自考综合英语(一)上册 lessonx09-16

LESSON 9 HAPPINESS

1, Many people think that when they become rich and successful, happiness will naturally follow. Let me tell you that certainly nothing is further from the truth. The world is full of very rich people who are as miserable as hell. We have all read stories about movie stars committing suicide or dying from drugs. Quite clearly , money is not the answer to all problems.

2, Wealth achieved through dishonest means does not bring happiness. Lottery winnings do not bring happiness. Wealth left by parents does not bring happiness. In fact, money alone is almost worthless. If you have both self-esteem and money, however, you are well on the way to happiness. What is missing in both self-esteem and money is productive work and a real contribution towards the happiness of others. The secret to happiness lies in the contribution towards the happiness of others. You can fool others but you can never fool yourself. If you obtain wealth through luck or dishonest means, you will know you did not earn it. If you have taken advantage of or hurt others to earn your wealth, you will not be happy. You will not feel you are capable.

3, There are many highly-paid managers and entertainers who do not like themselves. Outwardly, they seem successful, but deep down they are miserable. They know they are contributing very little of real value and all the time they live in fear of being exposed as cheats. They know they are not earning their wealth. They know they are cheating the company , the government or society. But they can?t fool themselves.

4, Long-term happiness is based on honesty, productive work(創造性的勞動), contribution, and self-esteem. Happiness in not an end; it is a process. It is a continuous process of honest, productive work which makes a real contribution to others and makes you feel like a worthwhile person. As Dr. Wayne wrote, “There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.” There is no use saying “Some day when I achieve these goals, when I get this car, build this house and have this busines s…then I will be really happy.” Life just does not work that way. If you wait for certain things to happen and depend on external circumstances of life to make you happy, you will always feel unfulfilled无成就感. There will always be something missing.

5, Long-term happiness is a process of moving towards worthwhile goals and contributing towards the welfare and happiness of others. It does not mean that you should give away all your wealth. It means doing what you love and loving what you do. It means achieving your goals and then challenging yourself to bigger and better things. It means always striving for more, learning and growing. Doing nothing means death. Activity means life. Find your purpose, set some goals, do what you love, love what you do, work honestly and productively

and contribute real values to the others. In the long term, that?s what it?s all about.

6, In the short term, you can start practising being happy right now without any obvious r eason. How will you know how to be happy if you don?t try it? It is the same as acting and feeling rich. Don?t wait for another 10 years to start feeling rich, successful and happy. Start practising now. You know that they say “practice makes perfect.” 熟能生巧Pretend and act as if you were happy and you will be happy. Pretend and act as if you were miserable and …well, forget about this last one. You have been practising that one for far too long.

LESSON 10: The Joker (1)

1 It was a very happy funeral, a great success. Even the sun shone that day for the late Henry Ground. Lying in his coffin, he was probably enjoying himself, too. Once more, and for the last time on this earth, he was the center of attention. Yes, it was a very jolly affair. People laughed and told each other jokes. Relatives who had not spoken for years smiled at each other and promised to stay in touch. And , of course, everyone had a favourite story to tell about Henry.

2 “Do you remember the time he dressed up as a gypsy and went from d oor to door telling people?s fortunes? He actually made 6 pounds in an afternoon!”

3 “I was once having dinner with him in an expensive restaurant. When the wine-waiter brought the wine, he poured a drop into Henry?s glass and waited with a proud expressi on on his face, as if to say “taste it , you peasant. It?s clear that you know nothing about wine.” So Henry, instead of tasting it, the way any normal person would do, dipped his thumb and forefinger into the wine. Then he put his hand to his ear and rolled his forefinger and thumb together as if he were listening to the quality of the wine! Then he nodded to the wine-waiter seriously, as if to say “yes, that?s fine. You may serve it.” You should have seen the wine-waiter?s face! And how Henry managed to keep a straight face, I?ll never know!”

