Memorial anniversary

 　　Memorial anniversary

　　By Yunzheng Chen

　　On my friend Haylea’s book was a photo of a young American girl. “Who is this?” I asked. “She was our classmate, but unfortunately she died last year,” replied Haylea with a sad expression.

　　Her name was Jennifer. She and her mother were driving to Kansas City when they had a car accident on the highway. They died instantly. Only Jennifer’s dad, who wasn’t with them on that fateful day, was still alive.

　　“Jennifer’s family members will come to our school this Friday, and we will have a memorial anniversary for her,” Mrs. Toalson told us.

　　We had prepared a poem for the memorial anniversary. The poem was To a Butterfly by the English poet William Wordsworth. Mrs. Toalson had explained to us that Jennifer liked butterflies. We practiced until we had memorized the poem.

　　On Friday, Jennifer’s step-dad and uncle came to our school. The memorial anniversary was optional, but all the fifth graders chose to attend. In the playground of our school a hole had been excavated¹. As we all waited, the principal, Mrs. Gibson and Jennifer’s family members arrived. They were carrying a tree about five feet tall and a plastic butterfly. Other teachers were helping² them.

　　The anniversary started. The principal said sadly: “Jennifer has been gone for almost a year now, and we all miss her so very much! That is why we are participating in this memorial anniversary.”

　　“Jennifer was my best friend, I miss her terribly,” Laura said to the audience. Other people also shared their memories of Jennifer. Sadness hung in the air. The adults planted the tree and placed a picture of Jennifer and the plastic butterfly next to it. The anniversary finished with our class reciting the poem To a Butterfly.

　　I ’ve watched you now a full half hour

　　Self－poised upon that yellow flower

　　And， little butterfly Indeed

　　I know not if you sleep or feed …

　　How motionless －－ not frozen seas

　　More motionless And then

　　What joy awaits you， when the breeze

　　Hath found you out among the trees，

　　And calls you forth again

1 excavated   

v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
• The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。