克里斯蒂娜·朗德奎斯特/Kristine Lundquist

In 1949 my parents made the big move from Rockford, Illinois, to Southern California,along with three very tiny children and all their household possessions.My mother had carefully wrapped and packed many precious family heirlooms, including four cartons of her mother’s hand-painted dinner china.Grandmother had painted this lovely set herself, choosing a forget-me-not pattern.

Unfortunately, something happened during the move.One box of the china didn’t make it.It never arrived at our new house.So my mother had only three-quarters of the set—she had plates of different sizes and some serving pieces, but missing were the cups and saucers and the bowls.Often at family gatherings or when we would all sit down for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, my mother would say something about the missing china and how she wished it had survived the trip.

When my mother died in 1983, I inherited Grandmother’s china.I, too, used the set on many special occasions, and I, too, wondered what had happened to the missing box.

I love to prowl antique shops and flea markets, hunting for treasures.It’s great fun to walk up and down the aisles early in the morning, watching as the vendors spread their wares on the ground.

I hadn’t been to a flea market in over a year when, one Sunday in 1993, I got the itch to go.So I crawled out of bed at 5 A.M.and drove an hour in the predawn darkness to the giant Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena.I walked up and down the outdoor aisles, and after a couple of hours I was thinking about leaving.I rounded the last corner and took a few steps down the row when I noticed some china strewn on the macadam.I saw that it was hand-painted china...with forget-me-nots! I raced over to look at it more closely and gingerly picked up a cup and saucer...forget-me-nots! Exactly like Grandmother’s china, with the same delicate strokes and the same thin gold bands around the rims.I looked at the rest of the items—there were the cups! The saucers! The bowls! It was Grandmother’s china!

The dealer had noticed my excitement, and when she came over I told her the story of the missing box.She said the china had come from an estate sale in Pasadena—the next town over from Arcadia, where we had lived when I was a child.When she was going through the contents of the estate, she had found an old unopened carton stored in the garden shed, and the china was in it.She queshoned the heirs about the china and they said that they knew nothing about it, that the box had been in the shed“forever.”

I left the Rose Bowl Flea Market that day laden with my amazing treasure.Even now, six years later, I am filled with wonder that“all the pieces in the universe”tumbled together to let me find the missing china.What would have happened if I had slept in? What gave me the itch to go to the Rose Bowl on that particular day? What if I hadn’t turned that last corner, choosing instead to leave and rest my aching feet?

Last week I had a dinner party for fifteen friends.We used Grandmother’s china.And at the end of the meal, I proudly served coffee in those beautiful cups and saucers that had been missing for so long.

1949年，父母带着我们3个年幼的孩子，从伊利诺伊州的罗克福德搬到了很远的加州南部。母亲把许多珍贵的传家之物小心翼翼地包裹起来，其中包括祖母留下来的4箱手绘瓷器餐具。祖母选用了“勿忘我”的图案，并亲手绘制在了这些瓷器上。

遗憾的是，在搬家的时候发生了一些意外，其中一箱瓷器没能运到新家，此后也没有再找到。因此，母亲失去了那些茶杯、茶托和碗，只剩下3箱大小不一的盘子和一些其他小餐具。在家庭聚会、感恩节或圣诞节大餐时，母亲就会怀念起丢失的瓷器，并说她是多么希望那箱瓷器能够在搬运时平安到达。

1983年，母亲去世了，我继承了祖母的瓷器。就像母亲一样，我会在许多特别的场合拿出来使用，并一直想搞清楚，那箱丢失的瓷器到底发生了什么事情。

我非常喜欢到古董店和跳蚤市场去搜寻宝贝。清晨，去走道里转转，看着小贩们把瓷器摆出来，那真是一种很大的乐趣。

我已经一年多没去逛跳蚤市场了，1993年的星期天，我忽然想去转转。早上5点，我从**爬了起来，在黎明之前，摸着黑开了一个小时的车，到了位于帕萨迪纳的非常大的“玫瑰碗”跳蚤市场。在市场的走道里，我转了几个小时，然后打算离去，在转过最后的一个拐角往前走了几步后，我注意到了碎石路上摆着的几件瓷器。那些是手绘的瓷器，画着“勿忘我”的图案。于是，我跑上前去，拿起一个茶杯和一个茶托，放在眼前仔细看，那真的是“勿忘我”！精致的手法，还有描绘的金边，与祖母的瓷器一模一样。我又看了看其他瓷器，有茶杯、茶托，还有碗！这就是祖母的瓷器呀！