4 “Did you hear about the practical joke he played when he was a student, the one with the road-menders? Some workmen were digging a hole in the road. First, Henry phoned the police and told them that some students were digging a hole in the road, and that he didn?t think it was a very funny thing to do. Then he went to the workmen and told them that some students had dressed up as policeman and were coming to tell them to stop digging the hole! Well , you can imagine what happened!”

5 “Yes, old Henry loved to pull people?s legs. Once, when he was invited to an exhibition of some abstract modern painter?s latest work, he managed somehow

to get in the day before and turn all the paintings upside down. The exhibition ra n for four days before anyone noticed!”

6 “His father, poor man, could never understand why Henry did such crazy things.”

7 “It?s hard to believe that Henry was a Ground when you think how different he was from his brothers.”

8 Yes, it was difficult to believe that he was a Ground. He was born into an unimportant but well-to-do family. He was the youngest of five sons. The Grounds were a handsome lot : bule-eyed, fair-haired, clever and ambitious. The four older boys all made a success of their lives. They married beautiful girls of good family, and produced children as fair and handsome and clever as themselves. That eldest became a clergyman; the second ended up as the headmaster of a famous public school; the third went into business and became rich; t he fourth followed in his father?s footsteps and became a lawyer. That is why everybody was amazed when the youngest Ground, Henry, turned out to be

a lazy good–for–nothing.

9 Unlike his brothers, he had brown eyes and dark hair, but he was every bit as handsome and charming, which made him quite a lady-killer. And, although he never married, there is no doubt at all that Henry Ground loved women. He also loved eating, drinking, laughing, talking and a thousand other activities which don?t make money or im prove the human life. One of his favourite pastimes was doing nothing. His idea of an energetic afternoon when the sun was shining主語was to sit under a tree表語, with a pretty girl by his side, and all the time in the world to talk of his and that , to count the blades of grass.作定語

10 What a worthless fellow! Some people whispered that his real father was not the present Mr. Ground at all , but a wild gypsy who had come one day to the house and had swept Mrs. Ground off her feet (迷倒她)with his dancing black eyes and his wicked immoral ways. It was a good story, interesting and romantic, but surely untrue. One thing was true: you couldn?t help liking Henry Ground and his talent for making you laugh. Henry Ground was, above all else, a joker.

LESSON 11: A Joker(2)

1, Anyway, the stories went on even while the coffin was being lowered into the grave. People held handkerchiefs to their eyes, but their tears were tears of laughter, not sadness. Afterwards, there was a funeral breakfast, by invitation only. It was attended by twelve of Henry?s closest friends. Henry Ground had asked his brother, Colin, to read out his will. Henry had been in debt all his life, hadn?t he? What could he possibly have to leave in a will?

2, Colin cleared his throat, “Ahem! If you are ready, ladies and gentlemen.” Everyone settled down and waited silently. Colin opened the will, and began to read it out in a singsong voice.

3, “I , Henry Ground, being of sound mind…. Last will and testament…do hereby bequeath…”

4, The legal phrases came out slowly one after another, *1and the audience grew impatient to get to the important part. It came soon enough. When Colin announced that Henry Ground, though known as a good-for-nothing, had invested his money very wisely, and was in fact worth at least three-quarters of a million, everyone gasped. But who was going to get it? Eyes narrowed and throats went dry.

5, “You are all such dear friends of mine,” Colin went on reading out Henry Ground?s words in a flat tone, which, if they weren?t so interested, would have sent everyone to sleep,” that I cannot decide which of you to leave my money to.” Colin paused. In the silence, you could have heard a pin drop. He went on, ”So , dear friend, I have set you a little competition. Each of you in turn must tell the funniest joke he or she can think of , and the one who gets the most laughter will get all my money. Colin will be the ju dge of the best joke.”

6, “So, ladies and gentlemen, “ said Colin, putting the will down on the table, “it?s up to you now. Who will go first? May I suggest that you go in alphabetical order of surnames?”

