“... I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days.” —Henry Green
When Henry wrote that line, he was 1 the Walden Pond he knew as a boy.
Woodchoppers and the Iron Horse had not yet greatly damaged the 2 of its setting. A boy could go to the pond and lie on his 3 against the seat of a boat, 4 floating from shore to shore while the loons(潜鸟) dived and the swallows dipped around him. Henry loved to 5 such sunny hours and summer days.
Sun and Summer are 6 what they always were, but the boy and the pond 7 . The boy,who is now a man, no longer find much time for lazy 8 . The pond has been occupied by a great city. The swamps where herons(苍鹭) once were hunted are now dry and filled with houses. The bay where lilies 9 floated is now a harbor for motor boats. In 10 , everything that the boy loved no longer 11 —except in the mans memory of it.
Some people insist that only today and tomorrow 12 . But how much poorer we would be if we really 13 by that rule! So much of what we do today is useless and soon 14 . So much of what we hope to do tomorrow never 15 .
The past is the bank in which we 16 our most valuable possession: the 17 that give meaning and depth to our lives.
Those who truly 18 the past will not be sad at the passing of the good old days, because days kept in memory are never 19 . Death itself is powerless to still a remembered voice or erase a remembered smile. And for Henry, there is a 20 which neither time nor tide can change, where ha can still spend a quiet hour in the sun.
1. A. referring to B. pointing at
C. speaking of D. thinking of
2. A. beauty B. reputation
C. value D. use
3. A. leg B. arm
C. back D. stomach
4. A. proudly B. excitedly
C. unhappily D. lazily
5. A. recover B. reproduce
C. recall D. remove
6. A. also B. still
C. even D. already
7. A. dismissed B. left
C. lost D. changed
8. A. diving B. floating
C. swimming D. bathing
9. A. slowly B. naturally
C. quietly D. quickly
10. A. turn B. short
C. need D. time
11. A. appears B. lives
C. exists D. remains
12. A. act B. count
C. perform D. affect
13. A. worked B. lied
C. lived D. acted
14. A. forgotten B. removed
C. decreased D. rejected
15. A. approaches B. arises
C. arrives D. rises
16. A. hide B. knock
C. store D. put
17. A. reward B. gifts
C. memories D. medals
18. A. admire B. know
C. recognize D. treasure
19. A. rejected B. lost
C. missed D. avoided
20. A. harbor B. pond
C. river D. lakeendprint