A
It was a normal school day for senior Solymar Solis until an unexpected visitor arrived. Her dad, Sgt. Carlos Solis Melendez, surprised her by coming home early from Kuwait and visiting her unannounced at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina.
After serving in Kuwait for nine months, Melendez returned home a week earlier than his daughter expected. He held balloons and flowers in a classroom as he sat at a student’s desk to blend in with the crowd. “It came across my mind like, ‘How is she going to react?” he recalled the heartwarming moment. “Is she going to be happy and run to me and hug me, or cry? That was all going on through my mind.”
As unsuspecting Solymar entered the classroom, she was soon overcome with emotion, immediately bursting into tears and covering her mouth. She didn’t talk. She was just crying. She was overwhelmed with everything. She thought it was a dream.
Melendez was a single parent so while he was deployed (调动), he got his sister to live with his daughter. When he was coming back and talking to his sister, both of them came to the conclusion that they should do something special for his daughter. Melendez and his sister got in touch with the school, and they planned this whole being-in-the-classroom thing, and it turned out perfect.
The two are very much looking forward to some good daddy-daughter time now that he’s home. “It means everything,” Melendez said of being able to surprise his daughter this way. “After all the sacrifices she’s made, she deserves all the special arrangements and special occasions and celebrations. I’ll do anything for my daughter. I believe I’m doing good parenting.”
21. How did Solymar feel when seeing her father?
A. She was eager to hug her father.
B. She felt everything was as usual.
C. She got disappointed at seeing her father.
D. She thought it was unbelievable.
22. What was Melendez’s attitude to the surprise?
A. Content. B. Astonished.
C. Touched. D. Upset.
23. Why did Melendez plan the surprise for Solymar?
A. To get involved in her school life.
B. To teach her a lesson in a special way.
C. To build a strong emotional bond with her.
D. To make up for what she lost in her growth.
24. What can be the best title for the passage?
A. Father’s Selfless Love for His Daughter
B. Girl Expecting the Returning of Her Dad
C. Girl Surprised at School by Her Dad’s Return
D. Father and Daughter’s Expected Reunion
