what remains

it had been exactly two weeks since the greenbergs had evacuated their home to escape the wildfire that had been quickly approaching their neighborhood. nearly 2,500 homes in their area had been evacuated, and although they knew that every other family was as heartbroken as they were, there was a feeling or solidarity (n. 團結), of \”we\'re all in this together\” that made everything a little easier to handle. on each trip to the grocery store or the post office, there was someone to miserate (v. 同情/憐憫) with. people chatted longer, they hurried less, they were quicker to offer a hug or a smile.

the greenbergs knew that they had lost their house. as soon as firefighters had deemed (v. 認為) the neighborhood safe to re-enter, mr. greenberg had gone back alone to assess the damage. mr. greenberg was known among his family and friends for being able to find the silver lining in just about any cloud, but even he was unable to find an upside to this situation.

\”it was mostly just really incredibly sad,\” he reported, his eyes welling up as he watched his children\'s faces.

\”do you think there\'s anything we can salvage (v. 搶救)\” asked mrs. greenberg.

her husband shook his head. \”i doubt that there\'s anything we\'d want to save,\” he said sadly, \”that isn\'t sopping wet or sprayed with fire retardant (n. 阻燃劑/防火劑) or covered with ash.\”

\”i want to see the house, dad,\” said elliot. \”even if it\'s a total loss, i want to see it one more time.\” madeleine nodded in agreement.

mrs. greenberg exchanged glances with her husband. \”if it\'s really important to you both, we\'ll go back and look at the house again.\” she shrugged, \”i can\'t help hoping that there will be something we can still save.\”

two days later, the greenbergs pulled into their neighborhood. although the firefighters had gained control and the wildfires were starting to recede (v. 退去/后退), the greenbergs had still needed to show identification to pass through police barriers. as they parked on the street and opened their car doors, the smell of scorched (adj. 燒焦的) air and wet wood surrounded them. they slowly made their way to the house, stepping carefully over pieces of charred wood and puddles of ashy water.

\”it\'s hard to recognize anything, isn\'t it\” asked mrs. greenberg in a small voice, leaning down to pick up a picture frame.

\”look how many other people are here going the exact same thing,\” mented madeleine, pointing across the street. up and down the street, neighbors and acquaintances picked through the charred remains of their belongings. there were a few houses that looked as though they had survived relatively unscathed (adj. 毫發未損), but most appeared to be in the same condition as the greenbergs\'.

\”i guess this is what\'s left of my graphic novels (n. 漫畫),\” said elliot, nudging a soggy (adj. 濕透的) box.

madeleine reached down to pick up a stuffed seal (n. 毛絨海豹) from a long-ago trip to the aquarium. she rubbed its sooty (adj. 烏黑的) face. \”it looks like something you\'d see on the news,\” she mented glumly (adv. 悶悶不樂地), \”not like a scene from out actual lives.\”

\”i don\'t know how you kids feel about this,\” said mrs. greenberg, \”but neither dad nor i want to rebuild here. i know that this has always been your home,\” she added, smiling ruefully (adv. 悲傷的), \”but i can\'t go through this kind of loss again.\”

madeleine nodded. \”i feel the same way, mom--i think there would always be this feeling of apprehension, of wondering when it was going to happen again.\”

\”we need to start over someplace where we\'re not so likely to lose everything again,\” elliot chimed in.

the greenbergs stood together watching the gray, smoky clouds drift across the blue sky. \”to starting over,\” said mr. greenberg, holding up his bottle of water.

問題:

1. how did the greenbergs\' munity act after the fire

2. in paragraph 2, it says that mr. greenberg could \”find the silver lining in just about any cloud.\” what does this mean