7, The first person stood up and told a very funny joke about an Englishman who fell in love with his umbrella. When he finished, he was in tears of laughter, for he always laughed at his own jokes. The rest of the group remained dead silent. You could tell from their faces and their eyes that they found the joke funny, but not one of them was going to laugh, and give him the chance to win the competition. The second told a story about a three-legged pig, which was so good that, some years later, a film company made a cartoon of it. When she sat down, the others buried their faces in their handkerchiefs, coughed, pretended to sneeze, dropped pencils under the table – anything to cover up their laughter. And so it went on, joke after joke, the sort of jokes that make your sides ache. And nobody dared to laugh.

8, Well, by the time the last joke had been told, every one of the twelve was sitting perfectly still, desperately holding in the laughter which was bursting to get out.

9, Silence. Painful silence.

10, Suddenly, Colin sneezed . A perfectly ordinary sneeze. Then he took out a large red handkerchief and blew his nose. Bbbrrrrrrppp.

11, That was enough. Someone burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. That started the others off. In no time, everyone was doubled up, tears streaming from their eyes, their shoulders rising and falling as wave after wave of laughter swept the crowd. Of course, they were not just laughing at the sneeze, nor even at the twelve jokes. No, they were laughing at themselves as they realized that Henry Ground had led them into his last, and the funniest, practical joke, setting their need to laugh against their desire for money.

12, When, at long last , the laughter died down, Colin cleared his throat once more.”I have been practising that sneeze for a week or more.” He said . “Henry?s idea, of course,” he added, unnecessarily: all twelve guests realized they had been set up beautifully.

13 “My friends,”the last paragraph of the will began , “forgive me ,but I couldn?t resist playing one last little joke on you. It?s good to know that your love of laughter finally overcame your love of money.

14 Colin paused, letting the meaning of the words sink in. Then he read out the final part of the late Henry Ground?s last will and testament.

15 “My friends, thank you for le tting me have the last laugh. As for the money: because I love you all, my fortune will be divided equally among you. Enjoy your share, and think of me whenever you hear laughter.”

16 The group fell silent. For the first time that day, there was a feeling of sadness in the air.

Lesson 12: Little things are Big

1, It was very late at night on the eve of Memorial Day. She got on the subway train at the 34th Street Pennsylvania Station. I am still trying to remember how she managed to push herself in with a baby on her right arm, a traveling bag in her left hand and two children , a boy and a girl , about three and five years old, following after her. She was a nice looking white lady in her early twenties. 2, At Nevins Street Station , Brooklyn , I saw her preparing to get off at the next station – Atlantic Avenue-which happened to be the place where I had to get off. (Just as it was a problem for her to get on, it was going to be a problem for her to get off the train with two small children to be taken care of , a baby on her right arm and a medium-sized bag in her left hand.

3, And there I was, also preparing to get off at the Atlantic Avenue (大西洋大街站), with nothing to take care of – not even the usual customary book under my arm.

4, As the train was entering the Atlantic Avenue Station, some white man stood up from his seat and helped her out, placing the children on the long, deserted platform. There were only two adults on the long platform some time after midnight on the eve of last Memorial Day.

5, I could see the steep concrete stairs going down to the Long Island Railroad or up into the street. Should I off my help as the American white man had done? Should I take care of the girl and the boy, take them by their hands until they were out of the station?

6, Puerto Ricans are a courteous people. And here I was – a Puerto Rican –hours past midnight, faced with two while children and a white lady, with a baby on her right arm and a bag in her left hand , obviously needing somebody to help them at least until they went up the long concrete stairs.

7, But how could I , a Negro and Puerto Rican, approach this white lady who very likely might be prejudiced against Negroes and anybody with a foreign accent, in a deserted subway station very late at night?

8, What would she say? What would be the first reaction of this white American woman, perhaps coming from a small town with a big, two children and a baby on her right arm? Would she say: yes . of couse , you may help me? Or would she think bad things perhaps? What would I do if she screamed as I went toward her to offer my help?

