Although in 1947 we were still very new to the atomic (原子的) age, we knew about mushroom
clouds. A huge crack (裂缝) spread across the library wall upstairs, sending teachers and __1__
screaming down the hall.
     Had a new world war started? Palefaced, our young science teacher quickly__2__us for a fire drill.
We huddled (卷缩) in little groups on the beach side of the school grounds and__3__the spreading
cloud darken the bright spring sky.
    Rumors flew every which way,__4__two hours would pass before we got the full story. One rumor
we heard was that the Texas City Monsanto Chemical plant had__5__；children whose parents__6__
there began to cry.
     I__7__-that was where my father was working that day.
     The school bell called us back inside, and we were dismissed (解散) to__8__our way home the best
way we could. I'd walked a quarter of the threemile trip to my home__9__a car horn frightened me to
__10__. My Uncle Barney__11__alongside me in his old Ford. The instant I saw him, I knew my father
__12 _. Otherwise, Papa would have__13 _for me himself.
     As if in slow motion from a great distance, Uncle Barney motioned for me to__14__. Numb with
grief, I crawled into the back__15__. I barely took notice of the man sitting there, and didn't recognize
him until he__16__me. When Papa put his strong arms around me, I forgot for a moment that Cherokees
aren't supposed to__17__.
     Many of my fellow students lost their__18__in the explosion. Tragedy would one day come to our
__19__, as it inevitably (不可避免地) comes to all, but one day Texas City blew up, it miraculously
(奇迹般地) passed us by. Because he lost his keys on that April morning, as he explained, my father
lived for__20 _32 years-we were to have a second lifetime forever.