When I decided to get married, my father decided to share some wisdom. “Lori, it is just as easy to love a rich man as it is to love a poor man, “ he said. My boyfriend didn’t have much money, but I loved him. “What?” I cried. “ How can you say that? I want to marry for love, NOT for money.” “ But why not marry someone you love who has money?” he asked. “Rich men are materialistic（物质主义的）. I’d rather marry a poor man who loves me,” I said and he gave in.

And as we went on, with my family growing, I learned why my father put such importance on money. We had to cover the rent, car, electricity, food, and medical bills. We were under lot of pressure. The worries over whether we would be asked to move out or if we had the money to wash our clothes at the Laundromat this week made me question if I did the right thing by marrying a “poor” man.

I realized that I had entered the ranks of the poor. Not that I’d ever been rich. Most of my life, I considered us in the lower middle-class rank. We had a house of our own, food on the table, cars, clothes, and money for college. But now, as I listened to an apartment neighbour talk about her monthly “Mother’s Day” gift, I realized she was talking about her welfare check（政府发放的救济金）. And another young mother tried to “help” me out by connecting me with a friend who stole baby clothes from a department store. “ For a small cut,” she said, “ I could return my ‘purchase’(购买的东西）for cash.” It made me sick. How poor was I?

I had a college education but wasn’t using it. I insisted on not missing a minute of our children’s childhood and it came at a price. My husband was working as hard as he could and it wasn’t enough. But somehow we made it.

The kids grew. Today, we look back and see the great values gained by going through those hard years. My children are not materialistic. They never thought they were poor growing up because we always managed to give a little bit of food, money, or clothes to the “poor”. They were satisfied with the simple things in life that come free such as a beach day or a horse back ride from their dad.

We had our worries, but we still treasured our very favorite part of the day when we’d nest (栖息地）under the covers and talked about our future, the kids and how much we loved each other. Sure our financial(财政的) troubles caused a lot of fights, but we didn’t leave each other. We began to live a better life. We moved to a better community(社区）with good schools for the kids. And soon, we’ll face a new challenge with wealth. But we’ll never give up.

My father died three years ago. Before he died, he knew I made the right choice. I’m proud of my decision.

1..The writer argued with her father because _________________.

2..After getting married, the writer questioned if she had done the right thing to marry her husband because___________.

3..After their children were born, the writer_______________.

4.. Why didn’t the writer’s children think they were poor growing up?

5..What do you think is the theme(主题）of the story?

In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue skies. One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet (长尾鹦鹉) on my finger, I wanted to show Perky

  1   the sky looked like. Maybe he could make a little bird   2   out there. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my   3  , Perky flew off. The extremely large, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue   4   and suddenly he was gone, clipped (夹住) wings and all.

Kathy managed to   5   me. With fake optimism, she even tried to reassure (使安心) me that Perky would find a new   6. But I was far too clever to   7   that such a thing was possible.

Decades later, I watched my own   8   growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the   9   of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the   10   of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed to   11   the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog.   12   Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and   13   that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.

“The best thing   14   Sweetie Pie,” he said, “was the   15   we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just   16   down and landed on my finger.”

When I was finally able to   17  , we examined the amazing evidence. The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all   18  . It seems our two families had been   19   long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, “You were   20  ! Perky lived!”

1．A．what                     B．how                    C．which                     D．where 

2．A．food                     B．nest                    C．friend                     D．family 

3．A．joy                       B．horror                 C．disappointment        D．satisfaction 

4．A．pleasure                B．sadness               C．treasure                  D．sense

5．A．forgive                  B．comfort               C．help                        D．delight

6．A．parent                   B．home            C．master            D．life

7．A．imagine                 B．suppose               C．doubt                     D．believe

8．A．birds                     B．happiness            C．worries                   D．children

9．A．parents                 B．birds                   C．interests                  D．games

11．A．catch                  B．find                     C．buy                        D．have

12．A．Suddenly             B．Fortunately          C．Then                       D．However

13．A．announced           B．said                     C．told                         D．hoped

14．A．in                       B．about                  C．of                           D．on

15．A．day                     B．place                   C．way                        D．story

16．A．floated                B．dived                   C．settled                     D．went

17．A．think                   B．speak                  C．interrupt                  D．explain

18．A．came up              B．turned up             C．turned out               D．matched up

19．A．known                B．fastened              C．connected               D．introduced

20．A．right                   B．wrong                 C．silly                        D．mad

In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue skies. One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet （小鹦鹉）on my finger, I wanted to show Perky   36   the sky looked like. Maybe he could make a little bird   37  out there. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my   38  , Perky flew off. The enormous（巨大的）, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue   39  and suddenly he had gone, clipped wings and all.

Kathy managed to   40  me. With fake optimism（乐观）, she even tried to reassure（安慰）me that Perky would find a new   41  . But I was far too clever to   42  that such a thing was possible.

Forty years later, I watched my own   43  growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the   44  of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the   45  of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed（宣称）to   46  the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog.   47  Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and   48  that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.

"The best thing   49  Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the   50  we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just   51  down and landed on my finger."

When I was finally able to   52  , we examined the amazing evidence（证据）. The dates, the locations and the pictures of the bird all   53  . It seems our two families had been  54   long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were   55   ! Perky lived!"

