My husband and I insisted that our children were old enough to clean their rooms and make their beds. But they thought   1 . My complaints, even self-justified（自有道理）  2 , were always landing on   3  ears. Very often a whole hour’s scolding would end with their   4  into tears. I felt very frustrated. I realized I needed to   5  my method of “mothering”.

One day when they were at school, I spent some time tidying their rooms. On their desks, in plain   6 , I left the cards: “Dear Bill(the other card was   7  to Sarah), your room was messy this morning and I’m sure you like it clean. Love, the Room Fairy.”   8  arriving back, the children were   9  excited to receive the little note from the Room Fairy. The next day, their rooms were fairly tidy. Sure enough, there was another note from the Room Fairy   10  for them, thanking them for their nice “gift” of a clean room and   11  asking them to play a certain violin   12 . Each day, thank-you notes would be written differently to keep the ideas   13 ．

Sometimes the Room Fairy would propose a little   14 : “If you can finish your homework and go over your lessons before dinner, I’d like to watch a particular television program with you tonight.” Sometimes some colored markers or other little items would be left in   15  of well-done jobs the day  16 .

 17  I can’t remember how long “the Room Fairy” continued leaving her love notes. When they were age appropriate, we used various versions of Post-Its （贴条）. The bathroom mirror became the  18  centre of our home. Appointments, notices about visiting relatives, lesson schedules, and changes in plans could be  19 .

We all benefited from and   20  the idea of sharing reminders and daily details of life through notes. I believe the true advantage of the Room Fairy notes survives in our frequent and enjoyable communication．

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?

1 

One day while shopping in a small town in southern California, it was my misfortune to be approached by a clerk．He seemed most unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase．I bought nothing, and marched angrily out of the store．

On the outside was a dark-skinned young man in his early twenties．His expressive brown eyes met and held mine, and in the next instant a beautiful, bright smile covered his face．I gave in immediately．The power of that broad smile dissolved all bitterness within me, and I felt the muscles in my own face happily responding．

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" I remarked, passing．Then I turned back．"I really owe you a debt of thanks," I said softly．

His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer．A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby．The woman stepped forward and volunteered, "Sir, but he doesn't speak English．Do you want me to tell him something?" In that moment I felt transformed．The young man's smile had made a big person of me．My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stand ten feet tall．

“Yes,” my reply was enthusiastic and sincere, “tell him I said, ‘Thank you!’”

   “Thank you?” The woman seemed slightly puzzled．

I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave．"Just tell him that," I insisted．"He'll understand．I am sure!"

Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning．From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art diligently anywhere and everywhere, with everybody．n

1.Why did the author leave the store angrily?

                                                        A．He couldn't buy what he wanted．

B．The clerk treated him unkindly．

                                                        C．The clerk didn't speak English．

D．The store's goods were too dear．

2.By saying "I felt the muscles in my own face happily responding"(in Para. 2), the author means _        _.

                                                        A．he smiled back at the young man                        B．he did not want to smile

                                                        C．he would thank the young man                            D．he was still in a bad mood

3.．The author asked the woman to say "Thank you!" to the young man because the young man         .

                                                        A．had helped the author before                               B．taught the author how to smile

                                                        C．taught the author a valuable lesson                   D．was a kind employee of the store

4.．In the passage, the author seems to suggest that we should __   ___.

                                                        A．be generous to strangers B．practice smiling every day

                                                        C．help people in trouble                                             D．smile at other people

I was telling my boy Sonny the story of the hare (兔子) and the tortoise (乌龟). At the end I said. “Son, remember: Slow and steady (稳固的) wins the race. Don’t you think there’s something to learn from the tortoise?”

Sonny opened his eyes wide, “Do you mean next time when I’m participating in the 60-metre race I should wish that Billy and Tony and Sandy would all fall asleep halfway?”

I was shocked, “But the tortoise didn’t wish that the hare would fall asleep on the way!”

“He must have wished that,” Sonny said. “Otherwise how could he be so stupid as to race with the hare? He knew very well the hare ran a hundred times faster than he himself did.”

“He didn’t have such a wish,” I insisted, “He won the race by perseverance , by pushing on steadily.”

Sonny thought a while. “That’s a lie,” he said. “He won it because he was lucky. If the hare hadn’t happened to fall asleep, the tortoise would never have won the race. He could be as steady as you like, or a hundred times steadier, but he’d never have won the race. That’s for sure.”

I gave up. Today’s children are not like what we used to be. They’re just hopeless.

Sonny believed that the tortoise ________.

A.won the race by his own effort

B. took a risk by agreeing to race

C. was not given a fair chance in the race

D. in fact did not win the race

Billy, Tony and Sandy must be ________.

A. boys who were unknown to Sonny’s father

B. boys Sonny had run races with before

C. boys Sonny had never raced with before

D. boys Sonny did not expect to race with again

The writer thinks that his generation (代) ________.

A. were more clever than Sonny’s generation

B. had the same ideas about life as Sonny’s generation

C. were more hopeful than Sonny’s generation

D. had different ideas about life from Sonny’s generation

I insisted _____ to see a doctor, but he insisted nothing ____ wrong with him.