Education from My Father

My memories of my father are slim because he was so sick in the last years of his life. But there are   32   that I am often reminded of and which may have had some bearing on my love of   33  .

When I was small I was somewhat   34   of lightning and thunder. My father explained it. The explanation was in   35   that a child could understand but was basically correct. I gained a better   36   later, but I didn’t have to unlearn anything.

What he said was that there was electricity in the clouds   37   it traveled to the ground like a spark. When it traveled   38   the air it made the air so hot that it   39  . Then there was nothing where the air had been and the air all around rushed in to   40   the space. He clapped his hands together very loud,   41   to be the air rushing in, and said that makes the thunder. When I hear thunder, I can still hear that   42  .

He explained why if it was cloudy in the winter the night was warmer than if it was   43  . It was one of those nights when the sky was full of stars: no moon, no town lights. But there were more stars than you could   44   and they had color too. He said that if there were no clouds, we had no blankets and were   45   to the universe. Our warmth was going to   46   the whole universe. When there were clouds, they were like blankets and we were not exposed to the universe. I   47   feel on the edge of space on a very clear night.

I am sure there were many other lessons that I   48   but no longer remember. What I did 49  , in general, was that there were explanations and that the more I understood them, the more    comfortable the world was to live in. I was not taught that there were   50   but that there was understanding if you looked for it. This may be why I have always been   51   in science.

1.A. others            B. few             C. some          D. all

2.A. science           B. nature          C. weather       D. universe

3.A. sure              B. fond            C. tired         D. afraid

4.A. depth             B. words           C. gestures      D. data

5.A. understanding B. knowledge           C. command       D. confidence

6.A. but               B. and             C. for           D. or

7.A. above             B. to              C. along         D. through

8.A. shone             B. burned          C. expanded      D. broke

9.A. fill              B. make            C. avoid         D. break

10.A. trying           B. proving         C. hoping        D. pretending 

11.A. clap             B. remark          C. voice         D. crash

12.A. cold             B. bright          C. clear         D. foggy

13.A. explore          B. foresee         C. imagine       D. identify

14.A. committed        B. exposed         C. related       D. led

15.A. heat             B. protect         C. extend        D. light

16.A. ever             B. also            C. even          D. still

17.A. selected         B. arranged        C. absorbed      D. delivered

18.A. consider         B. promise         C. explain       D. learn

19.A. memories         B. blankets        C. mysteries     D. thunders

20.A. engaged          B. interested      C. successful    D. skillful

As a young girl growing up in rural Alabama, I never understood why my mom spent so much time baking. And she always made my brother and me   36   her. A whole day every other week was devoted to making bread. It always made our small arms tired.

Despite our best efforts, the flour dust always went everywhere. I   37   to be outside with my playmates, and never   38   my mom’s desire for quality family time with her children, at least when it came to spending it in the   39  . Years have gone by, and I have become a mother myself. I prefer to leave most of the cooking to my husband and he loves it. He’s quite   40   at doing it, too.

On one occasion my husband was   41   dinner, and I was at the kitchen table going through the day’s mail when our little son, Cody, asked if he could help   42  . My husband said yes, and I sat there amused, watching them.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Helping dad cook.” he replied with a big   43   on his face. I thought back to those   44   when my mom asked me to help her bake bread, and I was   45  , but obeyed. Per­haps she was trying to create something more than just fresh bread­—maybe a few lasting   46  .

As I watched Cody do it with all his attention, I realized that he had   47   a lasting moment for me, a moment filled with a deep sense of family. I wanted to hold the moment and make it longer, and appreciate the memories my mom had given me years ago in her kitchen.

1.A.copy       B. help          C.notice           D.admire

2.A.improved   B.encouraged     C.longed          D.blamed

3.A.wondered   B. appreciat      C.judged          D.challenged

4.A.kitchen     B. restaurant      C. bedroom        D. school

5.A.unhappy    B.weak          C.astonished       D.skilled

6.A.preparing   B.choosing       C.making          D.having

7.A.play       B.work          C.cook            D.make

8.A. get uptear  B. surprise       C. smile           D. mark

9.A. dreams    B.time          C. mysteries        D.accidents

10.A. excited    B.regretful       C. confident        D.unwilling

11.A. memories  B.choices        C.opportunities     D.goals

12.A. continued  B.created        C.failed           D.served

In the dinning room of my grandfather’s house stood a heavy grandfather’s clock. Meals in the dinning room were a (1)______ for our four generations to become one. The grandfather’s clock always stood like a trusted old family friend, (2)______ us playing jokes and telling stories, which was already a (3)______ of our life.

As a child, the old clock interested me. I watched and listened to it during (4)______. I was surprised how at (5)______ times of the day, the clock would strike three times, six times or more, with a wonderful great (6)______ that echoed throughout the house. The clock chimed year after year, a part of my (7)______, a part of my heart.

Even more (8)______ to me was my grandfather’s special action each day. He meticulously (9)______ the clock with a special key each day. The key was magic to me. It (10)______ our family’s magnificent clock ticking and striking all year round.

1. A. time                     B. possibility   C. problem            D. pleasure

2. A. seeing                   B. hearing              C. watching           D. looking

3. A. start                     B. part                   C. signal         D. mark

4. A. stories                  B. jokes                 C. periods              D. meals

5. A. busy                     B. urgent        C. happy        D. different

6. A. shock                   B. sound         C. song                 D. music

7. A. memories              B. minds         C. comfort            D. information

8. A. comfortable          B. hopeful              C. wonderful  D. skillful

9. A. opened                 B. wound              C. turned        D. started  

10. A. made                  B. controlled          C. kept                  D. fixed

请认真阅读下面对话，并根据各题所给字母的提示，在标有题号的右边横线上写出一个英语单词的完整、正确的形式，使对话通顺。

请认真阅读下面对话，并根据各题所给字母的提示，在标有题号的右边横线上写出一个英语单词的完整、正确的形式，使对话通顺。