9, Was I misjudging her? So many slanders are written every day in the daily press against Negroes and Puerto Ricans. I hesitated for a long, long minute. The traditional good manners that the most illiterate Puerto Rican passes on from father to son were struggling inside me. Here I was , may past midnight, face to face with a situation that could very well become an incident of prejudice and chauvinism caused by the unjust policy of our society today.

10, It was a long minute. I passed on by her as if I saw nothing. As if I didn?t see that she needed help. Like a rude animal walking on two legs. I just moved on, half running along the long subway platform, leaving the children and the woman alone. I took the steps of the long concrete stairs in twos until I reached the street above and the cold air hit my warm face.

11, This is what racism and prejudice and chauvinism and a divided society can

do to the people and to a nation!

12, Perhaps the lady was not prejudiced after all. Or not prejudiced enough to scream when a Negro went toward her in a deserted subway station a few hours past midnight. If you were not prejudiced, I failed you, dear lady. I know that there is a chance in a million. that you will read these lines. I am willing to take that millionth chance. If you were not prejudiced, I failed you lady.I failed you, children. I failed myself to myself.(to take a chance碰碰運氣,冒險一試)

13, I buried my courtesy early on Memorial Day morning. But here is a promise that I make to myself here and now; if I am ever faced with a situation like that again, I am going to offer my help regardless of how the offer is going to be received.

14, Then I will have my courtesy with me again.

Lesson 13 : Hobbyist

1 “I heard a rumor,” Sangstrom said, “that you-” He turned his head and looked about him to make absolutely sure that he and the druggist were alone in the tiny drugstore. The druggist was a little man who could have been any age from fifty to a hundred. They were alone, but Sangstrom dropped his voice just the same. “ –that you have a completely undetectable poison.”

2 The druggist nodded. He came around the counter and locked the front door of the shop, then walked toward a doorway behind the counter. “I was about to take a coffee break,” he said. “Come with me and have a cup.”

3 Sangstrom followed him around the counter and through the doorway to a back room ringed by shelves of bottles from floor to ceiling. The druggist plugged in an electric coffee pot, found two cups and put them on a table that had a chair on either side of it. He motioned Sangstrom to one of the chairs and took the other himself. “Now.” he said. “Tell me. Whom do you want to kill , and why?”

4 “Does it matter?” Sangstrom asked. “Isn?t it enough that I pay for –“

5 The druggist interrupted him with an upraised hand. “Yes, it matters. I must be convinced that you deserve what I can give you. Otherwise –” he shrugged.

6 “All right,” Sangstrom said. “The whom is my wife. The why –” he started the long story. Before he had quite finished, the coffee pot had finished its task and the druggist briefly interrupted to get the coffee for them. Sangstrom finished his story.

7 The little druggist nodded. “Yes, I occasionally give out an undetectable poison.

I do so freely; I do not charge for it, if I think the case is deserving. I have helped many murderers.

8 “Fine,” Sangstrom said. “Please give it to me ,then.”

9 The druggist smiled at him. “I already have. By the time the coffee was ready

I had decided that you deserved it. It was, as I said, free. But there is a price for the antidote.”

10 Sangstrom turned pale. But he had expected – not this , but the possibility of

a double-cross or some form of blackmail. He pulled a pistol from his pocket.

11 The little druggist chuckled. “ You daren?t use that. Can you find the antidote” – he waved at the shelves –“among those thousands of bottle? Or would you find a faster, more deadly poison? Or if you think I?m bluffing, that you are not really poisoned, go ahead and shoot. You?ll know the answer within three hours when the poison starts to work.”

12 “How much for the antidote?” Sangstrom growled.

13 “Quite reasonable. A thousand dollars. After all, a man must live. Even if his hobby is preventing murders, there?s no reson why he shouldn?t make money at it, is there?”

14 Sangstrom growled and put the pistol down, but within reach, and took out his wallet. Maybe after he had the antidote, he?d still use that pistol. He counted out a thousand dollars in hundred-dollar bills and put them on the table.

15 The druggist made no immediate move to pick them up. He sai d:” And one other thing –for your wife?s safety and mine. You will write a confession of your intention – your former intention. I hope – to murder your wife. Then you will wait till I go out and mail it to a friend of mine in the police. He?ll keep it as evidence in case you ever do decide to kill your wife. Or me, for that matter.

16 “When that is in the mail it will be safe for me to return here and give you the antidote. I?ll get you paper and pen….

17 “Oh, one other thing – although I do not absolutely insist on it. Please help spread the word about my undetectable poison, will you? One never knows, Mr. Sangstrom. The life you save, if you have any enemies, just might be your own.”Lesson 14 : The mystery of the silver Box

1 The Thinking Machine tu rned to the worried businessman , “State your problem.”

2 “It isn?t a crime –that is , a crime that can be punished by law,” Mr. Grayson said. “but it has cost me millions, perhaps as much as ten million dollars! Briefly, there is an information leak at my office. My business plans have become known to others almost as soon as I have made them. My plans are large; I have millions of dollars at stake, and the need for secrecy is great. For years my plans have been safe, but half a dozen times in the last eight weeks they have become known to my competitors – in the smallest detail, and in time for them to steal my customers.”

3, “Tell me more please,” said The Thinking Machine.

4 “I make machines and tools used in factories. Recently I sent my salesmen to

a new industrial area out West to demonstrate some new machines. At first this was a great success; the factory owners truly liked this on-the-spot service and bought everything the salesmen demonstrated.

5 “But suddenly my staff there reported that wher ever they went, they were too late. My biggest business competitor had already sent their salesmen out to demonstrate their products at a lower price!”

6 The Thinking Machine walked to the window. “So now you want to know how – and when – information is leaking from your office. Well, to whom do you tell your business plans?”

7 “No one, except my personal secretary, Evelyn Winthrop. She has been with me for six years; more than five years before this leak began. I have always trusted her.”

8 “And she is the only one who knows your plans?”

9 “Well, she hears of my plans only a few minutes or so before I give orders to carry them out. This week, for instance, I planned to send salesmen to Oklahoma with new oil drills. My district manager didn?t know this p lan. Miss Winthrop heard of it only on the morning they were to go out. Then I dictated to her in my office some letters of instructions to my district managers. That is all Miss Winthrop knew of my Oklahoma plan.”

10 “You outlined the plan in those letters?”

11 “No. They merely told my managers which salesmen I wanted for Oklahoma

and the costs of the various drills.”

12 “But a careful person, knowing the content of all those letters, could have worked out what you intended to do?”

13 “Yes, but no one person knew the contents of all the letters, Miss Winthrop and I were the only two human beings who knew what was in them all. Neither Miss Winthrop nor I left the office all day. Yet before the day ended , I received phone calls from two managers telling me of the unbeatable offers form my competitor.”

14 “What is your business competitor?s name?”

15 “Ralph Matthews,”said Mr. Grayson.

16 The Thinking Machine went to a desk, addressed an envelope, got a sheet of paper and place it inside , and sealed the envelope. Then he turned back to Mr. Grayson, “ Let us go to see Miss Winthrop now,” he said.

17 From the office door, The Thinking Machine went straight to Miss Winthrop?s desk and handed her the envelope. “Mr. Ralph Matthews asked me to give you this,” he said.

18 The young woman glanced up at his face frankly, took the envelope, and turned it curiously in her hand. “Ralph Matthews,” she repeated the name as if it sounded strange to her, “I don?t think I know him.” Nevertheless, she opened the envelo pe and took out the paper. “Why, it?s a blank sheet!” she remarked, puzzled.

19 The detective turned suddenly to Mr. Grayson who had looked on with frank astonishment. “May I use a telephone, please?” asked The Thinking Machine.

