“Senora， un momento por favor？” she turned her head and noticed the small shriveled man， his brown face lined with a map to places only he knew. “Thanks for helping my grandson Julio to read，” the gentleman said in his faltering broken English. She immediately thought of Julio， who once as unreachable as a hardened walnut， slowly cracked opened to reveal the eager child inside. She thought of the inner struggle Julio must have had as he tried to make sense of the foreign letters and the sudden joy when he had unbroken the mysterious code. Was the grandfather the same？ She looked up at this elderly gentleman， probably his grandfather， and quickly recognized the sameness of the two. “Gracias Senora” a weathered hand came out and firmly grasped hers with warmth that radiated from his soul to hers. Just as abruptly he removed his hand and left her. As he walked away she thought of that exotic sun and realized maybe it was closer to her than she thought.
今天周几，周二还是周三？她一直带着学生们进行那似乎永无休止的复习。这件事我好像昨天刚刚做过啊？还是去年做的？烦死了，怎么都赶到一块儿了。“史密斯小姐，我去下洗手间可以吗？”正要迈腿跑出去的乔治，停下来问道。我是第几次听到这样的话了？她想着，随口答道：“好的。”然后她看着他跑出了教室。
她坐在桌旁，眼睛凝视着学生，脑子却不停地在想下班后该做些什么事情。我今晚该去健身房或是该去市场买点吃的东西。她机械地继续上她的课，给学生讲字母“a”。“‘a’怎么读？”“a，a，a……”学生们异口同声干巴巴地读着。时间一分一秒地过去了，似乎在嘲笑她这无聊单调的一天。
该下课了吧？正想着，教室的电话响了，她叹口气，起身，走过学生的课桌去接电话。话筒那端的声音似乎传自百英里之外。哦，我多希望我现在不是在这儿，而身处异国他乡啊。她的思绪飞到了异国情调浓郁的墨西哥卡波海滩，去年她在那儿度过了愉快的暑假：慵懒地躺在沙滩上，任由阵阵微风轻吻她的肌肤，那种惬意、恬静的感觉，至今记忆犹新。
“史密斯小姐，你在听我讲话吗？”秘书有点儿不耐烦地问道。“哦，抱歉。刚才你说什么了？”“麻烦你让卡拉到我办公室来一趟。”秘书更加不耐烦地说。“哦，当然可以。”说着，她挂断了电话。她转过身来叫了卡拉的名字。卡拉是这个班上众多的贫困生之一。她抬起头，松散的头发像堆稻草，满脸污垢，活像《绿野仙踪》里的稻草人。“你到办公室去一趟。”她对慢慢抬起头的卡拉说道。“为什么让我去？”卡拉嘀咕道。“让你去你就去——快去吧！”卡拉出去了，她匆忙地转回身。卡拉可能是去领免费校服的。如果有人打电话来说些好听的或是对我做的这些讨厌的工作表示感谢该多好。她叹了口气，走回去，学生们都耐心地等着她。
这无尽单调的工作重复了一下午。最后，解放的钟声终于响了。她把学生带出教室，就像母鸡带着小鸡崽儿回窝似的。她看到学生的妈妈们都在铁门外热切地期待着。当她路过走廊时，满载西班牙音乐气息的空气迎面扑来。她欣慰地看着孩子们离开，回到充满欢声笑语的家，而自己却不得不重又回到那无尽的单调和无聊中。
“夫人，您好，可以打扰您几分钟吗？”她扭过头，一个窘迫的男子出现在她面前，他那棕色的面庞布满皱纹。“谢谢您给予我孙子胡里奥的帮助。”他用蹩脚的英语说道。她忽然想起了胡里奥，外表看起来那么不易接近，后来渐渐地敞开了他充满渴盼的内心世界。她想胡里奥一定在暗下决心努力学好外语，并会为每次进步而欢欣鼓舞。这位祖父也和他的孙子一样吗？她抬头看了看这位老人，很快便找到了两人的共同之处。“谢谢您，夫人！”老人用那只饱经沧桑的手，紧紧握住她的手，他的热情深深地感染了她。很快，他把手又缩了回去，走开了。当他渐渐远去时，她想到了异国的阳光，而且也意识到了，异国的阳光其实就近在咫尺。
记忆填空
1. Sitting the table she gazed at her students while thinking what she would do after work. Maybe I’ll go to the gym or at the market for something to eat tonight.
2. Picking up the receiver the voice seemed a hundred miles away. Oh， how I I were anywhere here. Her mind wandered to the exotic beach of Cabo， Mexico， where she had her last summer break.
3. She thought of the inner struggle Julio have had as he tried to sense of the foreign letters and the sudden when he had unbroken the mysterious code.
佳句翻译
1. 时间一分一秒地过去了，似乎在嘲笑她这无聊单调的一天。
2. 当她路过走廊时，满载西班牙音乐气息的空气迎面扑来。
3. 当他渐渐远去时，她想到了异国的阳光，而且也意识到了，异国的阳光其实就近在咫尺。
短语应用
1.“Oh， of course，”she replied as she hung up the phone.
hang up：挂断电话；搁置，拖延
2. She thought of the inner struggle Julio must have had as he tried to make sense of the foreign letters and the sudden joy when he had unbroken the mysterious code.
make sense of：理解，弄懂