The Most Meaningful Handmade Card

楊慶春

在生活中，有很多類型的卡片，如新年賀卡、明信片、感謝留言卡片等，它們傳遞著人與人之間的情誼和祝福，是維系感情的紐帶。小安妮在最困難的時候收到同學寄來的一張卡片，獲得了很大的支持和鼓勵。那么小安妮又是怎樣感恩的呢？請閱讀此文分享感恩帶來的快樂。

My name is Anne. When I was 9 years old， I received my first handmade card. It was from one of my classmates. He had just moved to New Jersey from South Korea. He had a hard time adjusting（適應）to his new school， and I helped him. He wanted to show his appreciation（欣賞，感激） but didn’t know how to express himself. So he made me a card. It was a folded （折疊的）piece of paper from his notebook， with a picture he’d drawn on the front. There were only a few sentences inside but those words meant a lot to me at the time.

Since then， I have known how special handmade cards can be. They take time and effort to make and feel very personal. Like photographs can be stored and looked back on. I think you can make your own unique（獨一無二的）card with supplies you have at home. Or you can buy a card from a store. The most important thing of a card is the message you write inside.

Do you know how to write the message in a handmade card？ The following steps can give you some help.

The first step is to think of a person for whom you’d like to make a card. Will you give it to a friend or a family member？ Or is it for someone you don’t know that well but who might need a little encouragement？

Next， think about what kind of card you’d like to make. There are many types： Thank-you cards， congratulations cards， holiday cards， and I’m-sorry cards.

Now it’s time to gather your thoughts. For me， this is the hardest but most rewarding part. A big tip for writing a card is to keep the person you’re making it for in mind while you work. You can ask yourself some questions while writing： What are your favorite memories of that person？ What do you appreciate most about him or her？ Your words can be as sweet or as funny as you want. If they’re personal， the message will be special.

Last， sign your name at the bottom. Don’t forget to include the date， in case the recipient keeps the card to reread sometime far in the future.

It can be hard to put your feelings into words. But getting a handmade card or letter can make someone who needs it feel appreciated.

根據文章內容，回答問題。

1. How old was Anne when she received her first handmade card？

2. Why did Anne’s classmate give her a handmade card？

3. What does Anne think is the most important thing of a card？

4. Where is the right place to sign the name inside the card？

5. What’s the passage mainly about？

Keys：

1. Nine. / 9 years old.

2. Because she helped him. / Because he wanted to show his appreciation.

3. The message people write inside.

4. At the bottom.

5. Anne’s story/experience of receiving a handmade card and how to write the message in a handmade card.