【释义】n. 栖息地；常去的地方 vt. 常出没于……；萦绕于…… vi. 出没
【短语】haunt about经常出没于
falter
【释义】n. 踌躇；支吾；颤抖 vi. 支吾；蹒跚地走 vt. 支吾地说
【短语】falter out 支吾地说出，口吃地说出
Tommy，s Papers/ 汤米的作业
A gray sweater hung limply on Tommy，s empty desk，a reminder of the dejected boy who had just followed his classmates from our third-grade room. Soon Tommy，s parents，who had recently separated，would arrive for a conference on his failing schoolwork and disruptive behavior. Neither parent knew that I had summoned the other.
Tommy，an only child，had always been happy，cooperative and an excellent student. How could I convince his father and mother that his recent failing grades represented a broken-hearted child，s reaction to his adored parents，separation and pending divorce？
Tommy，s mother entered and took one of the chairs I had placed near my desk. Soon the father arrived. Good！ At least they were concerned enough to be prompt. A look of surprise and irritation passed between them，and then they pointedly ignored each other.
As I gave a detailed account of Tommy，s behavior and schoolwork，I prayed for the right words to bring these two together，to help them see what they were doing to their son. But somehow the words wouldn，t come. Perhaps if they saw one of his smudged，carelessly done papers...
I found a crumpled tear-stained sheet stuffed in the back of his desk，an English paper. Writing covered both sides-not the assignment，but a single sentence scribbled over and over.
Silently I smoothed it out and gave it to Tommy，s mother. She read it and then without a word handed it to her husband. He frowned. Then his face softened. He studied the scrawled words for what seemed an eternity.
At last he folded the paper carefully，placed it in his pocket，and reached for his wife，s outstretched hand. She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled up at him. My own eyes were brimming，but neither seemed to notice. He helped her with her coat and they left together.
In his own way God had given me the words to reunite that family. He had guided me to the sheet of yellow copy paper covered with the anguished outpouring of a small boy，s troubled heart.
The words，“Dear Mom...Dear Daddy...I love you...I love you...I love you.”
一件灰色套衫搭在汤米的空课桌上，让人想起这个情绪低落的男孩，他刚随同学从三年级教室出去。汤米最近 分居的父母马上就要来学校参加一个会谈，讨论他每况愈下的学习成绩和捣蛋行为。父母双方都不知道我叫了 对方来。
汤米是个独子，他快乐阳光，乖巧听话，而且是个出色的学生。他近来学习成绩下降，这是一个心碎的孩子对 他敬爱的父母分居和即将离异的反应，我怎样才能使他的父母明白呢？
汤米的母亲进屋后坐在我桌旁的其中一把椅子上。不一会儿他的父亲也来了。不错！至少他们还够关心他，能 准时来校。他们互相交换了一下惊奇和气恼的眼色，然后明显地无视对方。
当我详细叙述汤米的表现和学习情况时，我苦苦寻求恰当的语言把汤米学习下降和他们要离婚联系起来，帮助 他们认识到他们对孩子做了一些什么。但是不知怎么的就是找不到适当的话，或许如果他们看看汤米的一纸脏 污、漫不经心写的作业……
我在他桌子深处找到一张皱巴巴的满是泪迹的纸。那是张英语作业纸，正反两面潦潦草草地写满了字——但不 是布置的作业，而是一句简单的话翻来覆去潦草地写。
我默默地把它捋平，递给了汤米的母亲。她看完后没吭一声给了她丈夫。他先是皱着眉，而后脸色变温和了。他仔细盯着潦草的字看，看了很久。
最后，他小心翼翼地折起纸，把它放进口袋里，手伸向他妻子伸出的手。她擦去眼里的泪水，抬头微笑地看着 丈夫。我也热泪盈眶，但是他们俩谁也没注意到。他给她穿上外套，两人一起离开了。
上帝以他自己的方式给了我重组那个家庭的话语。他引导我朝向那张黄色的作业纸，上面是一个小男孩焦虑心 情的痛苦流露。
上面写的是：“亲爱的妈妈……亲爱的爸爸……我爱你们……我爱你们……我爱你们。”
limply
【释义】adv. 柔软地；四肢无力地，软绵绵地
dejected
【释义】adj. 沮丧的，灰心的
separated
【释义】v. 分开；隔开 adj. 分开的；分居； 不在一起生活的
【短语】be separated from 与……分离；be separated by 被……分离
disruptive
【释义】adj. 破坏的；分裂性的；制造混乱的
【短语】disruptive technologies 破坏性技术；
disruptive behavior 破坏性行为
cooperative
【释义】n. 合作社 adj. 合作的；合作社的
【短语】cooperative learning 合作学习；
cooperative production 合作生产，联产
represent
【释义】vt. 代表；表现；描绘；回忆；再赠送 vi. 代表；提出异议
【短语】represent for 代表，象征
The Potato Puppy/ 土豆小狗
My four-year-old son，Shane，had been asking for a puppy for over a month，but his daddy kept saying，“No dogs！ A dog will dig up the garden and chase the ducks and kill our rabbits. No dog， and that，s final！”
Each night Shane prayed for a puppy，and each morning he was disappointed when there was no puppy waiting outside.
I was peeling potatoes for dinner，and he was sitting on the floor at my feet asking for the thousandth time，“Why won，t Daddy let me have a puppy？”
“Because they are a lot of trouble. Don，t cry. Maybe Daddy will change his mind someday，”I encouraged him.
“No，he won，t，and I，ll never have a puppy in a million years，”Shane wailed.
I looked into his dirty，tear-streaked face. How could we deny him his one wish？ So I said the words that were first spoken by Eve，“I know a way to make Daddy change his mind.”
“Really？”Shane wiped away his tears and sniffed.
I handed him a potato.“Take this and carry it with you until it turns into a puppy，” whispered.“Never let it out of your sight for one minute. Keep it with you all the time，and on the third day，tie a string around it and drag it around the yard and see what happens！”
Shane grabbed the potato with both hands.“Mama，how do you make a potato into a puppy？”He turned it over and over in his little hands.
“Shh！ It，s a secret！”I whispered and sent him on his way.
Shane faithfully carried his potato around for two days； he slept with it bathed with it and talked to it.
On the third day I said to my husband，“We really should get a pet for Shane. He，s been carrying a potato around with him for days. He calls it Wally and says it is his pet. He sleeps with it on his pillow，and right now he has a string tied to it and he，s dragging it around the yard.”
“A potato？”my husband asked and looked out the window and watched Shane taking his potato for a walk.
“It will break his heart when the potato gets mushy.”said and started getting out food for lunch.“Besides，every time I try to peel potatoes for dinner，Shane cries because he says l，m killing Wally，s family.”
“A potato？”my husband asked.“My son has a pet potato？”
“Well，”I said shrugging，“you said he couldn，t have a puppy. He was so disappointed，in his mind，he decided he had to have a pet.”
“That，s crazy！”my husband said.
“Maybe you，re right，but explain to me why he is dragging that potato around the yard on a string，”I said.
My husband watched our son for a few more minutes.“I guess a puppy can，t be that much trouble，”he sighed.“It，s better than a potato.”
That night Shane，s daddy brought home a wiggling puppy and a pregnant white cat that he took pity on while he was at the shelter.
Everyone was happy. My husband thought he，d saved his son from a nervous breakdown. Shane had a puppy，a cat and five kittens and believed his mother had magic powers that could change a potato into a puppy. And I was happy because I got my potato back and cooked it for dinner.