Reading(2)：Appreciatingliterature.doc

Passage1_By Victoria Schlintz1.It was an unusually quiet day in the emergency room on December twenty-fifth. Quiet, that is, except for the nurses who were standing around the nurses station grumbling about having to work Christmas Day. 2.I was triage nurse that day and had just been out to the waiting room to clean up. Since there were no patients waiting to be seen at the time, I came back to the nurses station for a cup of hot cider from the crockpot someone had brought in for Christmas. Just then an admitting clerk came back and told me I had five patients waiting to be evaluated. 3.I whined, Five, how did I get five; I was just out there and no one was in the waiting room. 4.Well, there are five signed in. So I went straight out and called the first name. Five bodies showed up at my triage desk, a pale petite woman and four small children in somewhat rumpled clothing. /5.Are you all sick? I asked suspiciously. 6.Yes, she said weakly, and lowered her head. 7.Okay, I replied, unconvinced, whos first? One by one they sat down, and I asked the usual preliminary questions. When it came to descriptions of their presenting problems, things got a little vague. Two of the children had headaches, but the headaches werent accompanied by the normal body language of holding the head or trying to keep it still or squinting or grimacing. Two children had earaches, but only one could tell me which ear was affected. The mother complained of a cough, but seemed to work to produce it. 8.Something was wrong with the picture. Our hospital policy, however, was not to turn away any patient, so we would see them. When I explained to the mother that it might be a little while before a doctor saw her because, even though the waiting room was empty, ambulances had brought in several, more critical patients, in the back, she responded, Take your time, its warm in here. She turned and, with a smile, guided her brood into the waiting room. 9.On a hunch (call it nursing judgment), I checked the chart after the admitting clerk had finished registering the family. No address - they were homeless. The waiting room was warm. /10.I looked out at the family huddled by the Christmas tree. The littlest one was pointing at the television and exclaiming something to her mother. The oldest one was looking at her reflection in an ornament on the Christmas tree. 11.I went back to the nurses station and mentioned we had a homeless family in the waiting room - a mother and four children between four and ten years of age. The nurses, grumbling about working Christmas, turned to compassion for a family just trying to get warm on Christmas. The team went into action, much as we do when theres a medical emergency. But this one was a Christmas emergency. /12.We were all offered a free meal in the hospital cafeteria on Christmas Day, so we claimed that meal and prepared a banquet for our Christmas guests. 13.We needed presents. We put together oranges and apples in a basket one of our vendors had brought the department for Christmas. We made little goodie bags of stickers we borrowed from the X-ray department, candy that one of the doctors had brought the nurses, crayons the hospital had from a recent coloring contest, nurse bear buttons the hospital had given the nurses at annual training day and little fuzzy bears that nurses clipped onto their stethoscopes. We also found a mug, a package of powdered cocoa, and a few other odds and ends. We pulled ribbon and wrapping paper and bells off the departments decorations that we had all contributed to. As seriously as we met physical needs of the patients that came to us that day, our team worked to meet the needs, and exceed the expectations, of a family who just wanted to be warm on Christmas Day. 14.We took turns joining the Christmas party in the waiting room. Each nurse took his or her lunch break with the family, choosing to spend their off duty time with these people whose laughter and delightful chatter became quite contagious. 15.When it was my turn, I sat with them at the little banquet table we had created in the waiting room. We talked for a while about dreams. The four children were telling me about what they would like to be when they grow up. The six-year-old started the conversation. I want to be a nurse and help people, she declared. 16.After the four children had shared their dreams, I looked at the Mom. She smiled and said, I just want my family to be safe, warm and content - just like they are right now. 17.The party lasted most of the shift, before we were able to locate a shelter that would take the family in on Christmas Day. The mother had asked that their charts be pulled, so these patients were not seen that day in the emergency department. But they were treated. 18.As they walked to the door to leave, the four-year-old came running back, gave me a hug and whispered, Thanks for being our angels today. As she ran back to join her family, they all waved one more time before the door closed. I turned around slowly to get back to work, a little embarrassed for the tears in my eyes. There stood a group of my coworkers, one with a box of tissues, which she passed around to each nurse who worked a Christmas Day she will never forget./1. Think of a proper title for the passage.2. Guess the meanings of the underlined words.3. Find out the six elements of the story (Setting; characters; plot; climax; ending; theme)Word list:triage:伤员分类 n.squint:斜视 vi./n.grimace: 做怪相 v./ncontagious: 感染的，会蔓延的 adj.passage2Its not easy to die when you are only fifteen.Those were the words that began the story I heard from Robert White, a North Carolina factory worker. He and his wife were visiting their daughter Lee in the hospital, as they did every evening, but Lee had already accepted her fate.This particular evening, she seemed calm, but suddenly she said, “I always dreamed of falling in love, getting married, having kids but above all I would have liked to work in a big marine park with dolphins. Ive loved them and wanted to know more about them since I was little. I still dreaming of swimming with them, free and happy in the open sea.”Shed never asked for anything, but now she said with all the strength she had, “Daddy, I want to swim in the open sea among the dolphins just once. Maybe then I wouldnt be so scared of dying.”It seemed like an absurd impossible dream, but she, who had given up just about everything else, hung on to it.Robert and his family talked it over and decided to do everything they could. They had heard of a research center in the Florida Keys, and they phoned them.“Come at once,” they said.When they arrived at Grass Key, Lee didnt want to rest for a minute and begged her parents to take her straightaway to the dolphins. It was an unforgettable scene. Robert took her out toward the dolphins, Nat and Tursi, which were playing about thirty feet away from them. At first they seemed distracted and uninterested, but when Lee called them softly by name, they responded without hesitation. Nat came over first, raised his head and gave her a kiss on the end of her nose. Then Tursi came over and greeted her with little high-pitched squeaks of joy. A second later they picked her up with their mighty fins and carried her out to sea with them.“It feels like Im flying!” cried Lee, laughing with delight.Lees family hadnt heard her laugh like that since she became ill. They could hardly believe it was true. But there she was, gripping Nats fin and challenging the wind and the immensity of the ocean. The dolphins stayed with Lee for more than an hour, always tender, always attentive, never using any unnecessary force, always responsive to her wishes.Maybe its true that they are more intelligent and sensitive creatures than man. What was certain was that those marvelous dolphins understood that Lee was dying and wanted to comfort her as she faced her great journey into the unknown. From the moment they took her in hand, they never left her alone for a second. They got her to play and observed her commands with the sweetness that was magical. In their company, Lee found for one last time the enthusiasm and the will to live. She was strong and happy like she used to be. At one point she shouted, “The dolphins have healed me, Daddy.”The next day she was too weak to get out of bed. She didnt even want to talk, but when Robert took her hand she squeezed it and whispered, “Daddy, dont sad for me. Ill never be afraid again. The dolphins have made me understand that I have nothing to fear.”Just before dawn, Roberts little girl died in his arms a few minutes later. They only realized her suffering was over because her body became colder and heavier.They cremated her as she wanted and went out the next day to scatter her ashes in the ocean amongst the dolphins. They were all crying-not only Lees family, but also the sailors on the boat who had taken them out into the bay. And then, suddenly, through their tears, they saw the great arching silver shape of Nat and Tursi leaping out of the water ahead.As Robert recounted, “They had come to take our daughter home.”1. Why did Robert and his wife decided to do everything they could to help Lee realize her dream?A. It might be the only wish for a girl who was dying soon.B. It was an impossible dream that cant be realized by Lee.C. It was a good way to persuade Lee to be strong in life.D. It was an effective treatment for Lees disorder.2. What does the underlined word mean in paragraph 3?A. nursing B. o