．”

　　It was 　　12　　 what he had said about me．I wrote back “I really do love you and I’m 　　13　　 I don’t always show it．I am here for you and you are 　　14　　 in this family．”

　　There was no 　　15　　 for a while, but then I heard a 　　16　　 sound coming from inside the bathroom．Kevin, who had 　　17　　 cards wrote on a torn-up paper cup, “Thanks．”

　　Since then, I try my best to never 　　18　　 half-notice my family members anymore．Kevin and I have a closer 　　19　　 now, and sometimes when one of us notices that the other is 　　20　　, we’ll smile and say “Write it on a paper cup．”