"Yeah dear, why don't you take Nicole with you, she could be help."



Tanya didn't feel comfortable having a company at that time but she didn't want to change Mike's curiosity in to suspicion so she said OK.



All the way to the city center, Nicole kept telling her of all the stuff her friends had and what she wanted to buy in response. Tanya wasn't listening. She was just shaking her head in approval of whatever Nicole said. She couldn't possibly have said a word. Her heart was rumbling like a volcano, hitting the rib cage trying to get out to take a look at its long lost love.



The sun was hurrying down now. She was afraid of getting late so she speeded up a little.



"Mom! Aren't we suppose to go to City Center?" Nicole asked seeing her turning to a different street.



"Yes dear but I have to take care of something important before we go shopping, all right?" she said.



"All right." It was OK for Nicole as long as it didn't alter their shopping plan.



The bridge was getting closer and so was logic. Sanity had started penetrating her enthusiasm. The question of "how should I do it?" turned into "why should I do it?" The eclipse of her memories had started declining. She could see the bridge now. She stopped the car a hundred yards away from the bridge.



"Honey! You stay in the car, I'll be back in a few minutes." She said to Nicole without a slight touch of emotions. She didn't wait for her answer, stepped out of the car in a mechanical way and started walking towards the bridge.



Larry was standing on the corner of the bridge, with his back to her. He was looking down the bridge into the running water. She walked for a few yards and then stopped. Larry turned his face towards her. Age seemed to have worn him out. He looked tired as if he had traveled a huge mileage of years. His presence sent no waves of fresh air to clean her heart from the mist of dissatisfaction. He disappointed her again. She hoped to find a ray of hope and he disappointed her hope. She looked back towards the car at her daughter. "I have too much to lose, I don't want to lose my ten years." she decided and turned back. Larry ran after her but she had reached her car. Larry called her with a passionate cry, "Tanya!" She opened the door and sat in. Larry stopped abruptly with shock struck eyes. Tanya turned the car back.



"You are my wish Tanya!" Larry murmured. She stepped on the car. Larry saw her going into the sunset.



"Who was he mommy?" Nicole couldn't catch any idea out of it.



"He was a nobody my dear."



Tanya kept driving into the sunset.



Unit4 Big Tom



If all the males in our company's dormitory, I felt the most affection for Tom. He was a genius, I thought, but the other guys took him for a nut. He came from far away, and at first had a strong Spanish accent. Now, after a year with the company, he spoke English very well. But his English accent had an exaggerated precision that the other guys didn't like. In the crude environment of the dormitory, Tom's accent seemed artificial. But he was a big man, a giant, and strong as an ox, and the others feared him and left him alone.



I on the other hand had a weak constitution. I couldn't digest any real food and lived on little more than coffee. My arms and legs were as thin as stems. And what work did I do there, you may well ask. I was chief garbage man for the dormitory.



Our company had a big project to build a reinforced concretereservoir out I a suburb surrounded by hills. At night a portion of the project was closed to us by means of a big square gate made of brass. One cold evening I was depositing the garbage from supper behind our dormitory when I saw a torch and the shape of a man passing through the grass gate. I walked over.



"I knew it was you," I said to Tom.



"It's open," he said. "Shall we go in?"



"Don't you know we shouldn't ?" I said. "You still haven't adjusted to the company."



"Adjust?" he said. "I'd rather quit. Come. What are you afraid of? Don't you want to investigate this portion?" He knew I did. Already it seemed inevitable that I would to with him. I only feared that the torch would be noticeable on the TV monitor of the chief watchman.



"Turn off the torch," I said, and we walked through the brass square gate. Tom and I penetrated all the way to the crane, and no watchman had yet pursued us. This giant crane was used for moving and placing the reinforced concrete blocks. In the dark we recognized it by its shape-an immense pillar of zigzag rods. At the top of it, we knew, at he peak, would be the flag. And far over our heads, up in the dark sky, would be the crane's giant arm. On the arm was the banner that we saw everyday, with the letters ABC, the initial letters of our company's name. We had ABC written on our shirts, too, and on the chairs and beds with which our dormitory was furnished.



"Let's go up!" said Tom. I laughed-but Tome had spoken in earnest. Strong as he was, he really had no concept of authority.



