完形填空
I met Connie the day she was admitted to the Hospice Ward(安養(yǎng)院的病房),where I 1 as a volunteer.Her husband, Bill, stood 2 nearby as she was removed from the gurney to the hospital bed.Although Connie was in the final stages of her fight 3 cancer, she was quick-minded and 4 .We got her settled in, and then asked if she needed 5 .
“Oh, yes,” she said, “Would you please show me how to use the TV? I 6 the soaps so much and I don’t want to get 7 on what’s happening.”Connie was a romantic.She loved soap operas(肥皂劇), romance novels and movies with a good 8 story.As we became familiar, she confided how 9 it was to be married 32 years to a man who often called her “a silly woman”.
“Oh, I know Bill loves me,” she said, “but he has 10 been one to say he loves me, or send cards to me.”She 11 and looked out of the window at the trees in the courtyard.“I’d 12 anything if he’d say ‘I love you’, but it’s just not in his 13 .”
One day, 14 coffee in the cafeteria, I got him on the 15 of women and how we need romance in our lives; how we love to get sentimental cards and love letters.
“Do you tell Connie you love her?” I asked, and he looked at me 16 I was crazy.
“I don’t have to,” he said.“She knows I 17 !”
“I’m sure she knows,” I said, 18 over and touching his rough, carpenter’s hands, “but she needs to hear it, Bill.She needs to hear what she has 19 to you all these years.Please think about it.”
We walked back to Connie’s room.Bill 20 inside, and I left to visit another patient.Later, I saw Bill sitting by the bed.He was holding Connie’s hand as she slept.