英语博客：New passports.

　　As I was going to the recycling center today, I passed the postman (or, the mail man in U.S). He was sitting in his cute little mail van, next to the mail boxes where he was inserting all of the letters, cards, and junk mail. I pulled over and asked him for our mail which he very kindly¹ gave me. Back in the car, I had a quick look through the collection of things that he had given me, and I found two official looking envelopes from the U.S Department of State, - the place where you get important documents. "I don't believe it," I said to myself, "they've arrived!" The passports that I had sent off for, for my two youngest children, had been issued. When I sent in the applications, I was told that it would take six weeks. It had taken only three, so I was amazed to see them in my hands. It's a miracle! Government paperwork has been completed early! This is one for the history books! Okay, I won't go on. I opened the envelopes and found two, brand new, dark blue U.S passports. Of course I quickly looked for the photos. My son looked very serious; he had had a big smile on his face, but then the photographer had told him not to. So he had quickly turned his happy face into one that looked very serious indeed. My daughter, the day before the photos, had decided² to cut her fringe³ (or bangs in the U.S). So, her forehead had a large, triangular⁴ chunk⁵ of hair missing. Well, I suppose she is still very cute in the photo, and she'll be able to change it in about five years. So, our most important documents for traveling this Summer are ready. That's one thing that I can cross off my list of things to do. Most of our flights are booked; I just have to tie up a few loose ends and book some rental⁶ cars, and our plans will be complete. There is a lot involved in making a big trip, but I'm glad that we have the all-important documents already here.
Grammar notes.
Expressions with the preterite: to tie up loose ends, kindly, this is one for the history books.
1. Why did you leave the project unfinished? You need to tie up all the loose ends.
2. My car broke down, but a passer-by kindly helped me get a tow-truck.
3. I don't believe it! You did the washing up! This is one for the history books.

1 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 fringe   

n.边缘；（窗帘）缘饰，额前垂发；vt.饰...的边

参考例句：

• The girl wears her hair in a fringe.那女孩留着刘海。
• This is an enormous field of which l can touch only the fringe.这是一个很广阔的领域，我在这里只能谈个大概。

4 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。

5 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

6 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。