"Tom, you are a nut!" I said, wanting to show him that I was reluctant. But in the end he convinced me, and we mounted the ladder to the lift. There were two buttons, a red one and a green one. I pressed the latter, just to see if the lift might be operational. It was. I pressed the red button and stopped it. Tome got in. I pressed the green one again and we rose and rose and finally reached the top. We were at the peak of the pillar, just underneath the flag. Even in the dark we were close enough to see it. Before us the crane's giant arm led of like a road into the night. Its rods and all zigzag, made me feel that over there would be, I saw, a square gate, some garbage and a dormitory. But no. Off the end of that zigzag road really would be nothing but dark night. The geometry of the crane scared me.



"Let's walk out to the banner!"



To the banner? Oh, no. This was too much.



"I want to see the ABC!" said Tome. "Come on!" why was his voice so urgent? What did the want that ABC banner for?



"Tom, you are too bold," I said. "You really have no concept….." But he had set off. I was very scared, but somehow rose to the challenge and went with him. It became a contest: who would be the first one to touch the long banner? I was halfway along the arm when I heard the water of the reservoir, far underneath us. It was then that I remembered that the chief crane operator, before stopping his work for the day, would always swing the giant arm so that it projected out over the water. Now I was really scared. I held on to a rod. I could feel the coffee I had drunk could and undigested inside me. I did not have Tom's ox-like constitution.



"Tom!" I said. I did not possess hi boldness, and not his urgency.



"You can't quit now!" Said Tom. But I could not move. I was trapped.



Tom had reached the banner. He was a dark shape, loosening the knots that held the banner to the rods.



" I possess the ABC!" he said got what he wanted. He put his other hand on what he thought was a rod, but it was the wire that would shock him.



They said later that the nuts on the box that surrounded the wire were loose and had come unscrewed. The box had fallen away, and the wire was exposed.



Tome never panicked. He looked at me as if I were far away. But his legs would not hold him up. Wrapped in the banner, he fell, like a baby bird from a nest. It was I who panicked, when I heard him hit and vanish underneath the water of the reservoir. Maybe his fall had not been fatal, but would my beloved Tom now drown? It was possible.



I began to cal for help.



We spent an anxious fortnight in the dormitory. While the others would talk about his vitality, I stared at jeans and socks of the vanishing nut. The dorm was a different place without his precise English. An X-ray scan had revealed that he would need an operation. And of course the big ox had to recover from the exposure to the cold water. There was a mention in the media of Tom's shock and fall, and the TV guys were going to come and see what we were doing at the reservoir project, until their investigation was canceled. But the authorities did investigate our company. Their investigation revealed that the square gate had been left open, and the box surrounding the wire had come off.



The company reinforced the square gate with more brass, and put a new box back onto the arm, screwing its nuts tightly. They tightened up the knots of the new banner, and even put anew banner all down the crane's pillar, this latter one having not only the initials ABC but all the letters of the name of the suburb. And they put a bigger flag on the crane.



The company enhanced the authority of the chief watchman. Now we had to sign in when were came back to the dormitory, and sign out. Even when I took out the garbage in the evening, I had to sign in the and out! Besides, they furnish their chief garbage man with a torch in case I should see any shapes of people



Unit5



The colors of fall rustle through the trees on this brisk October morning in1990. Jason and his sister Joanna get into the car to drive to school. Jason is driving this morning. He has just received his permit and is very anxious to start driving on his own. His sister Joanna is a year older than him and is showing him the finer points of driving. Today, she decides that he should drive to school. He takes the wheel and proceeds slowly down the back roads to Massabesic High School in Waterboro, Maine. These are back country roads and the twists and hairpin turns cause Jason to drive slowly and cautiously. He takes each turn with a bit of bravado and his sister teases him that he is being a "wimp" and to speed up a bit. They will be late for school if he doesn't step on it! He presses the gas pedal down and accelerates but finds it difficult to manage the steering wheel properly. His sister tells him to watch the road teasingly but he turns to tell her a smart remark and doesn't see the embankment ahead of him. Just a second of distraction sends the car down the embankment and the car rolls over and over and hits a tree. Jason's head hits the windshield and he is trapped between that and the steering wheel. He can't breathe and is losing consciousness. Joanna tries desperately to free him, but is unable too. She does the only thing possible and that is to escape out of the open window and find help...fast!



