One night, when we were having dinner, suddenly Mom let out, "I have a great idea!" My sister Keira and I looked at each other, feeling confused and wondering what she wanted to say.
"What if," she said, with a long pause, "we furnish Nancy's apartment while she's away?"
Nancy, our nanny (保姆) had returned to her hometown to get her children and bring them back with her. When her children were only one and five years old, she had left them to work as a caregiver abroad where the working conditions were not very good. Later, through friends, Nancy heard that our country was the land of opportunity. With rich working experience, Nancy came to our house and here we got along well with each other although sometimes we had difficulty in communication because of language.
Five years after her arrival and working here, she was allowed to apply for a permanent resident's statue. It took so long to get it, so we celebrated with a cake the night the letter that informed her finally came.
"Could you do me a big favor?" Nancy asked Mom before she left for her hometown. "I've ordered some mattresses (床垫) so we have something to sleep on when we arrive. Do you think you could receive them and let the delivery man deliver it into my apartment?"
"No problem," said Mom.
"Hey Mom, I hate to burst your bubble (幻想)," I said, "but how are we possibly going to furnish an entire apartment? "
"Well, we have some extra stuff in the attic," she replied. "Maybe we can help our neighbors and Nancy at the same time. The neighbors can donate their extras, and we can piece together a great home for Nancy. Let's send an e-mail and see." So the e-mail went to about seventy neighbors in our community.
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。
Throught the following week, e-mails and texts kept flooding in.
The big day came as we welcomed Nancy and her children to their new home at the door.
