Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen…
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?” a friend asks, horrified. I tell her my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and reduce our electric bill. On this first night of our cost-cutting plan, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re going to suffer, but the three kids complain anyway.
They have grown up in 72-degree comfort, protected from the world outside.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter complains. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother complains down the hall. “Just try it tonight,” I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to turn for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
The neighbor’s dog howls. Probably a passing squirrel. It’s been years since I took the time to really listen to the night.
I think about grandma, who lived to 92 and still helped with my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of grandma’s bed and turn my face toward the open window. I turn the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma saw me turn over and over. “If you just watch for the breeze(清风),” she said, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to move. Lying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug chorus. Neighbors, porch(门廊)-sitting late, speak in unclear words that calm me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old son cries, “I think it was an owl(猫头鹰)family.”
“Probably,” I tell him, “just keep listening…”
Without the working air conditioner, the house is peaceful, and the natural night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze comes in.
On the first night of the writer’s cost-cutting plan, her children ______.
A.live a comfortable life as usual |
B.begin to be unhappy |
C.are protected from the world outside |
D.are about to die from the heat |
The author talks about her grandmother and her childhood to show that ______.
A.people used to live a hard life |
B.people at that time were hardworking |
C.it’s OK for people to live a simple life |
D.she has learned a great deal from her grandma |
In the writer’s eyes, her children are ______.
A.free from parents’ protection |
B.full of dissatisfaction with life |
C.dependable because of parents’ love |
D.lacking in real test of hardships in life |
Which of the following titles best suits the passage?
A.Waiting for the Breeze. |
B.An Interesting Experience. |
C.Life at Present and Life in the Past. |
D.Different Times, Different Children |