Special cake for a blind customer特殊的生日蛋糕

山东 李全忠

可能有一千种方式说“生日快乐”，但最贴心的可能要数最近由一些体贴周到的餐厅员工在生日蛋糕上用巧克力写的盲文祝福。

1There may be a thousand ways to say,“Happy Birthday!”but the sweetest of all may very well be a special chocolate message that was recently served up by an amazingly thoughtful restaurant staff.

2Creating congratulations in warm liquid cocoa wasnothingnew atLondon'sLucianobyGino D'Acampo restaurant,but for birthday girl Natalie Te Paa,who is totally blind,the best wishes were spelled out in Braille(布拉耶盲文).

3What gave the message an even greater meaning was that there was no advance planning involved.When the restaurant crew learned the dinner Te Paa was sharing with her friend Claire Sara was a birthday celebration,they took it upon themselves to find and recreate the Braille translation that summed up their best wishes in well-chilled chocolate.

4Te Paa could barely believe her fingertips as she traced over the raised dots.“My mind was blank for a second and then I was like,‘Is this in Braille?’” Ta Paa said.“I had never had anything happened like that before.It was wild.They just really did go above and beyond.I couldn't control my tears of joy.”

5Dinner companion Sara recorded Te Paa's delighted reaction to what had become a very different kind of surprise party and posted the cheerful footage to TikTok.

6While restaurant manager Giovanni Galluccio maintained the impromptu(即兴的)gesture was simply part of the customer service they tried to extend to all their patrons,clocking in with close to 16 million views to date,the Internet judged the extraordinary act of kindness extra special.

7As Te Paa said,“The fact that people have responded so much and so well to it just shows how much the world needs kindness right now,how much the world needs a message of hope,needs to see people doing things and going above and beyond for each other.”

8This is one message sure to melt in your hearts,not in your hands.

Reading Check

Choose the best answers according to the text

Detail 1.How did the restaurant staff give the message a great meaning?

A.By providing the cake for Te Paa for free.

B.By making the chocolate message well decorated.

C.By preparing the cake without any plan in advance.

D.By inviting dinner companion Sara ahead of time.

Inference 2.How did Te Paa feel after she touched the chocolate cake?

A.She felt happy. B.She felt jealous.

C.She felt puzzled. D.She felt motivated.

Detail 3.What did Sara do at the party?

A.She thought highly of the restaurant manager.

B.She gave Te Paa a big surprise with a pose.

C.She posted a video in a silent language.

D.She put part of the party's process online.

Vocabulary 4.Which word can best replace the underlined word “patrons” in paragraph 6?

A.Messages. B.Customers.

C.Praises. D.Ideas.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Analyze the difficult structure in the text

When the restaurant crew learned the dinner Te Paa was sharing with her friend Claire Sara was a birthday celebration,they took it upon themselves to find and recreate the Braille translation that summed up their best wishes in well-chilled chocolate.当餐厅员工得知特帕与朋友克莱尔·萨拉共享的晚餐是一个生日庆祝时，他们自己查找并重新制作了盲文翻译，用冷冻巧克力总结了他们最美好的祝愿。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。When引导时间状语从句，that引导定语从句，修饰先行词the Braille translation。

Ⅱ.Memorize some text-centered chunks

serve up给……提供；端上（食物）

spell out拼写；拼读

share with与……分享

sum up总结；概括

clock in with打卡

right now目前