我的兴奋之情引起了卖主的注意，她走了过来，我把丢失的那箱瓷器的故事讲给她听。卖主说，她在帕萨迪纳购买了一处房产，就是在那里发现了这箱瓷器。帕萨迪纳是与阿卡迪亚相邻的一个小镇，我小时候就住在阿卡迪亚镇。卖主说，她在清理物品时，在花园的一个小屋里发现了这个密封的旧箱子，里面就装着这些瓷器。她向那处房产的继承人询问了此事，他们说那个箱子一直就在小屋里放着，并不知道那个箱子里装了什么、从何而来以及它的主人是谁。

带着这些令人惊异的宝贝，我离开了“玫瑰碗”跳蚤市场。6年后的今天，我对此事仍然感到惊奇，觉得这就是“一切机缘的巧合”才使我找回了丢失的瓷器。如果我那天赖床睡到很晚；如果那天我没有去“玫瑰碗”市场；如果我没有路过那个拐角，而是离开那里找个地方休息，那事情又会是怎样呢？

上个星期，我邀请了15位朋友到家里参加聚会，并把祖母的瓷器拿出来使用。用完餐，我用失去很久的茶杯和茶托为大家送上咖啡时，心中燃起了一种自豪感。

(1) tiny?a.everything that exists anywhere

(2) preciousb.someone who purchases and maintains an inventoryof goods to be sold

(3) dealer c.obviously contrived to charm

(4) universed.very small

Write

TRUE?if the statement agrees with the information

FALSEif the statement contradicts the information

_______ (1) The writer had four sisters.

_______ (2) The writer had a dinner party for fifteen friends.

1.It’s great fun to_________the aisles early in the morning, watching as thevendor s spread their wares on the ground.

清晨，去走道里转转，看着小贩们把瓷器摆出来，那真是一种很大的乐趣。

2.I love to prowl antique shops and flea markets,_________treasures.

我非常喜欢到古董店和跳蚤市场去搜寻宝贝。 3.The dealer had noticed my excitement, and when she_________I told her the

story of the missing box.

我的兴奋之情引起了卖主的注意，她走了过来，我把丢失的那箱瓷器的故事讲给她听。

健忘的奶奶 The Ice Cream Girl

佚名/Anonymous

Eleanor didn’t know what was wrong with Grandma.She was always forgetting things, like where she put the sugar, when to pay her bills, and what time to be ready to be picked up for grocery shopping.

“What’s wrong with Grandma?”Eleanor asked.“She used to be such a neat lady.Now she looks sad and lost and doesn’t remember things.”

“Grandma’s just getting old,”Mother said.“She needs a lot of love right now, dear.”

“What’s it like to get old?”Eleanor asked.“Does everybody forget things? Will I?”“Not everyone forgets things when they get old, Eleanor.We think Grandma may have Alzheimer’s disease, and that makes her forget more.We may have to put her in a nursing home to get the proper care she needs.”

“Oh, Mom! That’s terrible! She’ll miss her own little house so much, won’t she?”

“Maybe, but there isn’t much else we can do.She’ll get good care there and make some new friends.”

Eleanor looked sorrowful.She didn’t like the idea at all.

“Can we go and see her often?”she asked.“I’ll miss talking to Grandma, even if she does forget things.”

“We can go on weekends,”Mother answered.“We can take her a present.”“Like ice cream? Grandma loves strawberry, ice cream!”Eleanor smiled.

“Strawberry ice cream it is!”Mother said.

The first time they visited Grandma in the nursing home, Eleanor wanted to cry.

“Mom, almost all of the people are in wheelchairs,”she said.

“They have to be.Otherwise they’d fall,”Mother explained.“Now when you see Grandma, smile and tell her how nice she looks.”

Grandma sat all by herself in a comer of the room they called the sun parlor.She sat looking out at the trees.

Eleanor hugged Grandma.“Look,”she said,“we brought you a present—your favorite, strawberry ice cream!”

Grandma took the Dixie cup and the spoon and began eating without saying a word.

“I’m sure she’s enjoying it, dear,”Eleanor’s mother assured her.

“But she doesn’t seem to know us.”Eleanor was disappointed.

“You have to give her time,”Mother said.“She’s in new surroundings, and she has to make an adjustment.”

But the next time they visited Grandma it was the same.She ate the ice cream and smiled at them, but she didn’t say anything.

“Grandma, do you know who I am?”Eleanor asked.

“You’re the girl who brings me the ice cream,”Grandma said.

“Yes, but I’m Eleanor, too, your granddaughter.Don’t you remember me.”She asked, throwing her arms around the old lady.