1. A. what              B. how              C. which            D. where

2.A. food               B. nest             C. friend           D. family

3.A. joy                B. horror           C. disappointment   D. satisfaction

4. A. pleasure          B. sadness          C. treasure         D. sense

5.A. forgive            B. comfort          C. help             D. delight

6.A. parent             B. home             C. master           D. life

7.A. imagine            B. suppose          C. doubt            D. believe

8. A. birds             B. happiness        C. worries          D. children

9.A. parents            B. birds            C. interests        D. games

10.A. first             B. best             C. last             D. happiest

11. A. catch            B. find             C. buy              D. have

12.A. Suddenly          B. Fortunately      C. Then             D. However

13.A. announced         B. said             C. told             D. hoped

14. A. in               B. about            C. of               D. on

15. A. day              B. place            C. way              D. story

16. A. floated          B. slipped          C. settled          D. went

17. A. think            B. speak            C. interrupt        D. explain

18.A. came up           B. turned up        C. turned out       D. matched up

19. A. known            B. fastened         C. connected        D. introduced

20.A. right     B. wrong            C. silly            D. mad

 In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue skies. One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet （小鹦鹉）on my finger, I wanted to show Perky  1  the sky looked like. Maybe he could make a little bird  2  out there. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my  3  , Perky flew off. The enormous（巨大的）, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue  4  and suddenly he had gone , clipped wings and all.

Kathy managed to  5  me. With fake optimism（乐观）, she even tried to reassure （安慰）me that Perky would find a new  6  . But I was far too clever to  7  that such a thing was possible.

Decades later, I watched my own  8  growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the  9  of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the  10  of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed（宣称） to  11 the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog.  12  Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and  13  that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.

"The best thing  14  Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the  15  we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just  16  down and landed on my finger."

When I was finally able to  17  , we examined the amazing evidence（证据）. The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all  18  . It seems our two families had been  19  long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were  20  ! Perky lived!"

1. A. what           B. how           C. which        D. where

2. A. food           B. nest           C. friend        D. family

3. A. joy            B. horror          C. disappointment   D. satisfaction

4. A. pleasure        B. sadness         C. treasure      D. sense

5. A. forgive         B. comfort         C. help         D. delight

6. A. parent          B. home           C. master       D. life

7. A. imagine        B. suppose          C. doubt       D. believe

8. A. birds          B. happiness         C. worries      D. children

9. A. parents         B. birds            C. interests     D. games

10. A. first          B. best             C. last         D. happiest

11. A. catch         B. find             C. buy        D. have

12. A. Suddenly      B. Fortunately       C. Then       D. However

13. A. announced     B. said             C. told        D. hoped

14. A. in            B. about            C. of         D. on

15. A. day           B. place            C. way        D. story

16. A. floated         B. dived           C. settled      D. went

17. A. think          B. speak           C. interrupt     D. explain

18. A. came up       B. turned up         C. turned out    D. matched up

19. A. known        B. fastened          C. connected    D. introduced

20. A. right         B. wrong            C. silly         D. mad

I bent down in the shade under a sixty-foot-tall cactus（仙人掌）, waiting for them to appear. The time was eight thirty in the morning. For seven mornings I had come to the same distant spot in the Sonoran Desert, in southern Arizona. I was here to watch the roadrunner, a small fast-running bird.

I spotted two birds under a bush with red flowers. The roadrunners rushed out from under it. The birds moved rapidly on long skinny legs. Their feathers were brown and black. Their tails were seven inches long. Roadrunners use the tail for balance when running.

That day, the roadrunners performed a courtship（求婚）dance. They ran in wild circles. Suddenly, one stopped and stood still, its round eyes full of light. The second bird took hold of a small stick off the ground and presented it to the first, a gift serving as a symbol of their partnership.

    I returned to the spot each day, leaving bits of boiled chicken hoping they would return. Roadrunners eat snakes, lizards, mice, beetles, and spiders. Food is in short supply in the desert, so my offerings were welcome. The pair grew used to me.

    Soon after the pair finished building their nest six white eggs appeared in the nest bowl. In about three weeks, six roadrunner chicks, skin as black as coal, cried for food. Their parents brought food such as fence lizards and stink bugs. They fed their young until they were a month and a half old.

    Early one morning, a coyote（丛林狼）came around, nose to the ground, for fresh bird meat. The roadrunners fearlessly drove the coyote away, but it was soon back. After three attacks the coyote went away for good, tail between its legs.

    I stopped watching the nest when the little roadrunners, at two months of age, were ready to live on their own. It was hard to break away from “my roadrunner family.” Whenever I see a roadrunner now, rushing over the ground, I say hello to it as an old friend.

1.The author went to the Sonoran Desert to       .

   A. go on a tour of the desert

   B. carry out research into some animals in the desert

C. make an observation about a kind of bird

   D. enjoy an adventure in southern Arizona

2.What can we learn about roadrunners from the text?

A. They have short tails and legs.        

B. They move at a fast pace.

C. Their feathers are red and brown.      

D. They don’t like boiled chicken.

3.We can learn from the last but one paragraph that the roadrunners were        .

   A. brave         B. clever         C. easily-frightened         D. lazy

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

   A. How do roadrunners seek a partner?

B. My close friendship with roadrunners.

   C. Roadrunner family in the Sonoran Desert.        

D. How did I find roadrunners in Arizona?