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In midJanuary the weather stayed clear and cold for several days. Jess had to 1 a week of school to stay home and2his father to manure (给……施肥) the fields. This was his bad 3, for he would have to make up his lessons as best as he could. It wasn't 4, though. All the boys and girls at Pumpkin Hollow School were often kept home when they were needed.
Jess 5 manuring, but he couldn't get out of it. Filling the wagon (马车) with heavy manure was a tiring 6. With a full load (装载), his father drove over the fields; Jess stood in the back and spread the manure.
After several days at this job, both Jess and his father grew 7 and impatient. It seemed as though life was too 8 to stand. They fell into bed at night worn out, with nothing to 9 but another day of the same hard work. Jess was even 10 with it. "Why does brother Ben stay in a warm prison while I myself tried to do his work? It's not 11!" Jess thought.
His mother watched him 12. "You're looking thin," she said. Then she turned to Jess's father and said, "Joseph, couldn't we hire (雇佣) somebody to help 13 the manuring is done?"
Mr Wright didn't 14, and Jess guessed why. His father couldn't 15 to hire a man. The hundred dollars he had paid for Ben's fine had wiped out the family's savings. Jess said, "No, Ma, we don't 16 to hire anybody. Pa and I can manage. 17 I'm tired, and so is Pa. We'll 18 it in a few days."
The 19 look his father gave him for understanding the problem was reward enough. When they went to the fields and were silently working together, Jess was 20 he'd spoken up.