“It was a11 his own idea，”says Pat Peters，the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto，California high school football coach Bob Peters，39．Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract”-a document(文件)stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couplets four children，plus all household chores(杂务)．Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed，he was quite confident．(He thought the experience would make a nice book．)

      After 40 of the 70 days，he was ready to give up．”I was beaten down，completely humbled” admits Peters．Three weeks later he spoke to the local press(also part of the bargain)，stating，”Not only is motherhood a difficult task，not only is it never—ending，it is an impossible job for any normal human being．”

      Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts、After they got married i11 1 960，she worked as a secretary to help put him through university．Since then Bob has been the football and  wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley high while Pat raised the kids.

     Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley．”I had been around children so much，”she sighs(叹气)．”I couldn’t talk to a grown—up．”She continued to run the household，however—until Bob signed the contract．Where upon she decided to relax and enjoy it .Although Peters had consulted with his school’s home economics teachers and‘he head of the cafeteria(食堂)，his meals were sometimes a disaster．”I tried to slip the butter. I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were flying，”he says．For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot——sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner．

    As for housekeeping．a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made．”I found an easier way-I shut the doors，”he says．Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week．”I made them wear their shirts inside out，and when we went to Dick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”

    Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong，he is routinely(日常地)sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat．The tentative(暂定的)title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day．．．．

1．File couple signed the contract because       ．

  A．Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself

  B．Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest

  C．They agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks

  D．Bob thought it easy to take care of tile family and wanted the experience for a book

2．It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract．he would have to      ．

  A．pay a certain amount of money

  B．do all tile housework for years

  C．say sorry to his wife

  D． admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood

3．What call we 1earn about Pat Peters?

  A．She was hard—working and selfless．

  B．She was pretty and kind—hearted．

  C．She was tired of tile child．raising and household tasks．

  D．She did not love Bob any longer．

4．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

  A．Bob managed to keep the kids’ clothes clean．

  B．Bob tried to cook good meals for his children．

  C．Bob frequently took the kids out to eat because he was too busy at work．

  D．Bob taught the kids to make their beds every day．

5．Which of the following can best end tile story?

  A. “My experience of being a mother．”

  B．”I’ll proud of you all，my dear!”

  C．”Wait till your mother gets home!”

  D．”Motherhood：an impossible job for anyone。”