阅读理解I had my first chocolate bar(巧克力条) at five years old. I'll never forget the delicious, comforting taste. It was World War Ⅱ. I lived with my family in the Lithuanian town of Taurage.
One day, I ran away from Taurage and took a train to Hamburg alone. I lived on the streets, like thousands of other children in the city. I stole(偷)food for a living. Still, there was never enough.
Then the American army arrived. They looked so big and healthy. Stealing food from them wasn't easy. I'd go into the dining hall quietly, hide under a table and leave with some fresh bread.
One afternoon as I waited around a dining hall secretly to look for food, a huge hand lifted me up.by the collar. An American soldier. "Got you!" he shouted.
I was scared, and I could see it upset him. "It's okay, kid," he said. He reached into his jacket and handed me a chocolate bar. "Here, have some of this." I just took a small bite of it. I thought I'd gone to heaven.
The soldier took me and some other homeless children to an orphanage (孤儿院) run by the Red Cross. Four years later I was sent to an orphanage in Seattle, America. Soon after, I lived with an American family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Again, as with that first taste of chocolate, it was as if I'd gone to heaven. Later, I joined the army, and then attended college. Finally, I got a master's degree in clinical(临床的) social work. I want to pay back all the people who were so good to me.
In 1983 I went to work for the Department of Veteran Affairs as a clinical counselor(顾问),treating the troubled soldiers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder(创伤后精神紧张性障碍).
The troubled soldiers sit in my office and wonder how I can possibly understand them or help ease their pain. That is when I tell them my story, and about the soldier who saved my life.
"I never did learn his name, but I remember his kindness," I say. And then I open a drawer in my desk that is always full and offer them some chocolate.
