We took the bus from the suburb every early morning that summer 3 years ago. One of the passengers was a small
36 man who took the bus to the centre for senior citizens every morning. He walked with a stoop (佝僂) and a sad look on his face when he, with some difficulty,
37 the bus and sat down alone behind the driver. No one ever paid very much attention to him.
Then one
38 morning he said good morning to the driver and smiled before he sat down. The driver
39 guardedly. The rest of us were silent. The next day, the old man boarded the bus energetically,
40 and said in a loud voice: “And a very good morning to you all!” Some of us looked up, amazed, and murmured “Good morning,”
41 . The following weeks we were more alert (留意的). Our friend was now dressed in a nice old suit and a wide out-of-date
42 . The thin hair had been carefully combed. He said good morning to us every day and we
43 began to nod and talk to each other.
One morning he had a bunch of wild flowers in his hand. The driver
44 smilingly and asked:“Have you got yourself a girlfriend, Charlie?”and he nodded shyly and said yes. The other passengers
45 and clapped at him. Charlie bowed and waved the
46 before he sat down on his seat. Every morning after that Charlie always brought a flower. Some of the
47 passengers began bringing him flowers for his bouquet(花束).
The summer went by, and
48 was closing in, when one morning Charlie wasn't waiting at his usual
49 . When he wasn't there the next day and the day after that, we started wondering if he was sick or —
50 — on holiday somewhere.
One day, we learned from the staff working in the centre for senior citizens that the elderly
51 was fine, but he hadn't been coming to the
52 that week. One of his very close friends had died at the weekend. They
53 him back on Monday. How silent we were the rest of the way to work.
The next
54 Charlie was waiting at the stop, stooping a bit more, a little bit more grey, and without a tie. He seemed to have shrinked（縮�。゛gain. Inside the bus was a
55 . All of us sat with our eyes filled with tears and a bunch of wild flowers in our hands.
| 小題1: | | A．black | B．pale | C．grey | D．brown |
|
| 小題2: | | A．caught | B．climbed | C．braked | D．boarded |
|
| 小題3: | | A．February | B．July | C．October | D．December |
|
| 小題4: | | A．shook | B．sat | C．stood | D．nodded |
|
| 小題5: | | A．cried | B．breathed | C．smiled | D．sighed |
|
| 小題6: | | A．in reply | B．in vain | C．with care | D．in return |
|
| 小題8: | | A．actually | B．surprisingly | C．extremely | D．gradually |
|
| 小題9: | | A．turned around | B．cast down | C．paid off | D．kept up |
|
| 小題10: | | A．whistled | B．resisted | C．ignored | D．agreed |
|
| 小題11: | | A．hands | B．flowers | C．stick | D．bag |
|
| 小題12: | | A．normal | B．ordinary | C．average | D．regular |
|
| 小題13: | | A．autumn | B．winter | C．spring | D．summer |
|
| 小題14: | | A．station | B．stop | C．home | D．seat |
|
| 小題15: | | A．hopefully | B．thoughtfully | C．traditionally | D．apparently |
|
| 小題16: | | A．woman | B．wife | C．husband | D．gentleman |
|
| 小題17: | | A．suburb | B．school | C．centre | D．club |
|
| 小題18: | | A．wondered | B．expected | C．discussed | D．refused |
|
| 小題19: | | A．Tuesday | B．Wednesday | C．Monday | D．Friday |
|
| 小題20: | | A．silence | B．laughter | C．voice | D．passenger |
|
