A certain good woman one day said something that hurt her best friend of many years. She regretted it immediately and would have done anything to have taken the words back. So she went to an older, wiser woman in the village and advice.

Listening to her, the older woman the younger woman’s distress and knew she must help her. She also knew she could ease her pain, but she could teach.

Then, she said. “There are things you need to do. The first is extremely difficult. Tonight, Take your best pillows and open a small hole in each one. Then, the sun rises, you must put a single feather on the doorstep of each house in town. When you are through, to me. If you’ve done the first thing , I’ll tell you the second.”

The young woman hurried home to prepare for her chore, the pillows were very to her and very expensive.

All night long, she went from doorstep to doorstep. Her fingers were . The wind was so sharp that it caused her eyes to water, but she ran on through the streets, that there was something she could do to put things the way they once were. Finally she placed the last feather on the steps of the last house. Just as the sun rose, she returned to the older woman.

She was exhausted but ,thinking that her efforts would be rewarded.

“Now,” said the wise woman, “Go back and your pillows. Then everything will be as it was before.”

The young woman was stunned, “You know that’s impossible! The wind each feather as fast as I placed them on the doorsteps! You didn’t say I had to get them back! If this is the second , then things will never be the same.”

“That’s true,” said the older woman. “Never forget. Each of your words is like a feather in the wind. Once , no amount of effort, how heartfelt or sincere, can ever return them to your mouth. Choose your words well and guard them most of all in the presence of those you love.”

1.A. asked about B. asked for C. asked to D. ask around

2.A. witnessed B. touched C. guessed D. sensed

3.A. ever B. almost C. never D. seldom

4.A. one B. two C. three D. four

5.A. feather B. leather C. woolen D. cotton

6.A. when B. after C. as D. before

7.A. come back B. go back C. put back D. draw back

8.A. promptly B. absolutely C. completely D. unfortunately

9.A. so as to B. even though C. now that D. in spite of

10.A. hard B. rare C. nice D. dear

11.A. freezing B. freezingly C. froze D. frozen

12.A. brightened B. widened C. darkened D. broadened

13.A. amazing B. lucky C. thankful D. surprising

14.A. on B. up C. off D. back

15.A. tired B. relieved C. grateful D. nervous

16.A. refill B. get C. purchase D. seek

17.A. blew up B. blew on C. blew away D. blew over

18.A. requirement B. situation C. consequence D. circumstance

19.A. speak B. spoken C. speaking D. being spoken

20.A. however B. whatever C. although D. regardless

“Father, do you see Mother in your dreams?” the young girl asks. “You know sometimes I do.”

“Mother comes to see me a lot, you know. We sit and talk.” The father smiles. “How is your homework coming along?”

“Why do I have to study so hard?”

“It is what your mother would have wanted!”

She regrets speaking her mind. “I’m sorry, Father, I shouldn’t have said that.” She looks up and sees his eyes well up with tears.

“It’s okay, love,” he gets up and pours himself a drink. “I’ll just sit outside for a while. You finish up your work, okay?”

“I’m sorry, Father; Mother did love you very much. She told me all the time.”

“Homework, first, eh? Then we can chat about your mother.”

He heads off outside and sits in his usual chair, looking around the courtyard. The whole area relaxes the mind and somehow soothes the soul.

“All finished, Father. May I get a drink and sit with you? I have some questions.”

She comes with two drinks one for him and one for herself. He looks surprised. She never really liked him having a drink. Although he had cut back a lot from before he brought her here, it still seemed strange.

“Mother told me all about you. That is before she passed away. We would laugh together at your love stories.”

He listens without uttering a single sound.

“Why didn’t you come and take her away with you? She really wanted that. Did you know that?”

Her father looks at his daughter lovingly. “Circumstances were difficult back then. It was just the way things were. When it came time to…” He sighs. “To visit her it was too late.”

The girl smiles. “I hope I will have the same kind of love you and mother had.”

“Without all the heartache,” her father adds.

“She always knew you loved her. She told me every day,” the child mentions cheerfully. “I saw her crying sometimes when she read your letters.”

“Did she make you promise to look after me?” She inquires.

“She asked me to take care of you.”

“You promised her, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did.”

“It is nice out here, isn't it? Mother would have been very happy here.”

She talks with some authority. Her father remains silent. A smile comes to his weary brow. He nods his head.

“Mother wanted me to give you something. I think now the time is right.” She runs to her room. Upon returning she hands her father a book. “It’s mother’s diary! She wanted me to give it to you.”

He takes the book and holds it in his trembling hands, “Thank you.”

“Mother said you would understand things better.”

“Wise woman, your mother.”

He places the book on the table as he gets up. The girl gets up and wraps herself around her father.

“I love you.” she looks up at his face.

He picks her up and hugs her. “I love you, too.” His voice trembles.

“It’s okay, Father. We have each other now and mother is in both of us.”

He kisses her head.

“Time you went to bed,” her father softly says.

He puts her down and she scampers off to get washed and ready for bed.

Clearing up everything he checks on his daughter. She is in bed waiting for her good night kiss. He tucks her in and bids her goodnight.

Just as he is to leave she tells him. “Mother told me she adopted me when I was a baby.”

He stands at her bedroom door. Words fail him. Yes, he knew she was adopted.

“I am really lucky for being loved by my parents, even if I am not really theirs.”

You trying to bring on the water works?” he tells her.

She giggles, “Goodnight, Father. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

His face lights up as he wipes his dampened eyes.

The door closes and the child falls asleep dreaming of her mother.

Sitting outside he picks up the diary and opens it and reads the first line: “I love you, my dearest, if only things could have been different…”

1.Why isn’t the mother with her family?

A. She has already died. B. She is ill in hospital.

C. The couple is divorced. D. She lives in another city.

2.What can we know about the couple’s relationship?

A. They understood each other very well.

B. They quarreled a lot and are separated.

C. They used to have misunderstandings.

D. They were quite sure of each other’s love.

3.What can we learn from the story?

A. The girl was adopted because the couple couldn’t give birth.

B. Father looks after the girl just because the girl is alone.

C. The girl feels unfortunate that she was adopted.

D. Father was not very close to the girl before she moved in with him.

4.Why didn’t father bring mother home when she was ill?

A. Because he was too busy with his work

B. Because he didn’t know he was wanted

C. Because he was too poor to afford the medical fees

D. Because he didn’t know she was in hospital

5.What does the sentence “You trying to bring on the water works?” mean?

A. You want another cup of water?

B. Are you kidding me?

C. Are you trying to make me cry?

D. Are you thinking about the water factory?

6.Which word best describes father’s feeling at the end of the story?

A. Regretful B. Satisfied

C. Confused D. Doubtful

Lights Out at Bedtime

There are plenty of good reasons to power up a personal desktop or laptop computer in the evening — writing e-mails,chatting on social networks or making purchases over the Internet,for instance.But various studies indicate that people who stare at a PC’s bright monitor shortly before going to bed probably sleep less soundly than they would otherwise because the light seriously affects their natural wake-sleep cycle."They haven't proved it though," says Dieter Kunz,the team's director at Charite's Psychiatric Clinic in St.Hedwig's Hospital in Berlin.

Similarly,exposure to just 10 minutes of normal bathroom lighting is enough to free the sleep hormone melatonin,which regulates people's natural wake-sleep cycle and makes them sleepy at nightfall.

Ten years ago,a team of British and American researchers detected a photo-pigment(光敏色素) in the human eye that signals to the body whether it is day or night,summer or winter.The photo-pigment is especially sensitive to blue light.

"The blue light more or less tells the body,'It's daytime,be awake,'" Kunz says.Monitors have a mostly cold white light content and scientists suspect the photo-pigment may react similarly to it.So the longer people look into the bright light,the more awake they become - and then sleep poorly.

A lot of people have difficulty "switching off" in the evening.About half of the women in Germany and a quarter of the men sleep poorly.

Environmental factors are only one of the possible causes.Job stress as well as personal and health concerns are also the main reasons for their sleep problems.

In addition,electronic objects' standby lights and indicator lamps can be annoying in the dark and affect sleep."Sound scientific evidence is still lacking on this matter," Kunz notes.

According to Kunz,those who cannot go without their computer in the evening should turn down the blue content if possible and lower the brightness somewhat."But nobody does that because,after all,you want to concentrate while working at the computer and the light helps the brain."

1.The passage is mainly about ____________.

A.natural wake-up cycles

B.the effect of light on sleep

C.personal and health concerns

D.functions of computer monitors

2.The underlined word “which” in Paragraph 2 refers to_____.

A.normal bathroom lighting

B.10-minute exposure to lighting

C.the release process of a chemical

D.a chemical affecting one’s sleep cycle

3.We can learn from the passage that ______.

A.the blue light has a calming effect.

B.the photo-pigment tells people day or night

C.women in Germany use computers more often than men

D.it has been proved that standby lights affect people’s sleep

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