by Olivia Wycech

How can one silly word represent a lifetime of devotion and love?
一個(gè)無(wú)聊的字如何能代表一輩子的忠誠(chéng)和愛(ài)意呢,？


When I was growing up, my grandparents played a special game that involved the word SHMILY. I never understood what that mysterious combination of letters meant, but they would leave it in places for the other to find. SHMILY would turn up in the sugar, written in the frost on the windows, and left on the mirrors after a hot shower, reappearing at the next bath. There would also be notes with SHMILY on them tucked into shoes or left under pillows. The word became as much a part of my grandparents' house as the furniture, and it also became a symbol of their devotion to one another.
It wasn't until I was older that I realized that my grandparents' game wasn't just silliness, but a way of life. It all came to light after my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She battled the disease for over 10 years, and my grandfather lovingly stood by her every step of the way. When she passed away, the word SHMILY was even scrawled on the pink ribbons of my grandmother's funeral bouquet. At the funeral, my grandfather approached my grandmother's casket and, through tears and grief, he began to sing. The deep, throaty lullaby was in honor of the depth of their love, which was something that few people will ever experience, and I was privileged to share its unmatched beauty. The meaning of SHMILY was finally revealed to us as we listened to my grandfather sing his final words to my grandmother—see how much I love you.


1. What was the object of the game played by the grandparents?
(A) To see who could figure out the meaning of SHMILY.
(B) To decorate their house with different words that meant a lot to them.
(C) To leave the word SHMILY in a place where the other person would stumble upon it.
(D) To confuse other people who did not know the true meaning of SHMILY.
2. What did the narrator discover about the game when she was older?
(A) The game was meaningless.
(B) The game was the way her grandparents battled disease.
(C) The game was a symbol of breast cancer.
(D) Instead of being a silly game, it was the foundation of the way they lived their lives.
3. How did the grandfather reveal the meaning of SHMILY?
(A) He put the words on his wife's gravestone.
(B) He sang it in a song.
(C) He made the words out of flowers for her funeral.
(D) He told the family in a meeting before the funeral.
4. What is the word SHMILY a symbol of?
(A) Everlasting love.
(B) Long life.
(C) Death and despair.
(D) A lovely lullaby.

1. mysterious a. 神秘的
2. frost n. 霜
3. battle vt. 與……作戰(zhàn)
4. lovingly adv. 深情地
5. ribbon n. 絲帶；緞帶
6. funeral n. 喪禮
7. bouquet n. 花束
8. casket n. 棺材
9. throaty a. 嘶啞的
10. lullaby n. 搖籃曲
11. unmatched a. 無(wú)與倫比的
12. narrator n. 講述者（本文指作者）
13. gravestone n. 墓碑
14. everlasting a. 永恒的

1. turn up出現(xiàn),；露面
   = show up
2. figure out...想出……,，理解……

It wasn't until I was older that I realized that my grandparents' game wasn't just silliness, but a way of life.

注意
It is / was not until...+ that 子句
直到……才……
此句型為 it is / was 引導(dǎo)的強(qiáng)勢(shì)句構(gòu)，until 可作介詞,，之後接名詞,；until 亦可作連接詞，之後接主詞 + 動(dòng)詞,，形成副詞子句,。
It was not until Helen attended college that she started wearing her hair down.
海倫直到上大學(xué)才開(kāi)始留長(zhǎng)發(fā)。
It was not until 1999 that the small country gained its independence from England.
那個(gè)小國(guó)一直到 1999 年才從英國(guó)獨(dú)立,。

