Is there a magic cutoff period when children become responsible for their own actions? Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become spectators (audiences) in the lives of their children and shrug, “It’s their life,” and feel nothing?

       When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital  passage waiting for doctors to put a few stitches(缝线) in my son’s head.I asked, “When do you stop worrying?” The nurse said, “When they get out of the accident stage.” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing

      When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked continually and disrupted the class.As if to read my mind, a teacher said.“Don’t worry.They all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them.” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

      When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open.A friend said, “They’re trying to find themselves.Don’t worry; in a few years, you can stop worrying.They’ll be adults.” My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

    By the time I was 50, I was sick and tired of being weak.I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle.There was nothing I could do about it.My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

     I continued to suffer from their failures, and be absorbed in their disappointments.My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life.I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted(萦绕心头) by my mother’s warm smile and her occasional “You look pale.Are you all right? Call me the minute you get home.Are you depressed about something?” Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry?

    One of my children became quite anxious about me recently, saying, “Where were you? I’ve been calling for three days, and no one answered.I was worried.”

     I smiled a warm smile.

The author intends to tell us in the passage that_______.

     A.parents long for a period when they no longer worry about their children

     B.there is no time when parents have no worry about their children

     C.it’s parents’ duty to worry about their children

     D.there should be a period when parents don’t have to worry about their children

We can infer from the underlined sentence “My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.” that ______.

     A.her mother shared the same idea as the nurse

     B.her mother didn’t agree with the nurse

     C.her mother thought the nurse was lying

     D.her mother wouldn’t express her opinion upon the matter

The author mentioned her ages of twenties, thirties, forties and fifty in order to show_______.

      A.the hard times she experiences in her life

      B.the different stages of her children

      C.the support she received from her mother

      D.she had been worrying about her children in her life

What can we infer from the last sentence?

      A.The mother was happy that her child began to worry about her, too

      B.Finally the mother didn’t have to worry about her children

      C.At last the mother could live her own life without worry.

      D.The mother succeeded in turning her children into adults.

Which of the following should be the best title?

     A.Life             B.Parents   C.Worry          D.Children

Recently I gave my adult students homework. It was “go to someone you love and tell them you love them.” It has to be someone you have never said those words to before or at least haven’t shared those words with for a long time.

It sounds like very tough homework since most of the men were over 35 and were raised in the generation of men that were taught expressing emotions is not “macho (阳刚之气).” Showing feelings or crying was just not done. So this was very threatening homework for some.

At the beginning of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to share what happened when they told someone they loved them. I fully expected one of the women to volunteer, as was usually the case, but on this evening one of the men raised his hand, quite moved and a bit shaken.

As he unfolded out of his chair (all 1.85 meters of him), he began by saying, “Dennis, I was quite angry with you last week when you gave us this homework. Who were you to tell me to do something that personal?”

“But as I began driving home my conscience (良心)started telling me that I knew exactly who I needed to say ‘I love you’ to.”

“Five years ago, my father and I had a severe disagreement and really never settled it since then. We avoided seeing each other unless we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings. But even then, we hardly spoke to each other.”

“So last Tuesday by the time I got home I had convinced myself. I was going to tell my father I loved him. It’s strange, but just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy load off my chest.

The homework is threatening for some students because_________.

A. they are middle-aged people  B. they are not macho enough

C. they were taught to hide their emotions  D. they didn’t know how to show feelings

From the passage we know that_________.

A. the adult students have classes in the day time only

B. not all the adult students in the writer’s class are male

C. the man refused to meet his father after their quarrel

D. the man quickly decided to say “I love you” to his father

The underlined phrase “unfolded out of his chair” in Para 4 is closest in meaning to_________.

A. stood on his chair straight  B. sat quietly in the chair

C. bent himself over his chair  D. raised himself slowly from the chair

What does the man imply by saying the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A. He felt it too strange to say “I love you” to his father.

B. He felt relaxed just thinking of saying “I love you” to his father.

C. He felt very relaxed after saying “I love you” to his father.

D. He had to lift a heavy load off his chest before saying “I love you”.

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