My grandmother was an iron-willed woman, the feared head of the family. When I was five years old, she invited some friends to her apartment for a party. 26the guests was a neighborhood big shot(大亨). They had a little girl about my age who was27 and very much used to getting her own way.

Grandmother spent a lot of time with the big shot and his family. She 28 them the most important members of her social circle and tried hard to please them. At one point during the party, I 29my way to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. A minute or two later, the little girl 30the bathroom door and simply walked in. I was still sitting down. “Don’t you know that little girls aren't31to come into the bathroom when a little boy is using it!?” I shouted. The32I had piled upon her shocked the little girl. Then she started to cry. She tearfully33to her parents and my grandmother. Grandmother was waiting for me when I left the bathroom. I received the longest, sharpest34. After her scolding was over and I had been dismissed, the party 35.

Twenty minutes later, all that changed. Grandmother walked by the bathroom and noticed a flood of water36out from under the door. She37the bathroom door and saw that the sink and tub were plugged(塞)up and that the taps 38at full blast (拧到最大). Everyone knew who did it. The guests quickly formed a39wall around me, but Grandmother was40 angry that she almost got to me anyway.

My grandfather took me41to the window. He was a kind and gentle man, full of wisdom and patience.42did he raise his voice to anyone, and never did he43 his wife. He looked at me with much curiosity, 44 angry or upset.

“Tell me,” he asked, “why did you do it?”

“Well, she shouted at me 45,” I said earnestly. “Now she's got something to shout about.”

Grandfather didn’t speak right away. He just sat there, looking at me and smiling. “Eric,” he said at last, “you are my revenge(复仇).”

26. A. Between             B. Among             C. Around             D. Beside

27. A. spoiled               B. harmed             C. liked                D. concerned

28. A. imagined            B. told                  C. evaluated           D. considered

29. A. made                 B. found              C. pushed             D. wound

30. A. closed                B. opened             C. beat                 D. tapped

31. A. expected            B. asked                      C. supposed          D. told

32. A. happiness           B. depression               C. embarrassment D. anger

33. A. complained               B. apologized      C. replied             D. referred

34. A. cry                    B. blame               C. comment         D. demand

35. A. picked up            B. broke down              C. carried on          D. took off

36. A. moving              B. stirring            C. floating            D. streaming

37. A. pushed open       B. pulled down     C. shut up             D. knocked at

38. A. had gone             B. were going        C. went                D. had been going

39. A. productive          B. hard                 C. protective         D. rough

40. A. so                      B. too                   C. as                    D. very

41. A. by his hand               B. by the hand       C. by surprise        D. with anxiety

42. A. Often                 B. Sometimes        C. Always             D. Rarely

43 A. argue with           B. talk with           C. put up with       D. come to terms with

44. A. other than           B. instead of          C. rather than         D. more than

45. A. for something    B. for nothing       C. without doubt   D. with sympathy

As I was busy working on my work plan in my bedroom, I could hear my four children playing upstairs. Suddenly, I heard the children running down the stairs and shouting, “Freddie, Freddie.” I heard the word “window” and rushed outside, heart in mouth. My three-year old son Freddie was lying on his side on the ground. I cried for my husband Simon to dial 999 and within minutes the air ambulance arrived. They quickly took him in the helicopter. During the flight, Freddie was looking at me and I remember thinking was a good sign, but then his eyes began to roll. As the doctors tried to stabilize(稳定) him, I couldn’t believe what was happening.
When we arrived at the hospital in Portsmouth, there were some doctors and nurses waiting for us and they immediately set to work on Freddie. I was hopelessly wishing everything would be alright, but Freddie had broken his skull in two places and blood clots were forming in his brain. He needed surgery(外科手术), and only a surgeon at another hospital in Bristol could do it. This meant another helicopter ride, but we couldn’t go with Freddie because there was no enough space. Simon and I drove the long 130 miles from our home in north Devon in silence. Neither of us dared say what we were thinking, “What if we get there and he’s dead?” “Is he going to be brain-damaged?”
Freddie was just coming out of surgery when we arrived. The surgeon said it had gone well. When I finally saw him, I hardly recognize my child—he was covered in tubes and there were wires coming out of his head.
On the third day, Simon went home to see our three girls and to pick up some clean clothes for us. While he was gone, the pressure in Freddie’s brain suddenly increased. He was taken into theater again and this time I fell apart. Luckily, the surgery managed to stabilize Freddie. After almost a week, Freddie was finally woken up. When he opened his eyes, he looked at me. He didn’t say anything, but I knew straight away that it was my old Freddie, and that he was going to be alright. Over the next two weeks, his recovery went well. After help with learning to swallow again and encouragement with speaking, he was soon playing with his Gruffalo cards and eating meals by himself.
I still don’t know how the accident happened, but we got some idea from our girls. Clearly Freddie and Minnie had been sitting on the window ledge, and Freddie must have opened it to look out and fallen 20 feet onto the ground below.
The guilt I feel is awful— for weeks I was full of “ if onlys”, and we put window locks everywhere. Six months later, although the accident seems a lifetime ago, it has changed me. I feel differently about life now. I’ve left my job to put my children first. I want to spend every minute with them

1. 1.

   The underlined sentence in paragraph 1 shows the author was ______.

   1. A.
      hopeless
   2. B.
      worried
   3. C.
      curious
   4. D.
      puzzled
2. 2.

   Why did the author’s son have to be moved to another hospital in Bristol?

   1. A.
      Because no surgeons were on duty in the first hospital that day
   2. B.
      Because the author wanted his son to stay in a hospital nearer her home
   3. C.
      Because no surgeons in the first hospital knew the injuries to the author’s son
   4. D.
      Because no surgeons in the first hospital could do surgery on the author’s son
3. 3.

   When the author finally saw her son, she could hardly recognize him probably because his
   face______.

   1. A.
      was seriously injured
   2. B.
      was filled with small pipes
   3. C.
      was too pale to be recognized
   4. D.
      was covered by a piece of cloth
4. 4.

   On the third day after being taken to the hospital, ______.

   1. A.
      the author’s son finally opened his eyes
   2. B.
      the situation of the author’s son suddenly worsened
   3. C.
      the author’s son was finally out of danger
   4. D.
      the author’s son did not need any more surgery
5. 5.

   After the accident, what did the author probably learn?

   1. A.
      Life is full of “if onlys”
   2. B.
      Being a single mother is not easy
   3. C.
      Children are more important than work
   4. D.
      Accidents can happen to every kid