Students'sweet act at lunchtime

安徽太湖中學 周艷霞

精彩導讀

“勿以善小而不為，勿以惡小而為之。”Kirby是一個患有神經纖維瘤病的孩子，以前沒有人接近他，但是，四位充滿愛心的同學在午餐時和他坐在了一起，從此，他融入了班級，獲得了自信，生活由此翻開了新的一頁。

體裁 記敘文 文章詞數 5 7 5 難度指數 ★★題材 校園生活 建議用時 1 0′

For the past four years，16-year-old Andrew Kirby would get the same text from his mom at lunchtime，“Are you sitting with anyone？ ”And every time，Kirby gave her the same short answer，“No.”

Kirby would sit at a table alone，hoping no one would notice he was by himself as he hid behind his cell phone.His mom，Kay，prayed（祈禱）daily he would make a new friend—but somehow，she always ended up disappointed.

This year，on Kirby's first day back as a junior at Boiling Springs High School in South Carolina，Kay's prayers were answered.

Kirby took a seat by himself at a lunch table on Aug.20.As usual，he got a text from his mom asking if he was alone.But this time，to Kay's surprise，Kirby didn't answer.

Hours later，when she arrived to pick him up，she found out why.

“Mom，I didn't sit alone！”Kirby exclaimed（大聲疾呼）as he entered Kay's car.

“Wow，that's great！”Kay said，before asking about his new friends.

Kirby explained he was sitting by himself at lunch when he was approached by four students who asked him to join them at their table.Kirby happily agreed.

“Over the years he has sat alone and it's always bothered me and my husband.I can picture him sitting by himself，and he's never had his own peers（同齡人）.”Kay toldFox News，adding she now feels a sense of relief（解脫）.

Kay revealed（透露）that Kirby was born with neurofibromatosis（神經纖維瘤病）—a genetic condition that causes tumors（腫瘤）to grow along the nervous system.The teen has overcome many health issues in recent years，including major back and neck surgeries.

“He's had a lot of challenges，”Kay said.“He's bright，but he's just different.”

Kirby considers himself shy，but once people get to know him，people believe he's far from quiet.However，Kay admitted，someone has to make an effort to get to know him，which is why she's thankful that the Boiling Springs High school students stepped up.

“We just wanted to say thank you to them for not being afraid to be a friend to someone，”she said. “I would cry when I would leave him at school.It gives me peace and it just helps me as a mother to see him with friends.”

Kay shared the students'act of kindness on her Facebook page later that day，along with a photo of her son.The image has since been shared nearly 4，000 times and received more than 1，000 comments.

“Thank you parents of those students who recognized this one boy and included him to your lunch circle，”one Facebook user wrote.

“This is heartwarming.I hope it continues and they become friends.I also wish for others to see this and begin reaching out to spread love，kindness，and friendship.We need more of that in the world，”another added.

Damian Howard，one of the students who invited Kirby to sit with him，told WHNS he was shocked to hear Kirby had sat alone for so long.

“We should have stepped up before and more people should have，too，”Howard said，sharing some advice for other students.“Don't be afraid to meet someone new.Just go out and do it.”

Kay said Kirby now sits with the kids regularly.He even went to the movie theater with them on Saturday.

“He's doing really well.This has given him confidence.He wants to go to school now，”she added.

Reading check

Read the text carefully and answer the following questions.

1.What does the underlined word“picture”in paragraph 9 mean？

A.Describe. B.Imagine.

C.Leave. D.Suppose.

2.What is the students'sweet act in the text？

Language study

Difficult sentence

However，Kay admitted，someone has to make an effort （get） to know him，which is why she's thankful that the Boiling Springs High school students stepped up.

翻譯：________________________________________________________________

【點石成金】make an effort to do意為“盡力做……”。句中which引導的是非限制性定語從句，指代前面的主句內容；why引導的是表語從句；be thankful that...意為“感激……”。

當時沒有人愿意幫助我，這就是我為什么會感激他借錢給我的原因。

At that moment no one would help me，which was why I was thankful that he lent me some money.