阅读理解When I was in fourth grade, I worked part-time as a paperboy. Mrs.Stanley was one of my customers. She'd watch me coming down her street, and by the time I'd biked up to her doorstep, there'd be a cold drink waiting.
I'd sit and drink while she talked. Mrs. Stanley talked mostly about her dead husband,"Mr.Stanley and I went shopping this morning." she'd say. The first time she said that, cola went up my nose.
I told my father how Mrs. Stanley talked as if Mr.Stanley were still alive. Dad said she was probably lonely(孤独的)， and that I should sit and listen and nod my head and smile, and maybe she'd go out from her sadness. So that's what I did, and it turned out Dad was right. After a while, she seemed to be better then.
I finally stopped delivering newspapers and didn't see Mrs.Stanley for several years. One day, we saw her at a church. She was spooning potatoes and looking happy. Four years before, she had to offer her paperboy a drink to have someone to talk with. Now she had friends. Her husband was gone, but life went on.
I live in the city now, and my newsboy is a lady named Edna with three kids. She asks me how I'm doing. When I don't say "Fine," she sits down and listens to my problems. She's lived in the city most of her life. She knows about the neighborhood. The neighborhood is a state of mind. You find it whenever people ask how you're doing because they care, and not because they're getting paid to do so. Sometimes it's good to Just smile, nod your head and listen.
