My mom‘s paper tiger 媽媽的紙老虎

張嵐

媽媽的折紙動物飽含著對“我”的深愛，而“我”卻一直嫌棄它們，直到她去世后，“我”才發現紙老虎中藏著的“秘密”。

1 When I was young， Mom liked making paper animals like little tigers for me. At my request， Mom also made a goat， a deer and even a shark.

2 Mark， one of the neighborhood boys， came over with his Star Wars action figure. I brought out the paper tiger. “That doesnt look like a tiger. Is it a toy？” Mark asked. Looking at Moms paper tiger， I realized that it was really just a piece of wrapping paper.

3 Later， Dad bought me a full set of Star Wars action figures. I packed the paper animals in a shoebox and put them into the corner of the attic（閣樓）. Once in a while， I would see Mom at the kitchen table making new paper animals. I caught them， pressed them and then put them away in the box in the attic. For years， I paid no attention to Mom until one day my dad called and told me that Mom was in hospital. Mom turned to me， “Jack， just keep that box with you， and you will find it so important.”

4 Mom died several days later. Dad aged more after that. The house was too big for him and had to be sold. My girlfriend Susan and I went to help him pack and clean the place.

5 Susan found the shoebox in the attic. It was covered with dust. Susan cleaned and removed the cover. The paper animals hidden in the darkness of the attic for so long had been dusty and the bright paper patterns had faded. Susan held the paper animals carefully. She was amazed at them， “I have never seen such creative works. Your mom was an amazing artist.”

6 I unfolded the paper tiger and found several lines written by my mother. I knew it was a letter to me written by my mother. Reading the letter， I couldnt help sobbing. Through my misty eyes，? I read， “I love you， my son.” I cried out， “I love you， Mom. I miss you， Mom.”

[Reading][Check]

Fill in each blank with only one word

[Language][Study]

Memorize some text?centered chunks

at one's request 應某人的請求

bring out 拿出

look like 看起來像

a full set of 一整套的

once in a while 偶爾

put away 收起來（放好）

pay attention to 注意

in hospital 住院

turn to 轉向

be covered with 覆蓋著

be amazed at 對……感到驚訝

cry out 大叫