My teen-age daughter was preparing to return home after having visited her grandparents for a few weeks one summer. Her grandfather gave her 12 post cards .

"Here, write us a few lines every month," he said.

Months passed and the cards remained unused-that is until the day this letter arrived:

"Dear Jennifer,

Life is a series of stages.

As a child, I looked forward to becoming a teenager-that happened.

As a teen-ager ,I looked forward to becoming a young man-that happened.

As a young man, I looked forward to meeting a young woman, in love and becoming a married man-that happened.

As a married man, I looked forward to becoming a father-that happened.

As a father, I looked forward to becoming a grandfather to beautiful ,intelligent grandchildren-that happened.

Then I looked forward to the day they would learn to write-that hasn't happened yet.

Yours Sincerely"

Notes:

(1) stage n.阶段

(2) teenager n.青少年

Exercises:

根据短文选择正确答案：

① Where did Jennifer spend her summer?

A. at home

B. at the seaside

C. at her grandparents'

D. at her uncle's

② What did the grandfather do when Jennifer was preparing to return home?

A. He gave her some cards.

B. He wrote her a note.

C. He told her a story.

D. He gave her a notebook

③ What were the cards should be used for, according to the grandfather?

A. Jennifer should write a few lines on each of the cards every month and post them to him.

B. Jennifer should keep the cards for her memory of the summer.

C. Jennifer should post the cards to her friends.

D. Jennifer should post the cards to their relatives.

④ What happened to the cards?

A. They were tom by Jennifer.

B. They were posted back to the grandfather.

C. They were not used.

D. They were made dirty by Jennifer.

⑤ What was the grandfather's feeling about the incident?

A. angry

B. sad

C. disappointed but still hopefully expecting

D. desperate

32.十二张卡片

一个夏天，我十多岁的女儿在她祖父母家过了几周。她准备回家时，祖父给了她十二张卡片。

“每月给我们来个短信，”他说。

几个月过去了，可卡片一直放在那儿没用----直到有一天来了这样一封信：

“亲爱的詹妮芙：

生活是一系列阶段组成的。

还是个孩子的时候，我期待着成为一个青少年----我如愿以偿了。

还是个年轻人的时候，我期待着遇到一个年轻的女人，恋爱、结婚----我如愿以偿了。

结了婚，我便期待着成为一个父亲----我如愿以偿了。

作为父亲，我期待着成为一个祖父，有漂亮、聪明的孙儿孙女----我也如愿以偿了。

接着，我期待着有一天他们能给我写信----我却还没有如愿以偿。

练习参考答案：

①C②A③A④C⑤C