In our kitchen, there was a wooden table and three chairs — one for Dad, one for Mom, and one for me. In the cellar (地窖), the very last jar of apple jam lay quietly on the shelf, waiting to be turned into an apple pie when Dad came back. Mom sat at one end of the table. I sat in the middle between her and Dad. I tried not to look at Dad's empty place. Dad had gone to the city to look for work for a long time.
Every night, I lay awake in bed and waited for the train to stop. Waited to hear the creaky (嘎吱作响的) gate Dad's going to fix when he came home. Waited to hear the sound of his work boots dropping on the step by the kitchen door, and his voice calling, "I'm home!"
Every night, as I lay there, I stared at the window and the curtains Mom made from empty flour sacks (麻布袋).
Every night, Mom came to kiss me good-night — after the train's gone by. She had been listening, too. "Go to sleep. Your dad will be home soon. Maybe for Thanksgiving."
Time dragging by, it finally came the day before Thanksgiving. I went to sleep with the sound of train wheels in my head, whispering, "Maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow."
Early the next morning, the smell of coffee woke me. I ran into the kitchen. There he was! Dad lifted me onto his shoulders and pretended to stagger from my weight. "How's my boy? You've gotten so big that I can barely lift you up anymore."
He put me down, and I stared at the two sacks on the table. One said FLOUR — I knew that word. I tried reading the other: S-U-G-A-R. Dad whistled admiringly and winked at me. Mom and I had been practicing my letters most days. I could see that Mom was pleased with me. "I'm going to bake a pie for your dad's homecoming dinner. Jimmy, bring me that jar of apple jam from the shelf in the cellar." Mom smiled at me.
注意：
1）续写词数应为150左右:
2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Hearing this, I took the steps two at a time to the cellar.
……
"Never mind, boy, accidents happen," Dad said and wiped my tears.
