High 2 · Reading series
Lesson 45 · Two Versions of the Same Memory
Audio track 45
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
My aunt remembered the day our family moved as rainy and frightening. My father insisted that the sun had been shining. They were both there, and neither was trying to deceive me. I began to wonder what each person had been watching.
My aunt was carrying boxes and worrying about a lost key. My father had been waiting outside with my younger cousin, who was excited about a new garden. An old photograph showed wet pavement and a bright patch of sky. It did not settle every question, but it helped me picture a day with changing weather.
For my writing assignment, I placed their accounts side by side. I did not combine them into one smooth version. The differences revealed what each person had cared about at the time.
A memory can be honest without being complete. Listening to both versions gave me more than a correct weather report: it showed how a shared event can become different stories in different lives.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
姑妈记得我们搬家那天下着雨，令人害怕；父亲却坚持说阳光明媚。他们都在场，也都没有骗我的意思。我开始想：他们各自在注意什么？
姑妈搬着箱子，担心丢失的钥匙；父亲则带着对新花园兴奋不已的小表亲在外面等。一张旧照片上，路面湿着，天空却有一块亮光。它不能解决所有疑问，却帮助我想象一个天气不断变化的日子。
写作业时，我把两人的叙述并排放在一起，没有硬拼成一个顺滑版本。差异显出了他们当时各自在意什么。
记忆可以诚实，却不完整。听过两个版本，我得到的不只是一份正确天气报告，还看见共同经历怎样在不同人的生活里成为不同的故事。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- insisted
- 坚持说；父亲记得有太阳。
- deceive
- 欺骗；两人都没有故意说谎。
- wonder
- 想知道；主人公追问关注点。
- pavement
- 路面；照片中看起来是湿的。
- settle
- 解决；照片不能回答所有问题。
- accounts
- 叙述；两份回忆被并列呈现。
- side by side
- 并排；不强行合并成一版。
- revealed
- 显示；差异透露各自关注。
- complete
- 完整的；诚实回忆仍可能有限。
- shared
- 共同的；同一天有不同故事。
Background notes (Chinese)
不同叙述可能受当事人所处位置、任务和关注点影响。旧照片提供线索，却也不能彻底裁定整天的天气。