32. 12 Post Cards

　　My teen-age daughter was preparing to return home after having visited her grandparents for a few weeks one summer. Her grandfather gave her 12 post cards .

　　"Here, write us a few lines every month," he said.

　　Months passed and the cards remained unused-that is until the day this letter arrived:

　　"Dear Jennifer,

　　Life is a series¹ of stages.

　　As a child, I looked forward to becoming a teenager-that happened.

　　As a teen-ager ,I looked forward to becoming a young man-that happened.

　　As a young man, I looked forward to meeting a young woman, in love and becoming a married man-that happened.

　　As a married man, I looked forward to becoming a father-that happened.

　　As a father, I looked forward to becoming a grandfather to beautiful ,intelligent grandchildren-that happened.

　　Then I looked forward to the day they would learn to write-that hasn't happened yet.

　　Yours Sincerely"

Notes:

　　(1) stage n.阶段

　　(2) teenager n.青少年

Exercises:

根据短文选择正确答案：

　　① Where did Jennifer spend her summer?

　　A. at home

　　B. at the seaside

　　C. at her grandparents'

　　D. at her uncle's

　　② What did the grandfather do when Jennifer was preparing to return home?

　　A. He gave her some cards.

　　B. He wrote her a note.

　　C. He told her a story.

　　D. He gave her a notebook

　　③ What were the cards should be used for, according² to the grandfather?

　　A. Jennifer should write a few lines on each of the cards every month and post them to him.

　　B. Jennifer should keep the cards for her memory of the summer.

　　C. Jennifer should post the cards to her friends.

　　D. Jennifer should post the cards to their relatives.

　　④ What happened to the cards?

　　A. They were tom by Jennifer.

　　B. They were posted back to the grandfather.

　　C. They were not used.

　　D. They were made dirty by Jennifer.

　　⑤ What was the grandfather's feeling about the incident³?

　　A. angry

　　B. sad

　　C. disappointed⁴ but still hopefully expecting

　　D. desperate⁵

32.十二张卡片

　　一个夏天，我十多岁的女儿在她祖父母家过了几周。她准备回家时，祖父给了她十二张卡片。

　　“每月给我们来个短信，”他说。

　　几个月过去了，可卡片一直放在那儿没用----直到有一天来了这样一封信：

　　“亲爱的詹妮芙：

　　生活是一系列阶段组成的。

　　还是个孩子的时候，我期待着成为一个青少年----我如愿以偿了。

　　还是个年轻人的时候，我期待着遇到一个年轻的女人，恋爱、结婚----我如愿以偿了。

　　结了婚，我便期待着成为一个父亲----我如愿以偿了。

　　作为父亲，我期待着成为一个祖父，有漂亮、聪明的孙儿孙女----我也如愿以偿了。

　　接着，我期待着有一天他们能给我写信----我却还没有如愿以偿。

练习参考答案：

①C②A③A④C⑤C

1 series   

n.连续；系列

参考例句：

• The students have put forward a series of questions.学生们提出了一系列问题。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 according   

adj.按照，根据

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• We must cut our coat according to our cloth this year.今年我们必须学会量入为出。

3 incident   

n.附带事件，小事件；事件，事变；adj.易发生的；附属的；入射的

参考例句：

• With the passage of time the incident was forgotten.随着时间的消逝，那个事件被忘却了。
• The incident had left him visibly angry and upset.那起事件显然让他既恼火又心烦。

4 disappointed   

adj.失望的，不满意的，不如意的

参考例句：

• He seemed disappointed when the man refused his request.当那个人拒绝了他的要求时他看起来很失望。
• He was disappointed so often that he became hopeless.他屡次失望，以致变为了绝望。

5 desperate   

adj.不顾死活的，危急的，令人绝望的，极渴望的

参考例句：

• They made a desperate attempt to save the company.他们为挽救公司作孤注一掷的努力。
• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。