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about the term at all - which is unlikely. After all, everyone in my family used the word quite naturally,
and we understood each other. So far as I knew, it was a word like any other word - like bath, or
chocolate, or homework. But it was my homework which led to my discovery that grinnies was a
word not known outside my family.
My last report card had said that I was a "C" student in English, and my parents, both teachers,
decided that no child of theirs would be just an average student of anything. So nightly I spelled words
aloud and answered questions about the fine points of grammar. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote every
composition until I convinced my mother that I could make no more improvements. And the hard work
paid off. One day the teacher returned compositions, and there it was - a big fat, bright red "A" on the
top of my paper. Naturally, I was delighted, but I didn't know I was attracting attention until the teacher
spoke sharply, "Helen, what are you doing?"
Called suddenly out of my happy thoughts, I said "Oh, I've got the grinnies!" The teacher and my
classmates burst into laughter, and then I understood that grinnies were used inside my family. Other
people were not so lucky.
And it is really lucky to have the grinnies, an uncontrollable, natural state of great pleasure. Grinnies
are shown on the outside by sparkling eyes and a wide, wide smile - not just any smile, but one that
shows the teeth and stretches the mouth to its limits. A person experiencing the grinnies appears to be
all mouth. On the inside grinnies are characterized by a feeling of joyful anxiety. Grinnies usually last just
a few seconds, but they can come and go. Sometimes, when life seems just perfect, I have occasional
attacks of the grinnies for a whole day.
The term originated in my mother's family. Her younger sister, Rose, who had deep dimples (酒窝),
often expressed her pleasure with such a grin that the dimples appeared to become permanent. When
Rose was about four, she started explaining her funny look by saying, "I have the grinnies". The term
caught on, and it has been an important word in our family now for two generations.
The occasion doesn't matter. Anything can bring on the grinnies - just so long as one feels great
delight. When my brother finally rode his bicycle - without training wheels - from our house to the corner
and back, he came home with the grinnies. When I was little, my mother's announcement that we would
have homemade ice cream for dessert always gave me the grinnies. My father had the grinnies when I
was chosen to make a speech at the end-of-school-year ceremony. Grinnies can be brought on by a
good meal, a sense of pride, a new friend, a telephone call from someone special, an achievement. Or
sometimes one gets the grinnies for no reason at all: just a sudden sense of happiness can bring on a
case. Whatever brings them on, an attack of the grinnies is among life's greatest pleasures.
In fact, now that I look back on the experience, I feel sorry for my seventh-grade teacher. I think it's
a pity that she didn't know the word grinnies. It's such a useful term for saying, "I'm really, really pleased!"
B. equaled "grinnies" to bath or chocolate in meaning
C. got to know "grinnies" was used only inside her family
D. discovered the word "grinnies" through her mother
B. listening to her English teacher attentively
C. too happy to notice what's happening around her
D. busy rewriting and improving her compositions
B. her aunt
C. her brother
D. her father
B. should not have laughed at her
C. doesn't have any luck to meet her parent
D. has no idea of what "grinnies" is
B. Examples.
C. Comparison and contrast.
D. Process.
—The light___________on for long.
—Oh, I am sorry , I will go and turn it off.
| A．has been left | B．has left | C．had been left | D．had left |
—We are informed that the Weifang International Kite Festival starts at 7:00.
—Oh, I didn't expect it was so early! I ____ to go out for dinner with my friends first.
|
A．would plan |
B．am planning |
C．have been planning |
D．was planning |
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—Ken, ______, but your radio is going too loud．
—Oh, I'm sorry．I'll turn it down right now．
A．I hate to say it B．It doesn't hurt to ask
C．I'm really tired of it D．I'm crazy about it
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Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.
I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”
“Oh, you’re such a good man.” She said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to a hospice(临终医院). I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter(计价器).
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
At dawn, she suddenly said,” I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I owe you?” she asked.
“Nothing.” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”
【小题1】 The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to ______.
| A．show she was familiar with the city | B．see some places for the last time |
| C．let the driver earn more money | D．reach the destination on time |
| A．wanted to do her a favor |
| B．shut off the meter by mistake |
| C．had received her payment in advance |
| D．was in a hurry to take other passengers |
| A．Giving is always a pleasure. |
| B．People should respect each other. |
| C．An act of kindness can bring people great joy. |
| D．People should learn to appreciate others’ concern. |