20 He picked the receiver of Miss Winthrop?s phone and held it to his ear a moment. “It?s busy,” he said. He hung up, pausing for a moment to admire a beautiful silver box right beside the telephone. “Thank you, Miss Winthrop,” he said as he left the room.

21 Back in Mr. Grayson?s office, the detective told him to ask Miss Winthrop to take some dictation the next morning at 9:45. And that night, he arranged for a secret extension to be attached to Miss Winthrop?s phone. The next morning he was at the extension, pencil in hand, while Mr. Grayson carried out his orders. A little later, he asked the businessman to go with him to the secretary?s desk. 22 “So you did know Ralph Matthews after all,” he said, throwing onto her desk

a sheet of paper he had brought with him.

23 The girl s topped her noisy typing and rose from her chair, trembling. “What do you mean,sir?” she demanded weakly.

24 “And you might as well remove the silver box,” The Thinking Machine continued. “There is no further need of the telephone connection.”

Lesson 15: Unreality of TV

1 Dr. Heinrich Applebaum recently completed a study on the effects of television on children. It is not about violence, but about how television gives children a false sense of reality.

2 Dr. Applebaum told me, “The greatest danger of tel evision is that it presents

a world to children that doesn?t exist, and leads them to expect things that never happen.

3 “I don?t understand, Doctor,” I said.

4 “Well, let me give you one example. Have you ever seen a television show where a person in a car doesn?t immediately find a parking place on the very first try?

5 “Come to think of it,” I said , “I haven?t”

6 “Not only is there always a parking place, but the driver doesn?t even have to back into it. There are two parking spaces for him when he needs one. Children are being led to believe that when they grow up they will always be able to find a parking place available when and where they want it. You can imagine how bad they will feel when they discover that in real life they can drive around a block for three hours and still can?t find a place to park their car.”(lead-led-led)

8 “ I never thought of it, but it?s true. What else do they show on television which gives a distorted picture of the real world?”

9 “Have you noticed that whenever a pe rson walks out of a restaurant or office building and says to the doorman, “Get me a taxi, the taxi immediately arrives?

I have never seen a TV show where the doorman has said, “I “ am sorry. I can?t get you a taxi. You?d better take the bus.”

10 “Of course,” I said , “ I never noticed that. There is always a yellow taxi waiting somewhere off the TV screen.”

11 “Now,” said Applebaum, “have you ever said to a taxi driver, …Follow that car and don?t lose him??”

12 “Not really.”

13 “Well, if you had, the driver would have told you not to talk nonsense. No taxi driver wants to follow another car because that means he?s going to get into trouble. But on TV every taxi driver looks as if he had nothing better to do than to drive 90 miles an hour through rain-swept street trying to keep up with a carful of gangsters. And the worst thing is that the kids believe it.

14 “What else have you discovered?”

15 “Kids have a false sense of what emergency wards of hospitals are really like. On TV shows they take a kid to an emergency ward and four doctors come rushing down to bandage his leg. In a real life situation the kid would be sitting on the bench for two hours before he even saw a nurse. On TV there always happens to be a hospital bed available when a kid needs it. What the kids in this country don?t know is that sometimes you have to wait three days to get a hospital bed and then you have to pay 500 dollars down before they give it to you.”

16 Applebaum said the cruelest lie of all is when TV shows a lawyer defending someone innocent of a crime.

17 “ On the screen the lawyer spends day and night looking for evidence to prove the person is innocent. In real life the lawyer says to the defendant, …Look, I?ve got 20 minutes. Tell me your story and then I?ll plead y ou guilty and make a deal with the D.A.? The defendant might say, …But I?m innocent.? They lawyer would say, …So what? I can?t afford to find that out. I?m not Perry Mason.?”

18 “Then what you?re saying, Dr. Applebaum, is that it isn?t the violence on TV but the unreality that is doing harm to children.”

