The Very Last Birthday

    When I was approaching 50, I announced to my three grown children that I no longer wanted to celebrate my birthday and that they could phone me instead of sending a gift. At first they protested², but finally they agreed to go along with my wish. So when the doorbell rang on the morning of my birthday, I was surprised to see the florist³ delivering a huge, beautiful plant. Suddenly, without a word, she rushed back to the truck and , with a sad look, turned once to glance at me. Puzzled, I read the card attached to the plant: "To Mom-with lots of love-on your very last birthday.
    Notes:
    (1) approach v. 接近 (4) florist n.花商；经营花卉业者(2) protest¹ v.反对 (5) glance at瞥视；匆匆一看(3) go along with 同意 (6) attach v.附上；系上Exercises:
    根据短文判断下列句子正（T）、误（F）：
    ① The mother was more than 50 when she decided⁴ that she no longer wanted to celebrate her birthday.
    ② She still hoped that her children could send her gifts.
    ③ The mother was very glad to see the florist delivering a huge, beautiful plant.
    ④ The florist felt sad because she thought that the woman was going to die.
    ⑤ The florist mistook the meaning of the words on the card.
    47.最后的生日
接近五十岁的时候，我对我的三个成年孩子宣布说我不再想庆祝我的生日，并说他们可以给我打电话，不要再送礼物。开始他们反对，但终于他们同意随我愿。所以我生日那天早上门铃响的时候，我惊奇地发现花店营业员送来一束又大又美的鲜花。突然她一声不响地跑回到车上，并回过头来悲哀地看了我一眼。我感到纳闷，我看了一下花上的卡片，上面写着：“献给妈妈----无尽的爱----在您最后的生日里。”

1 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

2 protested   

v.声明( protest的过去式和过去分词 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• He protested he was being cheated of his rightful share. 他提出抗议说他被人骗取了他依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Amy protested she was being cheated of her rightful share. 艾米提出抗议，说有人骗取了她依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 florist   

n.花商；种花者

参考例句：

• The florist bunched the flowers up.花匠把花捆成花束。
• Could you stop at that florist shop over there?劳驾在那边花店停一下好不好？

4 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。