Better Late Than Never

林鋒

愛可以溫暖他人，也可以凈化自己的心靈。世界需要愛，每個人都付出一點愛，世界將會變得非常美好。在生活中，我們要及時表達對別人的關心愛護，多給予他人溫暖和愛意。請大家閱讀本文，讓我們一起來了解發生在作者身邊的關于愛的故事。

How many times have we said to ourselves， “Oh， I’ll do that tomorrow.” Sometimes tomorrow never comes and we find ourselves saying， “Oh， I wish I hadn’t put that off.”

Our family was friends with Betty for many years. Over the years， we shared phone calls， birthday cards， and much more. Every year， Betty sent our youngest son Brandon a birthday card with five dollars in it. She did this until he graduated （畢業） from high school.

One year， not long after her birthday， I called to see how she was and ask her if she did anything special for her birthday. I was surprised when Betty didn’t answer the phone. Instead， her daughter Carol did. Carol told me that her mom was ill and had gone downhill fast. She was in hospice care （臨終關懷）. Carol gave the phone to Betty. I talked to her and let her know that we loved her. As soon as I got off the phone， I sent a text to Brandon and let him know Betty wasn’t doing well. Brandon stopped what he was doing and sent flowers to Betty.

You can imagine how proud I was of Brandon when Carol called the next day. She told me that Betty loved the flowers very much. Just a few days later， Betty died.

It’s never “too soon” to be kind to others. You never know when it might be “too late” instead.

難句解析：

1. As soon as I got off the phone， I sent a text to Brandon and let him know Betty wasn’t doing well. 我一掛電話，就給 Brandon 發了條短信，告訴他 Betty 的情況不太好。

本句是由連接詞as soon as 引導的時間狀語從句，意為“一……就……”。

As soon as he came back，she told him the news.

他一回來，她就告訴了他這個消息。

2. You can imagine how proud I was of Brandon when Carol called the next day. 你可以想象，當 Carol 第二天打電話來的時候，我為Brandon 感到多么驕傲。

句中“how proud I was of Brandon”視為一個句子，作imagine 的賓語即作賓語從句，how 用來強調 proud 的程度，表示“多么”。

Can you imagine how lovely she is？你能想象她有多可愛嗎？

be proud of sb 意為“以某人為傲”。

Well done！ I am proud of you， my dear.做得好！我為你驕傲，親愛的。

鞏固提高：

1. From Paragraph 2， we learn that _____.

A. Betty didn’t have many friends

B. Betty was living a poor life

C. Betty didn’t have a son of her own

D. Betty was a nice and caring person

2. Who is Carol？

A. The writer.

B. The writer’s son.

C. Betty’s daughter.

D. Betty’s doctor.

3. What did the son do after he got the bad news？

A. He visited Betty at once.

B. He sent Betty some flowers.

C. He sent a text to Betty.

D. He called and talked to Betty.

4. What does the writer want to tell us？

A. Don’t wait to show love for your friends.

B. Be smart to put off certain things.

C. It’s too late to visit a dying person.

D. It’s never too late to make new friends.