母親的智慧

重慶市墊江中學 周 建

母親在孩子的成長中扮演著重要的角色。 她似乎總是能在孩子陷入困境時，想出一個又一個辦法，幫助孩子渡過難關……

題材體裁 文章詞數 建議用時生活 記敘文約383 7分鐘

難詞探意

1. sheepishly /??i?p??li/ adv. 不好意思地；羞怯地

2. jelly /?d?eli/ n. 果醬

3. exotic /?ɡ?z?t?k/ adj. 異國風味的；奇異的

4. spinach /?sp?n?t?/ n. 菠菜

5. snarky /?snɑ?ki/ adj. 尖銳批評的

My older brother, older sister, and I were in grade school. One day I came home, feeling frustrated. I sheepishly asked my mom to no longer put Middle Eastern food in my lunch.

She and my father became quiet. My mother, through questioning, got me to reveal that the other students gave me a very difficult time when I pulled out food that didn't look like everybody else's. So I asked,“From now on, could we do peanut butter and jelly on Wonder Bread and an apple?”

And then my brother and sister piped in and said they'd like the same because they were going through it as well.There were no African Americans in my school and there were no Asians. I don't think there was anybody from India or Latin America. It was primarily a homogenous community. In the midst of that, our family was slightly exotic. My father was from Syria and my mom was from Palestine. We had looks that were different; we had food that was different, and we had holiday customs that were not the same as everybody else's.Sometimes we could stick out.

My mother didn't say too much when I brought up the lunch issue. But about a week later the teacher announced that we were going to have some sort of a special food event. The next day at lunch, unbeknownst to me, in came my mother with boxes and trays of Middle Eastern food. The teacher introduced her. “This is Mrs Nimen. This is Tom's mom.” She pulled out the food. She started serving the kids kibbeh. “Try this,” she said. “Here's some fataya—these are little bread pies and they have meat in them, or spinach, pine nuts and onions.” She had baked bread for the entire class to take home.

Let me tell you about my mother: She was an artist. She dressed like an artist; she spoke like an artist; she had the attitude of an artist. She was charming and funny. And most importantly, she was full of wisdom. A week earlier these snarky kids who made fun of everything that I was eating are now enjoying my mom's food!

Reading Check

1. What made the author go through a difficult time at school?

A. The author's food. B. The author's nature.

C. The author's clothes. D. The author's behavior.

2. What does the underlined phrase “stick out” in paragraph 3 mean?

A. Stay patient. B. Stand out.

C. Feel embarrassed. D. Pay out.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A. The author preferred artists much.

B. Artists make life more meaningful.

C. Wisdom is the most important in life.

D. The food from the author's mother was tasty.

4. Which of the following can best describe the author's mother?

A. Knowledgeable. B. Particular.

C. Sensible. D. Selfless.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

My mother, through questioning, got me to reveal that the other students gave me a very difficult time when I pulled out food that didn't look like everybody else's.

【點石成金】該句中My mother為主語，got為主句謂語動詞，that引導一個賓語從句，when引導一個時間狀語從句。