Task1: Retelling a story

①Just as Jane was joyfully expecting her first child, her active, energetic mother began losing her battle with a brain disease. For ten years, the fiercely independent and courageous mother had fought, but none of the surgeries or treatments had been successful. At only fifty-five, she became totally disabled- unable to speak, walk, eat or dress on her own.

②As the mother grew closer and closer to death, the baby grew closer and closer to life. Jane was afraid that her mother and her baby would never know each other. Her fear seemed well-founded. A few weeks before her due date, her mother lapsed into a deep coma. The doctors did not hold any hope. It was useless to put in a feeding tube, they said, for Mother would never awaken. So Jane brought Mother to her own bed in her own house. As often as she could, she sat beside her mother, talking about the baby moving inside her.

④On February 3, 1989, at about the same time Jane began to feel birth pains, Mother opened her eyes. Jane called home.

“Mom, listen. My baby is coming! You’re going to have a new grandchild. Do you understand!”

“Yes,” Mother answered.

What a wonderful word! The first clear word she’d spoken in months.

⑤By the time Jane brought her son home, her mother was sitting in her chair, dressed and ready to welcome the baby. For two weeks, Mother clucked, smiled and held the new-born baby. Then she quietly became unconscious and, after visits from all her children, was finally free of the pain.

⑥For Jane, memories of her son’s birth will always be bittersweet, but it was at this time that she learned an important truth about living. While both joy and sorrow pass quickly, and often come together at the same time, love has the power to overcome both. And love can last forever.