Forty-three years seems like a long time to remember the name of someone you don't know so well. I have forgotten the name of an old lady, who was a customer on the paper route in my home town when I was a twelve-year-old boy. Yet it dwells in my memory that not only she made delicious cookies but also she taught me a lesson in forgiveness that I shall never forget.
On a winter afternoon, a friend and I were throwing stones onto the slanted roof of the old lady's house from a spot near her backyard. The object of our play was to observe how the stones changed to missiles as they rolled to the roof's edge and shot out into the yard like comets (彗星) falling from the sky. I found myself a perfectly smooth rock and threw it out. The stone was too smooth, however, so it slipped from my hand as I let it go and headed straight not for the roof but for a small window on the old lady's back porch. At the sound of fractured(断裂破裂的)glass, we knew we were in trouble. We turned tail and ran faster than any of our missiles flew off her roof.
I was too scared about getting caught that first night to be concerned about the old lady with the broken window in winter. However, a few days later, when I was sure that I hadn't been discovered, I started to feel guilty for her misfortune. She still greeted me with a smile each day when I gave her the paper, but I was no longer able to act comfortable in her presence.
I made up my mind that I would save my paper delivery money, and in three weeks I had the seven dollars that I calculated would cover the cost of her window. I put the money in an envelope with a note explaining that I was sorry for breaking her window and hoped that the seven dollars would cover the cost for repairing it.
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。
I waited until it was dark, snuck (潜行) up to the old lady's house, and put the letter I didn't sign through the letter slot in her door.
……
The next day, I handed the old lady her paper as usual.