記憶中的祖父

山東李艷芳

祖父雖早已不在，但是他留給作者的，卻是寶貴的回憶和無價的智慧。

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難詞探意

1.crisp/kr?sp/adj.寒冷的

2.beeswax/'bi?zw?ks/n.蜂蠟

Ever since I was a little girl I have had the security and love of a whole family.I'm sure all of you have lost a loved one,ranging from a dear pet to a beloved family member.I myself have lost many cherished pets,but never in my childhood did I think I would lose a family member.

It was at the beginning of 2002 that my grandfather was found to have cancer.He suffered through two years of it.We did everything we could to help him enjoy a comfortable stay at the hospital,like we taped videos of my soccer games and visited him in Chicago on Halloween.

He fought all he could,but on the day of November 5,2003,he passed away.At that time my parents were visiting him in Chicago,and my other grandparents from Virginia were watching us.Our parents came home early that visit.I still remember that day when they sat all of us down and told us the news.I felt a mix of emotions such as depression,loss,and emptiness.I ran outside into thecrispNovember air and cried silent tears,kneeling at my pets'grave under the bare cherry blossom tree.

Almost a year had passed and we were eating dinner at the dinner table when a discussion started about how we could help find a cure for cancer or make the lives of those people who have it more enjoyable.My older sister Molly and I came up with the idea of selling our honey from our grandparents'hives in Virginia.I came up with the name Hives for Lives and we started our business with the bees.

The business started by taking the honey from our bees and somebeeswax.We left enough for the bees to survive through the winter.I only got stung once!After this we would go through the long process of spinning the honey,filtering the honey with three filters,and then putting the honey in a large tin heater and warming it until it was drippy and easily bottled in one of our glass jars.Then we would cap the newly filled jars and label them.We did this all by ourselves!

This year we added beeswax candles and lip balm(護唇膏)of many flavors to the product line.We were selling it at the events or stores.Last year,we raised $2,000 for the American Cancer Society and all of it went to a camp for children who have cancer.This year,with a few of our friends,Molly and I spent a lot of our time making beeswax candles and beeswax lip balm.With a lot of help,we raised $9,300!

I learned many things from our grandfather such as to live life to its fullest,proper grammar,the love of literature,and to take risks in life.We are put on this Earth to do well and to help those around us.We are all capable of that if we try.

Reading Check

1.How long did the author's grandfather suffer from cancer?

2.How did the author feel after knowing her grandfather's passing away?

3.Who put forward the idea of selling grandparents'honey?

4.What did the author learn from her grandfather?

Language Study

Difficult sentence

I myself have lost many cherished pets,but never in my childhood did I think I would lose a family member.我自己已經失去了許多珍貴的寵物，但在我的童年，我認為我永遠不會失去任何一個親人。

【點石成金】該句由兩個并列句組成，其中but后面為一個部分倒裝句。