We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests’ coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.

The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.

Each of the guests liked Kelly more, the younger one, enjoying her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a unusual girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.

I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big “to do” over the younger one because she’s the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.

But we seldom think of how it might affect(影响) the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being paid no attention. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying. I said, “What are you doing here, my dear?”

She turned to me with a sad expression and said,” Mommy, why don’t people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I’m not pretty? Why don’t they say nice things about me as much?”

I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging(拥抱) her to make her feel better.

Now whenever I visit a friend’s home. I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.

1.The underlined expression “make a big ‘to do’ over” (paragraph 4) means_______.

A.show much concern about                B.have a special effect on

C.list jobs to be done for                   D.do good things for

2.We can conclude from the passage that_______.

A.parents should pay more attention to the elder children

B.the younger children are usually more easily hurt

C.people usually like the younger children more

D.adults should treat children equally

3.Kristen felt sad and cried because_______.

A.the guests gave her more coats to carry

B.she didn't look as pretty as Kelly

C.the guests enjoyed her sister more than her

D.her mother didn’t introduce her the guests

 

More than three years after moving from Australia to this remote part of England, we are still learning how things are done here.

Not too long after we arrived and unpacked, we were invited for “a drink on Sunday morning” by a retired couple nearby. We got there about noon, to find the living-room crowded — lots of chat and discussions, and in all a very jolly occasion.

Trouble was, there was no food — no self-respecting Australian would regard a tray of crisps as food. In Sydney, when you are invited for a drink any time after midday on a Sunday, you know you will be fed as well as watered and you plan accordingly. Meaning the hardworked little woman makes no plans to cook lunch because you are eating out.

By one-fifteen my stomach was sending up “please explain” to me. Even the crisps had gone. There was nothing we could do except wait, and wonder if the hostess was going to perform some magic and feed us fashionably late. Then, as quickly as if word had spread that there was free beer at the local pub, the room emptied. By one-forty-five there were only a few guests left, so we decided to go home. Tinned soup for lunch that day because the little woman was not really interested in real cooking for us.

A few weeks ago we were invited out for “supper” and the hostess suggested 8:15. Ah, we thought greedily, “this is going to be the real thing.”

We dressed with some care — I putting on a dark suit — and arrived on time. My wife looked pretty good, I thought — a little black dress and so on. But when we walked in I had a terrible feeling we had got the night wrong because the hostess was dressed in a daytime kind of way and the husband was in jeans and an open-neck shirt. But no, we were greeted and shown into the sitting-room.

After a drink I looked around and saw that this was indeed a superior cottage because it had a (more or less) separate dining-room. But there were no signs of a table-setting. Not again! I thought. Were we meant to eat before we came? I decided that in future my wife and I would always carry a chocolate bar. About 9:28 our hostess went out of the room, saying something about food. Ten minutes later she returned and asked us to follow. We were led out to the kitchen. There on the table were country style plates and a huge bowl of soup, rough bread and all the makings of a simple meal. And that is what it was. In other words we had not read the signals right when we were invited for “supper”. If they want you to come to dinner, they say so, and you know that means dark suits and so on. If they mean supper, they say it, and you get fed in the kitchen.

1.When the author and his wife were invited out for “a drink on Sunday morning”, they thought _________.

A. they would be the only people there

B. they would be given lunch as well

C. they would be taken to a restaurant for lunch

D. they would be asked to take some food with them

2.The “party” had been going on for about an hour and three quarters when _________.

A. the hostess decided to feed her guests

B. everyone had tinned soup for lunch

C. most of the guests went to lunch at the pub

D. the author realized he would go home hungry

3.When invited out for “supper” a few weeks later, the writer _________.

A. expected to be served a proper dinner

B. arrived on the wrong evening

C. interpreted the invitation correctly this time

D. realized there was no dining-room in the cottage

4.As the evening wore on, the writer became aware that _________.

A. no one used their dining-rooms in the countryside

B. he should have had a meal before going out

C. “supper” meant a simple, informal meal

D. he should, in future, eat only chocolate in the evening

 

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