It happened in one of those colorful Danish inns which offer service specially for tourists and where English is spoken．I was with my father on a business－and－pleasure trip, and in our free hours we were having a wonderful time．
“I wish Mother were here．” I said．
“If your mother had come with us,” said Father, “it would have been wonderful to show her around．”
He had visited Denmark when he was a young man, I asked him, “How long is it since you were here?”
“Oh, about thirty years．I remember being in this very inn, by the way．” He looked around, remembering．“Those were pleasant and enjoyable days…” He stopped wuddenly, and I saw that his face was pale．I followed his eyes and looked across the room to a woman who was setting drinks before some customers．She might have been pretty once, but now she was fat and her hair was untidy．“Do you know her” I asked．
“I did once,” he said．
The woman came to our table．“Drinks?” she asked．
“We'll have beer,” I said．She nodded and went away．
“I couldn't believe it! How she has changed! Thank heaven she didn't recognize me,” Father said in a low voice, cleaning his face with a handkerchief．“I knew her before I met your mother, ”he went on．“I was a student, on a tour．She was a lovely young girl, very graceful．I fell madly in love with her, and she with me．”
“Does Mother know about her?” I said suddenly, without thinking．
“Of course,” Father said gently．He looked at me a little anxiously．I felt embarrassed(尴尬)for him．
I said, “Dad, you don't have to…”
“Your mother would tell you if she were here．I don't want you wondering about this．I was a foreigner to her family．I depended on my father．If she had married me, she wouldn't have had any bright future．So her father was against our romance．When I wrote to my father that I wanted to get married he stopped posting money to me．And I had to go home．But I met the girl once more, and told her I would return to America, borrow enough money to get married on, and come back for her in a few months．”
“We knew, ”he continued, “that her father might stop and take away our letter, so we agreed that I would simply mail her a slip of paper with a date on it, the time she was to meet me at a certain place; then we'd get married．Well, I went home, got the money and sent her the date．She received the note．She wrote me：‘I'll be there．’ But she wasn't．Then I found that she had been married about two weeks before, to a local innkeeper．She hadn't waited．”
Then my father said, “Thank God she didn't．I went home, met your mother, and we’ve been completely happy．We often joke about youthful love romance．I suggest that one day you write a story about it．”
The woman appeared with our beer．
“You are from America?” she asked me．
“Yes,” I said．
She smiled happily, “A wonderful country, America．”
“Yes, a lot of your countrymen have gone there．Did you ever think of it?”
“Not me．Not now, ”she said．“I thought so one time, a long time ago．But I stayed here．It's much better here．”
We drank our beer and left．Outside I said, “Father, just how did you write that date on which she was to meet you?”
He stopped, took out an envelope and wrote on it．“Like this, ”he said．“12/11/13, which was, of course, December11th, 1913．”
“No!”I said loudly．“It isn't in Denmark or any European country．Over here they write the day first, then the month．So that date wouldn't be December11th but the 12th of November!”
Father passed his hand over his face．“So she was there!” he signed,“and it was because I didn't show up that she got married．” He was silent a while．“Well,” he said, “I hope she's happy．She seems to be．”
As we continued walking I said, “It's a lucky thing it happened that way．You wouldn't have met Mother．”
He put his arm around my shoulders, looked at me with a heartwarming smile, and said,“I was doubly lucky, young man, for otherwise I wouldn't have met you, either!”
(1)
When Father recognized the waitress as his old love, he was ________．
[ ]
A．
very excited
B．
really surprised
C．
deeply regretful
D．
quite happy
(2)
When the woman went to fetch beer, Father cleaned his face with a handkerchief because________．
[ ]
A．
he didn't want to meet her face to face
B．
he was afraid of being recognized
C．
he was sorry that he had lost her
D．
he was wondering what to say to her
(3)
Which of the following can best finish the son's words“Dad, you don't have to…”?
[ ]
A．
cover it up
B．
be worried
C．
tell Mother
D．
explain
(4)
What do we know about the woman when Father and son saw her at the inn?
[ ]
A．
She had forgotten all about her youthful romance．
B．
She was quite satisfied with her present life．
C．
She was still angry with that heartless young man．
D．
She was tired of her dull life in Denmark．
(5)
The woman's father was against her romance because the young man ________．
One of Britain's most popular reality TV programmes has returned to our screens for a fifth series．The Apprentice sees 16 ambitious individuals competing for a job with electronics tycoon(巨头)Sir Alan Sugar．
The Apprentice is a BAFTA award-winning British reality television series in which fl group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a￡100,000-a-year job as“apprentice”to the British business tycoon Alan Sugar, The Baron Sugar．Winners have gone on to work at Amstrad, an electronics manufacturing company founded by Sir Alan(but since sold to BSkyB), or one of Sugar's other companies, Viglen, Amsprop or Amshold．TheApprentice, billed as a“job interview from hell”, is similar in format to the American series of the same name, which stars entrepreneur Donald Trump．
With endless talk of financial crisis, redundancies(过剩)and cut-backs, it may come as no surprise that thousands of brave hopefuls applied for the show．The chosen 16 will compete in a series of business tasks and do their best to escape elimination．Not one of them wants to hear the fateful words：you're fired．
It should also be noted that this year's apprentices are not going, to be allowed to forget the terrible economic climate quite so easily．At the launch of this year's TV show, Sir Alan announced that some episodes have been“specifically made towards recognition of what difficult times we are in”．
The tasks will as usual be tough tests of business wisdom。team-working and leadership skill．They will also make for some funny viewing．British viewers will be shaking their heads in disbelief at the crazy decisions of the wanna be apprentices．But perhaps the most entertaining feature of the show will be watching the hopefuls squirm(局促不安)and quarrel in the。boardroom．It is here they will have to explain just why they have failed each task so badly．
What drives people to take part in the show is difficult to say．Some are clearly motivated by the promise of a six-figure salary and some claim they want the experience of working with a successful businessman such as Sir Alan．One thing is for sure．the contestants will all gain some level of celebrity．The show is a regular ratings winner．
To date, there has been one big winner and that is the show's creator, Mark Burnett．Originating in the US, The Apprentice's winning format has been copied all over the world and with the hype(炒作)surrounding this latest series, it looks as though the show will have success for many years to come．
(1)
What's the aim of contestants'taking part in The Apprentice?
[ ]
A．
Tb acquire a good job．
B．
To meet famous people．
C．
To win some prize money．
D．
To obtain some experience．
(2)
What is special about this year's The Apprentice?
[ ]
A．
There will be more contestants．
B．
There will be more famous people．
C．
It is affected by the financial crisis．
D．
1t is supported by Sir Alan Sugar．
(3)
The tasks in The Apprentice lay emphasis on the following EXCEPT ________．
备战中考寒假系列答案
farmer，inventor，astronomer writer and antislavery supporter．He created the first American—built striking clock．
lt(一卷)of white cloth for his mother and looked around for someone to taik to．Benjamin’s heart jumped like a rabbit when he saw a friend holding a gold watch．Benjamin had always wanted to figure out how clocks and watches worked．The friend saw Benjamin and let him sit down for a good talk．
r two years，Benjamin farmed all day and worked on his wood pieces at night．In1753，two years after he had borrowed the watch，Benjamin put all the pieces together．Benjamin had made his own clock．