Better Late Than Never

林锋

爱可以温暖他人，也可以净化自己的心灵。世界需要爱，每个人都付出一点爱，世界将会变得非常美好。在生活中，我们要及时表达对别人的关心爱护，多给予他人温暖和爱意。请大家阅读本文，让我们一起来了解发生在作者身边的关于爱的故事。

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 （毕业） 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 （临终关怀）. 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.

难句解析：

1. As soon as I got off the phone， I sent a text to Brandon and let him know Betty wasn’t doing well. 我一挂电话，就给 Brandon 发了条短信，告诉他 Betty 的情况不太好。

本句是由连接词as soon as 引导的时间状语从句，意为“一……就……”。

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

他一回来，她就告诉了他这个消息。

2. You can imagine how proud I was of Brandon when Carol called the next day. 你可以想象，当 Carol 第二天打电话来的时候，我为Brandon 感到多么骄傲。

句中“how proud I was of Brandon”视为一个句子，作imagine 的宾语即作宾语从句，how 用来强调 proud 的程度，表示“多么”。

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

be proud of sb 意为“以某人为傲”。

Well done！ I am proud of you， my dear.做得好！我为你骄傲，亲爱的。

巩固提高：

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.