Grandma smiled faintly.

“Remember?Sure I remember.You’re the girl who brings me ice cream.

Suddenly Eleanor realized that Grandma would never remember her.Grandma was living in a world all her own, in a world of shadowy memories and loneliness.

“Oh, how I love you, Grandma!”she said.Just then she saw a tear roll down Grandma’s cheek.

“Love,”she said.“I remember love.”

“You see, dear, that’s all she wants,”Mother said.“Love.”

“I’ll bring her ice cream every weekend then, and hug her even if she doesn’t remember me,”Eleanor said.

After all, that was more important—to remember love rather than someone’s name.

埃莉诺不知道奶奶怎么了，她十分健忘，她会忘记糖放在哪儿、何时付账，连何时来接她去买日用杂货和副食品都会忘记。

“奶奶怎么了？”埃莉诺问妈妈。“她显得忧伤迷茫，还总记不住事，可她以前做事总是井然有序的。”

“奶奶只是年纪大了，”妈妈说。“她现在需要许多的爱，亲爱的。”

“变老会是怎么样？”埃莉诺问，“每个老人都健忘吗？我会吗？”

“不是所有人都这样，埃莉诺。奶奶可能是得了老年痴呆症，所以，才这么爱忘事。我们也许该送奶奶去敬老院，在那里，她可以得到更好的照顾。”

“噢，妈妈！那样不好！她会非常想念她的小房子，不是吗？”

“也许会这样，但我们没有别的办法，在敬老院她会得到很好的照顾，还会交新的朋友。”

埃莉诺根本不赞成这个主意，所以很伤心。

“那我们能常去看她吗？”她问。“即便她总忘事，我还是想和她—起聊天。”

“周末我们可以去看望她，”妈妈回答，“还可以带一件礼物。”

“比如冰淇淋?奶奶喜欢草莓味的冰淇淋!”埃莉诺笑了。

“好吧，就是草莓味冰淇淋了!”妈妈说。

第一次去敬老院看望奶奶，埃莉诺想哭。

“妈妈，差不多所有的老人都坐在轮椅里，”她说。

“如果不那样，他们会摔倒的。”妈妈解释道。“好吧，见到奶奶时，你要微笑着对她说她的气色非常好。”

在被称为阳光客厅的一个角落，奶奶独自坐着，眼睛望着窗外的树木。

埃莉诺拥抱着奶奶。“看，”她说，“我们给您带来了您最爱吃的草莓冰淇淋!”

奶奶一语不发地拿着盛冰淇淋的纸杯和小勺吃了起来。

“我认为她吃得很开心，亲爱的，”埃莉诺的妈妈以肯定的口气说。

“可是她好像不认识我们呀。”埃莉诺有些失望地说。

“因为她现在在新环境里，需要调整。你得给她一些时间适应，”妈妈说。

但是，第二次，看望奶奶的情形同样如此，她仍旧不言不语吃着冰淇淋，向她们微笑，“奶奶，您知道我是谁吗？”埃莉诺问。

“你是给我送来冰淇淋的小姑娘呀。”奶奶说。

“是的，可是我也是您的孙女埃莉诺。您不记得了吗？”她边问边用胳膊抱住老人。

奶奶微笑了一下。

“记得？我当然记得。你就是那个给我送来冰淇淋的小姑娘。”

埃莉诺突然间明白奶奶大概再也不会记得她是谁了。奶奶独自生活在一个充满孤独和模糊的记忆的世界里。

“哦，我多么爱您，奶奶。”她说。此时她看见奶奶的脸颊流下一滴泪水。

“爱，”她说。“我记得‘爱’。”

“你看，亲爱的，”妈妈说，“奶奶想要的就是‘爱’”。“那么，每周末我都要带着冰淇淋来看她，拥抱她，即便她不认识我。”埃莉诺说。毕竟，记住爱比记住某人的名字更重要。

assure, ensure, reassure

assure表示“使……相信”。

例：I’ll assure you that I’m right.

我会让你相信我是对的。

ensure的意思是“确保，担保”。

例：I ensure the safety of the journey.我确保这次旅行的安全。

reassure表示“安慰；使安心”。

例：The doctor reassured the old man.

医生叫那位老人放心。

1.Eleanor didn’t know what was_________with Grandma.She was always forgetting things, like where she put the_________, when to pay her bills, and what time to be ready to be picked up for_________shopping.

2.Not everyone forgets things when they_________, Eleanor.We think Grandma may have Alzheimer’s disease, and that makes her forget_________.We may have to put her in a nursing home to get the_________care she needs.