"Never give up! Never give up!" chanted (吟诵) my two young children, Max and Charley, as they marched barefoot behind their grandmother Mia. They had just left the beach, where they had spent the day building sand castles and splashing in the waves. Now, Mia was leading Max and Charley on another adventure: They were seeking the ice-cream truck, which was always difficult to find.
Over the years, Mia had become our family's symbol of positivity. It was not a title she earned without effort, however. When my dad died, Mia was only forty years old and was left to raise me and my ten-year-old brother alone. She experienced a deeply sad event that could easily make anyone feel significantly less happy. She had been the one who had to make the decision to remove our dad from life support fourteen days after he died in a car accident.
My mom could have lived under a black cloud. Instead, she challenged herself to find joy every day. She was always up for a new challenge, whether that was hiking across the steep (陡峭的), rocky road of a mountaintop in Austria to get a better view of the breathtaking landscape, or signing up for tap-dancing classes at fifty. Leading by example, Mom taught us just how much one could achieve with a positive attitude.
She has taken the same approach in her relationship with her grandchildren. Before starting her adventure with Max and Charley on that hot July afternoon, Mia heard the familiar clang (叮当声) of the ice-cream man's bell from her beach chair. She turned and saw him briefly, spotting his green shirt and catching the gleam of his waving bell before he turned and disappeared over the dunes (沙丘). But you need to be fast because he doesn't stay for very long after you hear his bell.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Max and Charley were disappointed when they didn't catch the truck in time that day. …… After about twenty minutes of walking, Max's faith in the mission began to waver(动摇). |
