Cathy Free

如果天氣允許的話，艾爾每天早上4：30起床，開車行駛10余公里到海濱，在那里待2個小時。

主題語境：人與社會 篇幅：331詞 建議用時：6分鐘

1Almost eight years ago, Al Nixon decided to begin each day from a bench with a wonderful view of the St. Pe?tersburg, Florida waterfront (海 濱).“I call it‘life rising’,because watching a sunrise makes me feel centered before starting my day,”said Nixon,who works for the city's water department.

2A year later, a woman stopped to say hello, and she said something that changed his view on his daily ritual.“She said,‘You know, every morning when I see you sit?ting here,I know that everything is going to be OK,’”Nixon recalled.“That's when I knew I needed to pay attention to the people walking past.I needed to make eye contact and let people know that we mattered to each other.”

3Instead of staring (凝視) straight ahead at the waterfront, Nixon started smiling at people and making conversations. And pretty soon, more than a few early risers began joining him on the bench, sometimes unburdening themselves and sometimes asking him for advice about relationships,careers,and other personal problems.

4“I was happy to listen,”Nixon said.“I wanted them to walk away knowing they didn't have to feel alone.”So, every morning, weather permitting, Nixon, who has two sons, rises at 4：30 am and drives seven miles to the waterfront, where he'll stay for two hours. His openness to listen has led some to nickname him“the Sunshine Mayor”. No matter what problem a person wants to air, Nixon lends an ear.“Every person who stops by the bench deserves my attention,”Nixon said.

5Some people sit down and don't want to talk at all. They simply want to sit next to someone and share the silence.“A woman stopped once and said,‘I just want to sit here with you,’”Nixon recalled.“We stared at the water for an hour, and then she said thank you and walked away. She just wanted a moment of peace and to know she wasn't alone.

And in that moment,she truly wasn't.”

Reading Check

1.How does Nixon feel while watching a sunrise?

A.Confused.

B.Worried.

C.Focused.

D.Satisfied.

2.What caused Nixon to care about people walking by him?

A.A woman's words.

B.Nixon's curiosity.

C.Nixon's sons'advice.

D.A woman's silent sitting with Nixon.

3.Why is Nixon nicknamed the Sunshine Mayor?

A.He enjoys sunshine very much.

B.He's glad to listen to others.

C.He offers passers?by communication skills.

D.He encourages people to enjoy sunshine.

4.What does the underlined word“air”in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A.Declare.

B.Solve.

C.Express.

D.Choose.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Useful expressions

watch a sunrise 看朝霞

daily ritual 日常儀式

make eye contact 進行眼神交流

stare at 凝視

unburden oneself 吐露心事

Weather permitting,...天氣允許的話，……

Ⅱ.熟詞生義

I needed to make eye contact and let people know that wematteredto each other. 我需要（跟路人）進行眼神交流，并讓人們知道我們對彼此都很重要。

matterv.有重大影響；要緊

e.g.The children matter more to her than anything else in the world.對于她來說，在這個世界上沒有比孩子更重要的了。