学进去

It was a dark, cloudy evening when Father told us the news. Our family was gathered around the old dinner table. My father ______ from me to my 11-year-old brother, James, and finally to my mother. Her eyes looked ______ as she met his nervous face. They had been strangely quiet all through dinner. My brother and I ______ spoke at the table unless we were spoken to.

“Jack,” Mother said quietly. “We must ______ the children.”

“These past few years have been hard on all the ______ around here,” Father said slowly. I knew this was true. ______ my parents didn’t speak to my brother and me about it, we had heard them talking. “We’ve lost the farm,” he finally said. Then there was a long ______.

“Where will we go?” James asked, his voice shaking. “West Virginia,” Father replied calmly. “Last week there was a man in town from a coal mine (煤矿) down there. He said they have jobs, and the coal company will ______ our train tickets and give us a house when we get there. We’ll leave on a train next Wednesday.”

James and I silently got up from the table and ______ the dishes, as we did every night. He said in a low voice, “Anna, I don’t want to move.” I replied, “Neither do I. But there’s ______ we can do about it. At least we’ll all be together.”