My Faithful Father

My father used to work in the city and seldom stayed at home. But he would come back help to harvest rice every year.

One autumn， he promised to help our neighbor， who lost his arms in a traffic accident in 1999， to harvest his rice. After Father harvested our own， his little rice picker broke. What's worse， he had to return to work the next day because his partner was ill in hospital. It meant that Father wouldn't be back in a few days. It now seemed impossible to help out the neighbor.

Father told us that he wouldn't let the neighbor's rice rot in the field. He decided to harvest it by hand without a machine. “If tonight's weather is clear， I think I can do it.” added my father. In fact， he was rather tired after a day's harvest work.

After dinner， Father had a short rest and made his way to the field. A full moon was glowing in the sky and the weather was cold but clear. He spent the whole night keeping his word.

I would never forget the image： Father was cutting rice in the light of the harvest moon. Behind him， row after row of rice stocks stood at attention， showing respect for a man who kept his word.

1.Did Father always stay with the family？

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2.What happened to the neighbor in 1999？

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3.Why was Father required to return to work？

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4.How did Father help the neighbor harvest rice in the field？

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5.How long did Father spend in harvesting the neighbor's rice？

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Key：

1.No， he didn't.

2.He lost his arms in a traffic accident in 1999.

3.Because his partner was ill in hospital.

4.By hand.

5.He spent the whole night in harvesting the neighbor's rice.

譯文

信守诺言的爸爸

我的父亲过去在城里工作，很少待在家里，但每年都会回来帮助收割水稻。

一个秋天，他答应帮我们的邻居收割水稻，邻居在1999年的一次交通事故中失去了双臂。在爸爸收割完我们自己的水稻之后小割稻机坏了。更糟糕的是，爸爸第二天必须赶回去上班，因为他的搭档生病住院了。这意味着爸爸在几天内不再回来，现在帮邻居收割水稻似乎不可能了。

爸爸告诉我们，他不能让邻居家的水稻烂在地里。他决定没有机器就手工收割水稻，他又加上一句“如果今晚天气晴朗，我想我能做到。”事实上，他在一天的收割工作之后已经是相当累了。

晚饭后，爸爸休息了片刻，然后就去了田地。天空一轮明月，天气寒冷却明亮，他用了一整夜时间帮邻居收割水稻，实现了他的诺言。

我永远不会忘记这样的画面：在满月的月光下爸爸正在割水稻。在他身后，一排排的水稻杆立正站着，以示对一个信守承诺的人的尊重。