1. devotion n. 忠誠(chéng)
   The boss thanked the retiring employee for his hard work and devotion.
   老板感謝這位即將退休的員工過(guò)去的努力和忠誠(chéng),。
2. involve vt. 與……有關(guān)
   This problem involves solving complicated equations.
   這個(gè)習(xí)題牽涉到如何解決復(fù)雜的方程式。
3. combination n. 組合
   The woman is a combination of wit and kindness.
   該名女子是智慧和善良的結(jié)合,。
4. tuck vt. 把……塞進(jìn)
   The referee told the baseball player to tuck his shirt into his pants.
   裁判叫該名棒球員把襯衫塞進(jìn)褲子里,。
   ＊referee n. 裁判
5. come to light真相大白
   New evidence has come to light in the scandal that has destroyed the mayor's reputation.
   這起使得該市長(zhǎng)身敗名裂的丑聞事件的新證據(jù)已經(jīng)曝光。
6. be diagnosed with + 疾病
   被診斷患……疾病
   diagnose vt. 診斷
   Gary was diagnosed with high blood pressure and had to cut salt from his diet.
   蓋瑞被診斷出有高血壓,，所以必須從飲食當(dāng)中減少鹽份的攝取,。
7. stand by sb支持　幫助某人
   You should stand by your friends when they are in need.
   你應(yīng)該在朋友有難時(shí)幫助他們。
8. scrawl vt. & vi. 潦草地涂寫(xiě)
   The business owner put cameras outside his office to catch anyone scrawling on its walls.
   老板在辦公室外面架設(shè)了攝影機(jī),，目的是要逮到在墻壁上亂涂鴉的人,。
9. approach vt. 接近，靠近
   As the clock struck noon, the train approached the station.
   火車(chē)在正午的鐘聲響起時(shí)進(jìn)站,。
   ＊strike vt. 敲鐘,，報(bào)時(shí)
   （三態(tài)為∶strike, struck, struck）
10. grief n. 悲傷
    On hearing the bad news, Fred couldn't bear the grief and burst into tears.
    一聽(tīng)到那則壞消息後，佛瑞德忍不住悲傷而大哭了起來(lái),。
11. in honor of...以紀(jì)念……
    They set up the scholarship in honor of the great scientist.
    他們成立這項(xiàng)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金來(lái)紀(jì)念那位偉大的科學(xué)家,。
12. be privileged to V因……而感到榮幸
    privileged a. 感到榮幸的,；有特權(quán)的
    Allison was privileged to represent her school at the nationwide swimming competition.
    愛(ài)麗森因?yàn)榇韺W(xué)校參加全國(guó)游泳比賽而感到光榮。
    In the past, only privileged people could afford to go to college.
    過(guò)去,，只有特權(quán)人士才有能力上大學(xué),。
13. reveal vt. 揭露
    reveal to...向……揭露
    Don't even bother asking because I will not reveal what Alice said.
    別費(fèi)心來(lái)問(wèn)了，因?yàn)槲也粫?huì)透露艾莉絲說(shuō)過(guò)什麼,。
14. stumble upon...偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)……
    stumble vi. 偶遇
    Mike stumbled upon the rare book in the second-hand bookstore.
    邁克在這家二手書(shū)店偶然找到這本珍貴的書(shū),。
15. despair n. 絕望
    The unexpected occurrence threw John into despair because he didn't know what to do next.
    這起意外事件使得約翰陷入絕望，因?yàn)樗恢澜酉聛?lái)該做什麼,。
    ＊occurrence n. 發(fā)生的事件（可數(shù)）

愛(ài),，不言而喻
一個(gè)無(wú)聊的字如何能代表一輩子的忠誠(chéng)和愛(ài)意呢？

在我成長(zhǎng)的過(guò)程中,，我的爺爺奶奶都在玩一個(gè)有關(guān) SHMILY 這個(gè)字的特殊游戲,。我從來(lái)無(wú)法理解那神秘的文字組合是什麼意思，

