Early this morning, I got up to make cookies for my neighbor. But actually she hardly greeted me when we saw each other.
Last Monday, she called the firefighters when my house began to fog up while I was out. Luckily, nothing serious had happened. When I thanked her and apologized for causing the trouble, she just asked if my cats were all right and stepped into her house. I felt strangely safe, knowing that even though we don’t get along, she’d done the right thing. So, the yummy cookies.
Last winter, my neighbor carelessly let it out that she was holding a grudge towards me because of an incident we’d had four years ago. I had particularly apologized and asked if there was anything I could do to improve our relationship. She would not accept my apology.
It had taken me a lot of courage to apologize and ask that question. Her refusal to make amends (补偿) really saddened me. After that, I decided I’d just leave her be. So I was really scared she was going to refuse my offer again. I know some people have a hard time understanding how the possibility of rejection can make an adult so afraid, but that’s just the way I felt.
Then, I reminded myself of how good I had felt yesterday when I’d done some acts of kindness after telling myself: Feel the fear, and do it anyway! So I put the cookies on a beautiful plate, opened my apartment door—and there she was, standing in the hallway. But when she saw me, she went back inside. I went after her and quickly said, “I’m sorry, I’ve got something for you! I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you were paying attention on Monday.” When she heard me speaking, she turned around. As I held the plate towards her, her eyebrows winged up and she took the plate. I was so happy and excited.
Back in my place, I did a “happy dance”, because I had dared to be kind even though I hadn’t been sure my kindness would be welcome. I do hope that our relationship will slowly get better. I know I was and still am biased (存有偏见) towards her at times, but even if we don’t make amends, I want to be able to be kind without depending on other people’s behaviors and reactions.
小题1:The neighbor hardly greeted the writer most probably because ______.
A．the writer’s cats disturb her neighbor frequently
B．the writer didn’t thank her for calling the firefighters
C．the writer never apologized to her for her misbehaviors
D．the writer had an unpleasant experience with the neighbor long ago小题2:The underlined word “grudge” in Paragraph 3 most probably means ______.
A．appreciation
B．gratitude
C．dislike
D．envy小题3:From Paragraph 4, we can learn that the writer ______.
A．was afraid of being rejected again by her neighbor
B．didn’t know how to get along with her neighbor
C．didn’t admit it was her fault in the last incident
D．refused to forgive her neighbor’s rude behavior小题4:What does the author try to tell us?
A．Don’t punish yourself because of others’ mistakes.
B．We should be kind to others, regardless of their behavior.
C．We must keep a good relationship with our neighbors.
D．When we make a mistake, we should have the courage to admit it.
