Mother Duck's Miracle “Just a couple of hours now," said Dad,“and we'll soon be at our campsite !" The year was 1950, and we were on our family vacation, doing our family thing -- camping. I s e tt l ed down in my corner of the back scat to take a nap. The rhythm of the moving car soothed.me into a deep sleep. Wham! I woke with a start, my face on the floorboard of the back seat. Dad had braked sharply. “What happened?" I asked.“Where are we?" “Half an hour from our campsite," he answered,“and I don't know what the holdup is, but all the cars have stopped. I'll s e e what's going on. Dad stepped out of the car. Mom, my l i tt l e brother David and I waited.“Bet there's been an accident!" David was excited. Mom shook her head.“Probably a bear crossing the road," she said. David jumped up and down in his seat. That was even better than an accident! Dad came running back to the car.“Come on!" he said very excitedly.“Come on, kids! You've all got to see this!” I jumped out of the car and ran to catch up with him. “What is it, Daddy?" I asked. He smiled and reached for my hand.“Come and see, Carolyn," he said. I knew that, whatever it was, it was nice because my father was happy about it. I grabbed his hand and skipped excitedly along beside him. We walked past a dozen parked cars. Ahead, a group of people stood“ooh-ing”and“aah-ing.' Looking in the same direction as everyone else, we saw a mother duck, seek ( 毛色油亮的 ) and proud, walked slowly up the middle of the road, nine l i tt l e duck l ings waddling ( 摇摇摆摆地走 )after her. The babies were marching single line behind their mother, to t ally ignoring the people and automobiles. No one from any of the held-up cars appear e d to mind waiting on a fearless mother duck and her nine ducklings walking up the highway as if it were thei r s. We all f ollowed Mrs. Duck and her family a quarter of a mile up the hill. There Mrs. Duck led her children off the road, over a small bank and into a l i ttle creek winding its way down the mountainside. I walked back to the car with the s and listened to their conversation with strangers. “Oh, you're from Milwaukee? We lived there for four years!" they were discovering people and places they had in common. I was quiet as we continued our journey, wondering about what we had just seen. Later in the camp, I sat on a large rock next to my father, our feet in the creek. “Daddy?" I asked.“How did Mrs. Duck know that all those busy people would stop to let her walk along the road with her babi e s?" Dad picked up a smooth stone, though tf ully rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger, then skimmed it over the water. “Well, honey," he said, watching the l i ttle stone skim the water,“that's one of God's miracles. God used that mother duck and her babies to slow everyone down so they could enjoy life a l i tt l e bit more. He arranges opportunities like this, sort of as a reminder to make people think about what's important in life." I sat there for a moment, smiling over Dad's words. Soon, Mom joined us, stuck her tired feet into the cool water and sighed,“Oh-h, that feels good!" David wandered up and sat beside Mom, cuddling ( 偎依 ) close. We all relaxed there by the cre e k as the mountain breeze played a soothing symphony in the trees above, just for us. Yes, it truly was a miracle! Complete the following summary with appropriate words from the text. On our way to the 1............, Father stopped the car suddenly without knowing what the 2.............was, assuming there had been a(n) 3............... It turned out to be a mother duck with her 4.........across the highway, totally 5..........the cars driving on the road. Following them up a hill, we found that the mother duck f i nally led her children into a l i ttle 6.......... Later in the camp, Father told me about his u n derst a nding why the mother duck was so 7...........,and his inspiring words opened my eyes to God's 8...........