An old farmer lived with his grandson. Each morning, the   16  got up early and read his Bhagavad Gita(薄迦梵歌).
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the book like you   17  I can’t understand it, and I forget it easily. What’s the   18  of reading it?”
The grandfather said, “Take this coal(煤炭) basket down to the   19  and bring me back a basket of water.”
The boy did as his grandfather   20  ,but all the water ran   21  he got home. The grandfather laughed, “You’ll have to move faster next time.”
This time the boy   22  faster, but again the basket was empty. He told his grandfather that is was   23  to carry water in a basket. He wanted to use a bottle instead, but the old man said, “I just want a basket of water. You’re not   24  hard enough.”
The boy wanted to show his grandfather that the water would surely run. He again put the   25  into the river and ran hard. But there wasn’t anything in it again. He said   26  ,“Look, grandpa, it’s useless!”
“Watch the basket.” said the grandfather.
For the first time the boy   27  the basket was different. It had changed from a dirty old coal basket into a   28  one, inside and out.
“Boy, you might not understand or remember   29  when you read the book, but when you read it, you will be   30  ,inside and out. That’s what you got from it.”

How old was I? I can’t remember. Maybe I was only 10. It was the first    16   without my father because he was away for something. He left me to fill that sad place in my mother’s heart. It was the Christmas when I stopped being a    17   and tried to play Father Christmas myself. I really wanted to make it happy and bright again. It was the Christmas of the    18  .
Mom first saw the coat at Tobias, a nice    19   shop in our town’s little shopping mall. It was dark green. And it was a    20  , heavy, wool dress coat. Mom pulled it out from the rack(架) and held it up. “Long enough,” she said in a low voice and    21  .
“I need a new coat,” Mom smiled before the mirror. She looked good on any clothes,       22   this coat suited her much better. She looked at the    23  , then hung the coat back on the rack, standing there once more to    24   
Eighty-seven dollars. But I decided to buy it for her. As we moved on    25  the mall, I found some excuse to return and asked one of the Tobias ladies to    26   the coat.
I helped clean every yard(庭院) in our neighbourhood—some yards twice, and soon I got the coat. The store ladies helped me put it in their biggest    27   with bright blue paper and thick silver ribbon(丝带). I don’t remember    28   I got it home, but I can still feel the wonderful    29   and pride that filled me. I would imagine the big space which the box would take up under our tree. Here it was—joy, peace and    30  —all in the box, waiting for Mom’s surprise.

The old man was _______ sad _______ say a word when he heard the bad news.

A. too; to????????????? B. enough; to????????????? C. such; as????????????? D. so; as