Love in a Box

When I was a little girl, I found love in a box all because of a class assignment. On a Friday night I   1   at the dinner table, “My teacher said we have to bring a box, a special box, for our valentines on Monday”.

Mother said, “We’ll see,” and she continued eating.

What did “We’ll see” mean? I had to have that box,   2   my second grade Valentine’s Day would be a disaster. Maybe they didn’t love me enough to help me with my   3   .

All Saturday I waited   4   and with Sunday arriving, my concern increased. However, I   5   that an enquiry about the box would   6   anger or loud voices, for in my house children only asked once. More than that   7   trouble.

Late Sunday afternoon, my father called me into the kitchen. The table was covered with different kinds of colorful   8   . A (n)   9   shoebox rested on top of it.   10   flooded through me when Daddy said, “Let’s get started   11   your project.”

In the next hour my father   12   the shoebox into an impressive valentine box. Colorful paper covered the ugly cardboard with red hearts   13   to what I considered all the right places. He sang while he worked. When he finished, he was so delighted that a   14   smile spread across his face. “What do you think of that?” he asked.

I answered him with a hug.

But inside,   15   danced all the way to my heart. It was the first time that my father had devoted so much   16   to me, for his world consisted only of work.

The holiday party arrived, and my classmates put cards and presents into the valentine boxes. Laughter filled our classroom until dismissal（解散） time   17  .

On the way home, I held out my valentine box for the world to   18   . The love that filled it meant more to me than all the valentines inside.

The valentine box became a symbol of his love that   19   through decades of other Valentine’s Days. My father gave me other gifts through the years, but none   20   compared with the love I felt within the limits of the old, empty shoebox.

1 A. announced                 B. appeared               C. served                  D. sat

2. A. and                          B. but                       C. or                        D. so

3. A. design                      B. plan                      C. idea                      D. project

4. A. sadly                        B. anxiously              C. disappointedly       D. patiently

5. A. found                       B. realized                 C. knew                    D. imagined

6. A. start                         B. cause                    C. mark                    D. produce

7. A. invited                      B. took                     C. saved                   D. had

8. A. boxes                       B. gifts                     C. paper                    D. food

9. A. new                         B. big                       C. attractive              D. empty

10. A. Relaxation               B. Relief                    C. Cheer                   D. Calm

11. A. by                          B. at                         C. in                         D. on

12. A. folded                    B. packed                  C. changed                D. pressed

13. A. joined                     B. attached                C. linked                   D. connected

14. A. slight                      B. brief                     C. broad                   D. confident

15. A. joy                         B. fun                       C. interest                 D. amusement

16. A. money                    B. time                      C. support                 D. hope

17. A. reached                  B. set                        C. spent                    D. came

18. A. accept                    B. respect                 C. admire                  D. recognize

19. A. carried                   B. kept                      C. spread                  D. lasted

20. A. ever                       B. even                     C. yet                       D. still