江苏省前黄高级中学2013届高三阶段练习.doc

worked toward it like everyone else, all of us separately chasing the same thing . One year, through a series of unhappy events, it all fell apart. I found myself homeless and alone .I had my truck and $56. I searched the countryside for some place I could rent for the cheapest possible amount .I came upon a deserted cottage ina small remote valley. I hadn't been alone for 25 years. I was scared, but I hoped the hard work would distract and heal me. I found the owner and rented the place for $50 a month. The locals knew nothing about me. But slowly they started teaching me the art of being a neighbor . They dropped off blankets, tools and canned deer meat and began sticking around to chat . They would ask ifI wanted to meet cousin Albie or go fishing . They started to teach me a belief ina different American dream, not the one of individual achievement but of neighborliness . Men would stop by with wild berries, ice cream, truck parts to see ifI needed some . The women on that mountain worked harder than any I'd ever met . They taught me how to store food in the stream and keep it cold and safe .I learned to keep enough for an extra plate pany . What I had believed in, all those things I thought were necessary for a civilized life, were non-existent in this place. Up on the mountain, my most valuable possessions were my relationships with my neighbors. After four years in that valley, I moved back into town .I saw a lot of people were having a really hard time, losing their jobs and homes . With the help ofa real estate broker ( 房地产经纪人)I chatted up at the grocery store, I managed to rent a big enough house to take ina handful of people . It's four of us now, but over time I've had e in and move on to other places from here . We'd all be in shelters if we hadn't banded together . The American dream I believe in now isa shared one . It's not so much about what I can get for myself; it's about how we can all get by together. 56. Before a series of unhappy events happen