It all started on 16-year-old Rick’s first day at high school. Like many proud parents, Carol and Dale, Rick’s mum and dad, saw him off to school with a big wave from the doorstep. That evening Rick complained about how ________ they were. This gave Dale who has an artificial limb (假肢) a great idea.

The next morning as Rick stepped onto the bus outside his house, he could hear all of his school friends ________ something. He turned around and to his great surprise, there was his dad,________ as an American football player, complete with ball and helmet (头盔). But that was just a ________. For the next 180 school days, rain or shine. Dale appeared there in a ________ costume. One day he was a king waving his sword (剑), the next a cook in his cooking hat, the following Wonder Woman...Dale even made other members of the ________ take part, using Rick’s younger brother to play Batman alongside his Robin.

________, Dale only spent $50 on all of his costumes. He got lots of costumes from the family fancy-dress collection and then there were several friends happy to help.

Some of Rick’s friends didn’t find it interesting, but most of them looked forward to seeing what Dale would be wearing. And Dale also found international fans for his dressing up too, as each day Carol took photo of her husband in fancy dress and ________ it on their blog which became a hit on the Internet. Even Rick was finally able to see the funny side and realized his dad was very ________ after all.

But all good things must come to an end and on the last day of school, Dale showed up as a soldier and stood next to a sign ________ “It’s been fun waving at the bus. Have a great summer.” He has no plans to wave Rick off to school next year. Instead, he’s going to do something else.

I thought Dad didn’t love me, because he never kissed me. And of course, he ______ said “I love you” to me, either.

When I was in middle school, Dad set up a food stand (食品摊) on the street near my ______. Every day when I finished school, my classmates and I would ______ his food stand. But I really ______ talking to Dad in front of his food stand. One night, I couldn’t ______ it any more and shouted, “Dad, could you stop selling your stupid noodles? I don’t need a ______ who sells noodles on the street!” At that moment, Dad was ______. But he said ______ and there were some tears and sadness in his eyes. Then I saw Dad crying for the ______ time. My mom later told me Dad sold noodles to save money ______ my college education. Until now I still feel guilty(愧疚的) for that night.

Time really flies. I ______ school and then left my home to work. When I was ______from home, Dad never wrote or telephoned me, ______ he always asked my mother to telephone me. Whenever my mother was telephoning me, he’d sit beside her with a list of questions. He asked my mother to talk to me for him. That’s the way he is, and that’s ______ he shows his love to me. It’s beyond(超越) ______, and it is something special—“a silent (沉默的) father’s love”.

“Poor Grandma! I wish we could do something to cheer her up.” Amy said to her brother Mark.

Grandma fell and hurt her ________. The doctor said she would be in bed for six weeks. Grandma was very active and loved to ________ in her garden, so she would not like to sit in her chair ________ her leg to become well again.

“I have a(n) ________,” said Mark. “I saw some pictures of terrariums (栽培盒) in a magazine.”

Terrariums are little indoor gardens which we can grow in glass bottles. Let’s make a terrarium for Grandma, so she can enjoy a garden in her house.”

Amy agreed, ________ the two of them found the magazine which told them how to make a terrarium and showed it to their mother. She helped Amy and Mark find a large clear glass bottle. After a trip to the garden shop to buy the materials, they began to ________ the terrarium.

First, they put some drainage material (排水材料) at the bottom of the bottle. This would keep the soil (土壤) from getting too ________. Next, they added some dark, rich soil.

Now they were ready to add the plants. Amy chose two plants at the garden shop. One was tall with long thin green leaves. The other was short with bright pink flowers. To make the terrarium even more ________, Amy placed rocks of different colours and bright green moss (苔藓) around the plants. ________, they watered the plants.

When Amy and Mark showed Grandma her new terrarium, she was so ________. Now she had a beautiful little garden to enjoy right inside her house.