但他們會(huì)將這個(gè)字留在各個(gè)地方讓對(duì)方去尋找,。SHMILY 這個(gè)字會(huì)出現(xiàn)在糖罐里,，寫(xiě)在窗戶的白霜上，還會(huì)留在洗完熱水澡後的鏡子上,，下回洗澡時(shí)會(huì)再次浮現(xiàn)。另外寫(xiě)了 SHMILY 字樣的紙條會(huì)被塞進(jìn)鞋子里,，或是遺留在枕頭底下,。這個(gè)字就像家俱一樣成了爺爺奶奶家的一部份，而它也變成對(duì)彼此忠誠(chéng)的一種象徵,。
直到我年紀(jì)比較大了,，我才了解爺爺奶奶之間的游戲并不愚蠢，而是一種生活方式,。這一切在我奶奶被診斷出患有乳癌後就真相大白了,。她與病魔搏斗了十多年，而我爺爺一路走來(lái)都深情地長(zhǎng)伴她左右,。我奶奶過(guò)世時(shí),，SHMILY 這個(gè)字甚至還被涂寫(xiě)在我奶奶喪禮花束的粉紅色絲帶上。在喪禮上,，爺爺走近奶奶的靈柩,，含著眼淚并帶著悲傷唱起了歌。這首低沉而嘶啞的搖籃曲是為了紀(jì)念他們的愛(ài)有多深,，而這是鮮少有人會(huì)體驗(yàn)到的愛(ài),，我很榮幸能分享這份無(wú)與倫比的美麗。當(dāng)我們聽(tīng)到爺爺向奶奶唱出的最後一句歌詞,，我們終於明白了 SHMILY 的含義??看看我有多愛(ài)奶,。

1. 爺爺奶奶玩這個(gè)游戲的目的是什麼,？
(A) 看看誰(shuí)能夠猜出 SHMILY 的意思。
(B) 使用各種對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)有重大意義的字來(lái)裝飾房子,。
(C) 在對(duì)方會(huì)偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)的地方留下 SHMILY 這個(gè)字,。
(D) 混淆其他不知道 SHMILY 真正含義的人。
題解∶根據(jù)本文第一段,，

他們會(huì)將這個(gè)字留在各個(gè)地方讓對(duì)方去尋找,，故 (C) 項(xiàng)應(yīng)為正選。
2. 作者長(zhǎng)大時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)了什麼和該游戲有關(guān)的事情,？
(A) 該游戲是沒(méi)有意義的,。
(B) 該游戲是奶奶對(duì)抗疾病的方法。
(C) 該游戲是乳癌的象徵,。
(D) 與其說(shuō)是一個(gè)無(wú)聊的游戲,，它其實(shí)是爺爺奶奶過(guò)生活的基本原則。
題解∶根據(jù)本文第二段第一句,，直到我年紀(jì)比較大了,，我才了解爺爺奶奶之間的游戲并不愚蠢，而是一種生活方式,，故 (D) 項(xiàng)應(yīng)為正選,。
3. 這位爺爺是如何揭露 SHMILY 的含義？
(A) 他把這句話放在他妻子的墓碑上,。
(B) 他在一首歌中把它唱了出來(lái),。
(C) 他用她葬禮上的花排出這些字。
(D) 他在葬禮之前的會(huì)議中告訴了家人,。
題解∶根據(jù)本文第二段,，在喪禮上，爺爺走近奶奶的靈柩,，含著眼淚并帶著悲傷唱起了歌,，當(dāng)我們聽(tīng)到爺爺向奶奶唱出的最後一句歌詞，我們終於明白了 SHMILY 的含義,，故 (B) 項(xiàng)應(yīng)為正選,。
4. SHMILY 這個(gè)字是什麼的象徵？
(A) 永恒的愛(ài),。
(B) 長(zhǎng)壽,。
(C) 死亡與絕望。
(D) 一首可愛(ài)的搖籃曲,。
題解∶根據(jù)本文第二段最後一句,，得知 SHMILY 的含義即是看看我有多愛(ài)奶，故 (A) 項(xiàng)應(yīng)為正選,。

答案∶1. C2. D3. B4. A