When my son unexpectedly volunteered for the Marines（美国海军陆战队）, I was busy writing my novels and giving little thought to the men and women in the army .
My son John Schaeffer, recently came home       from the Middle East. He slowly appeared from a broken car. John       all night from a base near Washington,       he had landed the day before. He did not want me to       him there. “I need time to myself,” my son said       calling from Kuwait on the way home.
I gave my wife a head start. Mother       son. “I was so worried,” Genie said. She pulled away to look up again and again to       he was really there.
My wife gave me a great gift:        alone with my boy. John was tired and lay      on his bed. I lay down next to him and was grasping his hand the whole time. I just wanted to be certain that the nightmares I’d had about John being killed were     .
I kept holding my son, the way I       when he was two and came into our bed after a       dream. I asked John if he’d rather sleep than talk, and he said there would be time for       later.
With the       over, under and around me came incredible tiredness. I slept with his voice dying away. It was the first good       I’d had in months. I woke and John was asleep next to me. Sitting by his bed watching him breathe, I found myself praying and       for all the fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands and wives of those who were not coming home. For the first time in my life, I was weeping for       .
Before my son went to war I would never have shed tears for them. My son       me. He taught me that our men and women in uniform are not the “    ”. They are our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. Sometimes shedding tears for strangers is a holy        . Sometimes it’s all we can do.

A．angry B．alive C．frightened D．excited

A．drove B．was driving C．had driven D．would have driven

A．when B．where C．which D．who

A．meet B．congratulate C．permit D．accept

A．once B．when C．unless D．since

A．abandoned B．patted C．concluded D．embraced

A．make sure B．set down C．get across D．make sense

A．period B．chance C．time D．moment

A．expanded B．stretched C．extending D．spreading

A．facts B．truth C．proofs D．lies

A．used to B．ought to C．should D．must

A．happy B．cheerful C．scary D．dull

A．advice B．discussion C．talk D．sleep

A．chat B．worries C．meeting D．curiosity

A．conversation B．observation C．sleep D．difficulty

A．crying B．cursing C．screaming D．regretting

A．friends B．neighbors C．strangers D．soldiers

A．persuaded B．changed C．frightened D．accused

A．another B．other C．others D．one

A．function B．adventure C．duty D．shame