19 “Exactly. Even the advertisements are harmful. Children are led to believe that when grow up if they use a certain mouthwash they?ll find the mate of their dreams. When they don?t find him or her after washing their dreams. When they don?t find him or her after washing their mouth all night, they fall into a difficult situation and many of them never come out of it.”

Lesson sixteen: Remembering Tracy Bill

1 This year, my husband David and I celebrated the 22nd birthday of a man we had never met. His name was Tracy Bill Marsh, a tall handsome young man who

worked in a pizza shop. Last summer, he was supposed to have been best man at his brother?s wedding. But on the night of December 8, 1992, Tracy got off work and stood in the pizza shop?s parking lot talking to friends. Tracy jumped up on the hood of a friend?s car, as they had done a hundred times before. This time, though, Tracy lost his balance and fell. His head struck the pavement, hard.

2 One of his friends rushed inside to call an ambulance, then he phoned Tracy?s father, Bill Marsh. Bill raced to the hospital, where he was joined by Tracy?s mother, Cory. She knew from the way the doctors talked that there was little hope. Tracy had a broken skull – one doctor said he had never seen one so bad.

3 Standing next to her son, Cory remembered that Tracy had once mentioned organ donation. Maybe I can spare another family this sorrow, she thought. When the time came, she and Bill signed the forms permitting his organs to be taken out.

4 Tracy Bill Marsh died the next day. Twenty-four hours later, in a Boston hospital, Tracy?s liver was transplanted into my husband, David, who was suffering from an incurable liver disease.

5 Months after his operation, David and I sent our unknown donor family letters in care of the New England Organ Bank. As information about donors was kept secret, we could not know where and to whom to send our thanks. But the donor?s parents wished to meet someone who had gained lif e through the gift of their son?s organs, so the organ bank agreed –for the first time –to bring together two families linked by the most bittersweet relationship.

6 We were to meet Bill and Cory Marsh in a hotel room about halfway between our homes. David and I arrived an hour before the meeting. I placed fresh flowers, drinks , cheese and crackers on a table.

7 When the door opened, my heart stopped. We saw a middle-aged couple. For

a few seconds , we stood staring at one another. Then Cory and I hugged. Bill held out his hand to shak e David?s. His grip was electric, and David could feel that he didn?t want to let go. Bill?s first words to David were “Are you okay?”

8 I hugged Bill and saw tears behind his glasses. “That?s it for the tears,” he said, smiling. But it wasn?t it.

9 We talked for 3 hours and a half. The Marshes showed us a picture of Tracy Bill. We learned for the first time how he had died – and something of how he had lived. He was a generous , good – hearted young man who loved the outdoors and was never happier than when he was working under the hood of his car. Evenings, Tracy and his friends would set up floodlights in the garage, and Bill

and Cory would go to sleep listening to the boy?s laughter as they repaired cars. Carved on Tracy?s gravestone is a car rolling d own a mountain road.

10 We learned something about Bill and Cory, too. Cory can?t bring herself to throw out Tracy?s best-loved pair of blue jeans, and she avoids the supermarket aisles that carry his favorite foods. Every morning, as she gets in her car for work, she says good morning to Tracy.

11 Bill and Tracy shared a love of stock-car racing. I said that David, while recovering from his operation, had renewed an old interest in stock-car racing.

I mentioned that recently David got his crazy idea of talking a course somewhere down south where he could learn to drive a stock-car. Bill said instantly, “Tracy Bill would have loved that.”

12 When it was time to leave, we felt awkward. Enough had been disclosed about our lives to stay in touch. Now David and I know where to send our prayers. For the Marshes, seeing David and knowing he was well seemed to ease their suffering. I?ll never forget seeing the tall David bending over Cory, her arms stretched around his waist as a mother would hug a son. For a long time they held each other tight. It was hard to know if she was saying hello or good-bye.

13 Maybe she was saying both.

历年全国自考综合英语(一)真题

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