Roy wasn't the only one to
receive his call-up(入伍)papers.Stephen Napier's call-up came at the
beginning of February and he was pleased to find that he would be going into
the Royal Air Force (RAF).
His father was not so pleased and
made his feelings known as he and Stephen were on their daily walk. It was the
first step in his plans for Stephen to take over the estate(地产)when the time came, and
although Stephen was well aware of this, he could think of no reason not to
accompany him.
"Thought you'd forgotten
that nonsense. Still, I dare say I could pull a few strings to get you to the
Army..."
"No, Father! I have told you
I want to learn to fly. What chance would I have to do that in the Army? I'd be
better off in the Navy——at least they've got the Fleet Air Arm. But I have been put in the
RAF and that's where I want to be, so let's leave it at that." His face
went red. Sent to his father's school and then to Cambridge, much to his
satisfaction, he had never had to defend his own desires and his father was a
hard man to oppose.
The father glared at Stephen,
"No, I won't leave it at that. I want to know what other ridiculous ideas
are in your head. For a start, what's all this about America?"
"America?"
"Yes. All those books I saw
in your room the other day. Brochures about emigration(移民)."
The big, silvered head lowered, like
that of a bull about to charge."Don't trouble to deny it."
"I won't, Father. Some men
at Cambridge have been talking about it. They want people like us here,
mathematicians and scientists, for all kinds of research——the sort of research I
could do.It would be a worthwhile life for me."
The father responded exactly as
his son had known he would."You've got a worthwhile life here!You've
got an estate to run!"
"No, Father. You've got an
estate to run. I never asked for it. Why not ask Baden to do this stuff? He
perhaps can make a good job of it, but I..."
"If he were here, I might
think about this silly idea of yours——only think about it, mind you but..."
1.If Father wanted Stephen to take over the
estate, the first thing he did would__________.
A .take a walk with Stephen as
usual B. wait till his son graduated from Cambridge
C. persuade Stephen not to go
into RAF D. send Stephen to the Army instead of RAF
2.Which statement is NOT true according to the
passage?
A . Stephen preferred to go into
the Navy rather than the Army.
B. Stephen also received his
call-up papers as Roy.
C. The father didn't like
Stephen's idea of going to America.
D. Stephen was eventually forced
to stay to run the estate.
3.After reading this passage, we can infer
that__________.
A. Stephen had never had to
defend his desires before
B. Baden might be one of
Stephen's family members
C. Stephen wanted to fly in RAF
and become a pilot in America
D. if somebody took over the
estate, Stephen could realize his dream
4.What do we learn from the underlined
sentence?
A. It looked as if the father was
angry when mentioning the brochures.
B. The father was very angry and
wanted to beat his son Stephen.
C. Stephen was annoyed when his
father referred to the brochures.
D. A big red bull was about to
charge at Stephen.
5.Which would be the best title for this
passage?
A . RAF——a better choice than the
Army B. A talk between Father and Son
C.
The dreams of a Cambridge student D. Conflict between Father and
Son