When I was younger, I thought that boys and grown men shouldn't cry. The tears were signs of being 21 , which a man isn't supposed to be.
But later, I discovered that courage isn't all about trying to keep all the pain in check and trying to hide the 22 .
My 18-year-old sister eloped(私奔) and with it, I saw how weak my father's heart was. We were used to seeing him as a(n) 23 father.
For three days he wouldn't talk. He would just sit quietly outside our house in the dark. On the fourth night, I sat beside him and asked him to tell me what he felt about everything.
It has been years since I laid my hand on my father's shoulder as we drifted apart (疏远) farther and farther while I was 24 up. That night though, I sensed my father trying to 25 his pain and I wanted him to be able to let it out. We all had cried over what happened except him.
The simple touch and my words, "Dad, it's not your 26 ", broke my father's dam(水闸). In the darkness, he began to cry. ! felt his shoulders shaking as he whispered, " 27 did I go wrong? All I ever wanted was for my children to grow up right. Why couldn't your sister wait?"
I understood then why he 28 to be in the dark. By being there, he hoped to spare his 29 of a father's pain. His tears, though we didn't see them before that night, were there all the same.
I saw his courage that night when my father cried with my hand on his shoulder, and 30 his pain.
21. A. weak | B. poor | C. sad | D. honest |
22. A. secrets | B. tears | C. opinions | D. qualities |
23. A. hard-working | B. easy-going | C. kind-hearted | D. strong-willed |
24. A. bringing | B. giving | C. growing | D. turning |
25. A. forget | B. reduce | C. control | D. bear |
26. A. character | B. daughter | C. fault | D. duty |
27. A. How | B. What | C. When | D. Where |
28. A. preferred | B. managed | C. stayed | D. agreed |
29. A. family | B. children | C. daughter | D. relatives |
30. A. understood | B. remembered | C. touched | D. respected |