I never saw my father home from work late or ill, nor did I ever see my father take a “night out with the boys”. He had no bobbies but just took care of his family.
For 22 years, since I left home for college, my father called me every Sunday at 9:00 am. He was always interested in my life-how my family was doing. The calls even came when he and my mother were in Australia, England or Florida.
Nine years ago when I bought me first house, my father, 67 years old, spent eight hours a day for three days, painting my house. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All he asked, was a glass of iced tea, and that I hold a paintbrush for him and talk to him. But I was too busy, for I had a law practice to run, and I could not take the time to hold the paintbrush, or talk to my father.
Five years ago, my 71-year-old father spent five hours putting together a swing set（秋千）for my daughter. Again, all he asked was that I get him a glass of iced tea, and talk to him, But again, I had laundry to do, and the house to clean.
The morning on Sunday, January 16, 1995, my father telephoned me as usual, this time he had seemed to have forgotten some things we had discussed the week before. I had to get to church, and I cut the conversation short.
The call came at 4:40 am. That day my father was sent to hospital in Florida. I got on a plane immediately, and I vowed（发誓）that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a nice long talk with him ad really get to know him.
I arrived in Florida at 1:00 am, but my father had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.
In the years since his death I have learnt much about my father, and even more about every single day.
【小题1】 We know from the reading that the father_____.

Kate lives in London with her parents. She is a schoolgirl. Today is Kate’s birthday and she’s fifteen years old. Her father’s name is Smith. He works in a hospital. People think he is a good doctor. Kate’s mother is a nurse. She is a very good nurse. Kate has two brothers and a sister, and they study in China. Her elder(大) brother speaks Chinese very well and has many friends there. He is a college (大学) student. But her younger brother and sister are middle-school students. Both of them are studying Chinese very hard and want to be teachers of Chinese in their country(国家).

1. Today Kate is _________________.

2.What is her father? ___________ .

3.What do her younger brother and sister want to be?

4.Where does her elder brother have many friends? ____________.

A. In his country     B. In the hospital  C. In China            D. In the USA.

5.Her younger brother and sister want to teach _______ people Chinese.

Mr. and Mrs. Long had one daughter. Her name was Lena. She was eighteen years old. Lena lived with her parents and worked in an office. She had some friends, but she didn’t like any of the boys very much.

One day she met a very nice man. He was young. His name was Watts and he worked in a post office. They became friends and he came to Lena’s parents house twice. Last week Lena said to her father, “I’m going to marry（嫁给） Watts, Daddy. He was here yesterday.”

“Oh, yes.” her father answered. “He’s a nice boy, but has he got much money?”

　　“Oh, no, both of you are the same,” the daughter answered angrily. I met Watts on the first day of June and the next day he asked me, “Has your father got much money?”

1.Mr. and Mrs. Long had a ______.

2.Lena worked _________.

3.Lena had a few friends before she came to know Watts, but she _____.

4.Last week Lena asked her father _______.

5.Lena got angry because ______.

Lisa never had the chance to know her father. He and her mother divorced when she was just a young child. Even though he didn’t move far, he never came to visit his children.
Lisa often wondered about her father. What did he looked like and what he was doing. All she knew was his name: Jeff White.
After Lisa grew up, she became a nurse at a hospital, where she would help provide medicine and comfort for patients in their final days. A few weeks ago, she receieved a new patient whose name was Jeff White.
When Jeff came into his room, Lisa asked him if he had any children. Jeff told her that he had two daughters, Lisa and Elly. Lisa couldn’t hold her tears back. She told him, “ I am Lisa, your daughter.”
Jeff embraced her, saying that he was not a good father. And the daghter held his hand and kissed him. Then Jeff began to sing This Magic Moment.
Jeff could have just weeks left to live, so Lisa wanted to make the most of the time she had with him. Lisa also brought her kids to the hospital to meet their grandfather. The kid made cards for him with the words, “ I love you.”
Forgiveness is also a kind of love.
【小题1】what happened to Lisa when she was young?