I arrived at my mother’s home for our Monday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt(被子)after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. She was preparing for a quilt show at the Elmhurst Church. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What is this?” I asked.

“Oh?” Mom said, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”

I spread the quilt. It looked at if a group of school children had pieced it together; irregular designs, childish pictures, a crooked line on the right.

“Grandmother made this?” I said, surprised. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.

“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” she said. “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I’ve done so far.”

I looked at it more closely. She had made straight a crooked line. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched(缝) a piece of cloth with these words:  “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”

“Ooh, this is so nice, Mom,” I said. It occurred to me that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized, too, that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.

Why did the author go to mother’s home?

  A. To see her mother’s quilts.            B. To help prepare for a show.

  C. To get together for the family dinner.    D. To discuss her grandmother’s life.

The author was surprised because      .

  A. the quilt looked very strange.     B. her grandmother liked the quilt.

  C. the quilt was the best she had seen.   D. her mother had made some changes

The underlined wood “crooked” in the passage most probably means       .

  A. unfinished     B. broken      C. bent       D. unusual

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

 A. A Quilt Show    B. Mother’s Home  C. A Monday Dinner  D. Grandmother’s Quilt

    I fell in love with England because it was quaint(古雅)—all those little houses, looking terribly old-fashioned but nice, like dolls’ houses. I loved the countryside and the pubs, and I love London. I’ve slightly changed my mind after seventeen years because I think it’s an ugly town now.

    Things have changed. For everybody, England meant gentlemen, fair play and good manners. The fair play is going, unfortunately, and so are the gentlemanly attitudes and good manners—people shut doors heavily in your face and politeness is disappearing.

    I regret that there are so few comfortable meeting places. You’re forced to live indoors. In Paris I go out much more, to restaurants and nightclubs. To meet friends here it usually has to be in a pub, and it can be difficult to go there alone as a woman. The cafes are not terribly nice.

   As a woman, I feel unsafe here. I spend a bomb on taxis because I will not take public transport after 10 p.m. I used to use it, but now I’m afraid.

   The idea of family seems to be more or less non-existent in England. My family is well united and that’s typically French. In Middlesex I had a neighbor who is 82 now. His family only lived two miles away, but I took him to France for Christmas once because he was always alone.

The writer doesn’t like London because she___.

  A. is not used to the life there now           B. has lived there for seventeen years

  C. prefers to live in an old-fashioned house    D. has to be polite to everyone she meets there

Where do people usually meet their friends in England?

  A. In a café.       B. In a restaurant.      C. In a nightclub.      D. In a pub.

The underlined part “it” (in Para.4) refers to ___.

  A. a taxi     B. the money     C. a bomb         D. public transport

The writer took her neighbor to France for Christmas because he ___.

  A. felt lonely                            B. had never been to France

  C. was from a typically French family        D. didn’t like the British idea of family

Do you ever run out of great books to read? So what should I read next? Is fast-paced crime fiction your thing?

Try the new Patricia Cornwell book, Scarpetta (Putnam). She is such an able writer and handles complex forensic(法庭的) intelligence with ease. You need to be prepared, though, for the world you're entering—this isn't for the faint of heart, let's say.

If peace is more your thing, try Mary Pipher's wonderful new book, Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World (Riverhead). Mary is a lovely, comfortable writer who takes the reader through her personal awakening after reputation and fortune came her way. Even if you've never experienced life as a bestselling writer (as she has done, in her book years back, Reviving Ophelia), you'll totally understand and sympathize with her renewed need for privacy, distance and quiet.

What if you want a straightforward, totally thrilling read with vivid characters, set about World War II? You cannot go wrong with Jim Lehrer's new novel, Oh, Johnny (Random House), about a young Marine whose life is changed forever when he meets a woman on his way to war. His relationship with her lasts him through danger and hardship, and there's an impressive ending. See our interview with the productive novelist/newsman in the current issue of Reader's Digest (March, on stands now), by the way, for insight into the very talented Mr. Lehrer and what interests him.

Well, what about something wickedly funny and totally offbeat? Does the name Carrie Fisher do anything for you? Try her vivid and new life in Hollywood and elsewhere, Wishful Drinking (Simon & Schuster). Be prepared for humor as sharp as knives.

What does the writer want to tell us by the underlined sentence?

A. The world is complex and hard.           B. Scarpetta is a thriller.

C. The fiction is hard to understand.     D. Society is hard to fit into.

Which of the following is true of Mary Pipher?

A. She is an adventurous writer.    B. She doesn’t care about fortune.

C. Her books normally sell well.   D. She can help you achieve writing skills. 

To get further information about Jim Lehrer, you may________.

A. go to Reader’s Digest issued in March     B. go to Random House

C. analyze the characters in Oh, Johnny     D. read the novel Oh, Johnny

Which book isn’t directly based on the writer’s own life?__________________

A. Seeking Peace.             B. Reviving Ophelia.

C. Wishful Drinking.            D. Oh, Johnny.

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