Joanna reaches the house and calls the ambulance for her brother. They arrive within minutes but Jason is unconscious. They have to extricate him with the "Jaws of Life." He is taken to the hospital and for three days he lies between life and death. He is breathing only with the assistance of a respirator. He has limited brain activity. The doctors take Joey aside and tell him that Jason will have extensive brain damage and that there is no real hope that Jason would be normal again. Joey must make a decision whether to turn off the respirator and let Jason die in peace. He decides that is the best decision but it is also the most painful one he has ever made in his life.



Jason and Joey shared a unique bond. They did everything together from the time he was born. When they had a free moment, they would be golfing, skiing, traveling and forming a bond of love remains even beyond the boundaries of life and death. It is a relationship between father and son that is wondrous and forever.



Jason lived only sixteen years but he did so much in his short time on Earth. He was an honor student, a musician, a golf fanatic and a lover of life. He had many, many friends and a zest for living that is quite unlike any I have witnessed. He had the kind of boyish charm and he lit up a room when he entered it. He had a beautiful smile and a kind word for everyone. I have never seen him get angry but he was fun loving and intelligent. I was Jason's godmother and when he was baptized in 1974, he had the coolest priest. The priest had long hair and sandals and beads. He seemed to personify the times of the seventies. I still smile when I think about that priest. Jason cried when I held him for the blessing of the water but not for very long. The ceremony only took a few moments but looking down at Jason, I knew then and there that this was indeed a special child. It turned out my impressions were correct. Joe was an enthusiastic and devoted father to Jason and Joanna. He made sure that he spent time with his children. Time seemed of the utmost importance to him as well as having fun. He always enjoyed life and was a bit of a risk taker. He still is. I do not think I will ever think of my brother Joey without smiling and wishing I had his life. Golf was a passion that Jason and Joe shared.



It was almost religious. They would even attempt to golf when there was a blanket of snow on the golf course. Jason would just put his mittens on and laugh. "I must golf!" he would say, "I love it!"



One year earlier, Jason was pursuing one of his other passions. Skiing. A few of his friends drove up to Sugarloaf Mountain and skied for the whole day. If you know Sugarloaf at all, it is an advanced mountain slope. Jason spent the day schussing and transversing back and forth down the mountain ski trails for many runs up and down the mountain. Sunset was illuminating the snow and there is a group of trees ahead. The sun blinds him for a second and he tries to avoid the trees but misses and falls right onto his ski pole. The ski pole plunges right into his head. There is a gush of blood but Jason recovers enough to make it down the mountain. He drives himself to the emergency room, where the doctors scratch their heads wondering how he did it. There is a strange liquid flowing down the back of his throat. He later finds out that was brain fluid. He was lucky to be alive. The doctors rush to save him and later, when he is in recovery, the doctors tell him that they are amazed at how he is even able to speak to them now. A few days later, Jason is back on the ski slopes like nothing at all happened. He was just that kind of young man. He didn't let one set back make him stop living. He beat the odds and he lived for exactly one extra year. Joe told this story at Jason's funeral. The gift of the "extra" year. His eyes fill up with tears of love and gratitude every time he mentions Jason's name.



Jason's bedroom is a testimony to his personality and his life. He has a collection of model airplanes. The piano still has the sheet music of the song that was Jason's favorite of his time, "Chariots of Fire." Jason was a very outgoing young man. He was an accomplished student, skier, golfer, sportsman and had many, many friends that loved him. I loved Jason very much. I knew that he was destined for a great life, but that was not to be. Joey and Jason share a bond that defies death.



Today, Joey takes in exchange students and his home is open to any one who has a zest for living. He loves to have fun. He isn't one to sit still and let life pass him by. He wants to help young people reach their potentials. He is active in Junior Achievement and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He set up a college fund for the study of music and it would be available to any eligible student who shares Jason's philosophy of being outgoing and hardworking. It is called the Jason Hartley Lincourt Music Scholarship Fund. It is his way of carrying on Jason's musical dreams. Jason lays to rest in by a beautiful Mousam River by bed of roses at Notre Dame Catholic Cemetery, Springvale, Maine. Joey visits him each and every day, along with his wife.

关键字:考研英语

生词表: