After my husband died, my world crashed around me. My six children were ten, nine, eight, six, three and 18 months, and I was overwhelmed(不知所措的) with the responsibilities of earning a living, caring for the children and simply keeping my head above water.
I was lucky to find a wonderful housekeeper to care for the children during the week, but from Friday nights to Monday mornings, the children and I were alone, and frankly(坦诚地) I was uneasy. Every unusual noise or any late-night phone call filled me with fear. I felt really alone.
One Friday evening I came home from work to find a big beautiful German shepherd(牧羊犬) on our doorstep. It was obvious he wanted to make the house his home. The children took an instant liking to “German” and asked me to let him in. I agreed to let him sleep in the basement(地下室) until the next day. That night I slept peacefully for the first time in many weeks.
The following morning we made phone calls and checked lost-and-found ads for German’s owner, but with no results. Saturday night he was still with us. 
On Sunday I had planned to take the children on a picnic. Since I thought it best to leave German behind in case(以免) his owner came by, we drove off without him. When we stopped to get gas at a local station, we were amazed to see German racing to the gas station after us. He stayed again Sunday night.  
Monday morning I let him out for a run while the children got ready for school. He didn’t come back. We thought we’d never see him again. On Friday evening, German was back again. We took him in, and again he stayed until Monday morning, when our housekeeper arrived. It went like this for almost 10 months. We looked forward to his coming. Each Monday morning he left home.
Each week, between German's visits, I grew a little braver, but every weekend I enjoyed being with him . Then one Monday morning we patted his head and let him out for what turned out to be the last time. He never came back. We never saw or heard from German again. I think of him often. He came when I needed him the most and stayed until I was strong enough to go on alone. I believe German was sent because he was needed, and because no matter how abandoned(被放弃的) and alone we feel, somehow, somewhere, someone knows and cares. We are never really alone.
【小题1】What does the underlined part “keeping my head above water” in the first paragraph mean?

After my husband died, my world crashed around me. My six children were 10, nine, eight, six, three and 18 months, and I was overwhelmed with the responsibilities of earning a living, caring for the children and simply keeping my head above water.
I was fortunate to find a wonderful housekeeper to care for the children during the week, but from Friday nights to Monday mornings, the children and I were alone, and frankly I was uneasy. Every unusual noise or any late-night phone call filled me with fear. I felt incredibly alone.
One Friday evening I came home from work to find a big beautiful German shepherd(牧羊犬) on our doorstep. It was obvious he wanted to make the house his home. The children took an instant liking to "German" and begged me to let him in. I agreed to let him sleep in the basement until the next day. That night I slept peacefully for the first time in many weeks.
The following morning we made phone calls and checked lost-and-found ads for German’s owner, but with no results. Saturday night he was still with us. 
On Sunday I had planned to take the children on a picnic. Since I thought it best to leave German behind in case his owner came by, we drove off without him. When we stopped to get gas at a local station, we were amazed to see German racing to the gas station after us. He stayed again Sunday night.  
Monday morning I let him out for a run while the children got ready for school. He didn’t come back. We thought we’d never see him again. On Friday evening, German was back again. We took him in, and again he stayed until Monday morning, when our housekeeper arrived. It went like this for almost 10 months. We looked forward to his coming each Monday morning he left home.
Each week, between German's visits, I grew a little braver, but every weekend I enjoyed his company. Then one Monday morning we patted his head and let him out for what turned out to be the last time. He never came back. 
【小题1】What does the underlined part in the first paragraph mean?

While we are still children ,most of us live at home with our parents, more or less peacefully . But as we become teenagers , things change ,and we begin to grow apart from our parents . This means we are almost ready to leave the house where we grew up and make a new home of our own .
All humans must do this ,but they don’t all do it in the same way . If ,for instance ,you belong to a primitive tribe (原始部落) ，then as you grew up ,you’d learn the skills you needed as an adult---how to catch fish ,how to keep the house and look after children . You would be ready to marry in your early teens and you would build a house and live near your family in the village.
This seems a very old way of life , but it is what humans have been used to through hundreds of years. And it is what we are still used to in the 21st century ,for man hasn’t changed in the short time since he became civilized(文明的). But could you leave home and look after yourself during the teen years ? Most people would not do very well . Why ? Because although man hasn’t changed very much , the society he lives in has changed greatly ,which means that we have to learn more and more before we are ready to leave our parents’ shelter( 居所 ) and live alone .
However ,sometimes it is very frustrating to live at parents’ home . Parents can be very upset about late nights ,criticizing friends and always saying that we are noisy and dirty . But we still need our emotional (情感的) shelter till we finish our studies , and that is why we usually stay in our parents’ home until we feel grown up enough to deal with living alone .
【小题1】When does the relationship with parents start changing ?