“Big boys don’t cry.” I heard those words a lot   36   up in America in the late sixties and early seventies. In those days men were expected to be   37   and rugged and never shed a tear no matter what. Our   38   were all stone faced cowboys who were too   39   to cry. Believing this then I tried my best   40   to cry at all during my teenage and early adult years.
All that changed,   41  , as I was driving home alone one night shortly after my Mom   42  . It was dark and raining outside. I was struggling to   43   the car on the road while at the same time   44   to hold the tears back in my eyes. I remember almost going off the road twice as I blinked back (眨眼控制) the salty water that was burning my   45   and blurring (使模糊) my vision. My hands shook, my heart   46  , and my soul felt dead.   47   I could do it no longer. I stopped, pulled over, lay my head on the steering wheel, and   48 . I cried until the tears couldn’t fall anymore. I cried until the pain that I was holding onto so   49   finally fled my heart.
After that night I   50   something. Big boys do cry.   51  , it is the biggest hearts that cry the most. I realized too that it is our   52   that can release us from our anger and our grief while   53   us to our love and our God. Tears help us to embrace this often bittersweet life. They help us to keep growing   54   to each other in love and joy instead of   55   ourselves up in dull, aching, and lonely hearts.

A．hurrying B．growing C．rising D．getting

A．tough B．cold C．independent D．active

A．leaders B．neighbors C．heroes D．fathers

A．strict B．strong C．stubborn D．eager

A．still B．always C．hardly D．never

A．otherwise B．therefore C．however D．instead

A．left B．died C．returned D．disappeared

A．keep B．hold C．fix D．move

A．hopping B．learning C．managing D．struggling

A．arms B．feet C．eyes D．hairs

A．hurt B．sank C．froze D．stopped

A．Actually B．Finally C．Naturally D．Immediately

A．faded B．slept C．rested D．cried

A．secretly B．carefully C．strongly D．firmly

A．realized B．picked C．gained D．lost

A．At least B．In fact C．In all D．As usual

A．love B．sweat C．tears D．relation

A．helping B．changing C．removing D．reconnecting

A．closer B．higher C．richer D．shorter

A．catching B．shutting C．picking D．wrapping