I hitched (钩住) the traveling-can containing the food on to the carrier．I rolled the bicycle the short distance from the house to the road while Edna in a green-and-red dress walked beside me．Mounting the vehicle with the can on the back and Edna on the cross-bar proved a little tricky; but I am rather good with bicycles．I solved the problem by getting on the seat first and keeping the bicycle stationary with one foot resting firmly on the ground．Then Edna climbed on the bar sitting sideways;and I pushed off．The excitement of having her so close within my arms and the perfume of her hair in my nose would have proved overpowering if I'd had much time to consider it．I hadn't．The road to the hospital turned out to be quite hilly, not steep but just enough to take the wind out of one; and with the kind of passenger I had, I didn't care to admit too readily (爽快地) to being tired．So I raced up all the little hillocks until my heart raged like a bonfire (篝火) which was very stupid of me．

　　“You are very strong,” said Edna．

　　“Why?” I said, or rather out of breath, in one enormous expiration (呼气) as I rounded the summit of yet another small hill．

　　“You are eating all the hills like yam (山药)．”

　　“I haven't seen any hill yet,” I replied, getting back some

of my breath as I pedaled (踩自行车踏板) freely down the small, friendly descent that followed．These words were hardly out of my mouth when a stupid sheep and her four or five lambs rushed out of the roadside on my left．I braked sharply．Unfortunately Edna's back was resting on my left arm and prevented me applying the brake on that side effectively．So only the brake on the front wheel performed fully．The bicycle pitched (直冲) forward and crashed on the road．She was thrown farther up the road and as soon as I got up, I rushed to help her to her feet again．Without taking my eyes from the food I murmured that I was very sorry．

　　“It was not your fault,” she said．“It was the stupid sheep．”

　　Then I noticed with the corner of my eyes something that was bending down．I turned then and saw where she had grazed (擦伤) her knee on the road．

　　“Oh dear,” I said, “Edna, I am sorry．”

She left her frock (长袍) which she had held up a little at the knee and came to dust my shoulder where my new white shirt carried a thick patch of indelible (洗不掉的) red-earth．Then she bent down and picked up the traveling-can and began to wipe away the sand, and the spilt soup with green leaves．To my surprise she was crying and saying something like “ My mother will die of hunger today．” Actually I think her crying was probably due to hurt pride because the food lying on the road showed how poor her family was．But I may be wrong．At the time, I was greatly upset．

　　“Can she manage bread and corned (盐腌的) beef?” I asked．“We could buy some outside the hospital．”

　　“I haven't brought any money,” said Edna．

　　“I have some money,” I said, feeling the first breath of relief since the accident happened．“And we could get some disinfectant (消毒剂) for your knee．I'm terribly sorry, my dear．”

1．We can infer that, at the beginning of the passage, the writer had just________．

[　　]

A．offered to marry Edna

B．lied to her

C．offered to take some food to her mother in hospital

D．offered to give Edna a lift to visit her mother in hospital

2．The way the writer rode his bicycle over the hills shows that ________．

[　　]

A．he was very strong

B．Edna was so attractive that he couldn't concentrate

C．he wanted to impress Edna

D．he was not very observant

3．The accident could probably have been avoided if ________．

[　　]

A．he had not braked sharply

B．both brakes had worked properly

C．he had not been so busy admiring Edna

D．he had looked when he was going

4．Why was Edna crying?

[　　]

A．She had hurt her knee．

B．She thought that her mother would have to go hungry that day．

C．The food lying on the road showed her family was poor．

D．We cannot be sure．

5．After the accident the writer was________．

[　　]

A．sad because of the spoilt food

B．guilty because of Edna's grazed knee

C．worried about what Edna might think of him

D．angry at the stupid sheep

DIY sailor Owen Warboys has finally launched his homemade boat — after spending nearly 30 years building it in his mum’s garden.
Owen, 66, a retired engineer from Hordle, New Milton, Hants, first started work on the 40ft—long boat in 1982 because he could not afford to buy his own. He told mum Edith that it would only take five years but after suffering “a few problems” it lasted nearly three decades.
When he finally finished, he was left with the head-scratching task of getting the 18-tonne boat out of the back garden. After some time he found a way. A huge crane (起重机) was brought in to carefully raise it 40ft in the air over his mother’s house and onto a lorry. It was then driven to the seaside and, to Owen’s delight, it floated and showed no signs of leaking when lowered into the water.
Now, 28 years after he first started, Owen is at last preparing to set sail in his beloved boat, Wight Dolphin, with his long-suffering wife Anne. Owen said, “I am so relieved that it’s finished. There were times when I thought it would never end but I’m the sort of person who likes to finish something once I’ve started.”
At first he persuaded his mum to let him do it in her garden and started taking in sheets of steel and pieces of wood. “My mother was happy for me to build it at her house but only bacause I told her it would only take five years.”
【小题1】Why did Owen decide to make his own boat by himself?

DIY sailor Owen Warboys has finally launched his homemade boat — after spending nearly 30 years building it in his mum’s garden.

Owen, 66, a retired engineer from Hordle, New Milton, Hants, first started work on the 40ft—long boat in 1982 because he could not afford to buy his own. He told mum Edith that it would only take five years but after suffering “a few problems” it lasted nearly three decades.

When he finally finished, he was left with the head-scratching task of getting the 18-tonne boat out of the back garden. After some time he found a way. A huge crane (起重机) was brought in to carefully raise it 40ft in the air over his mother’s house and onto a lorry. It was then driven to the seaside and, to Owen’s delight, it floated and showed no signs of leaking when lowered into the water.

Now, 28 years after he first started, Owen is at last preparing to set sail in his beloved boat, Wight Dolphin, with his long-suffering wife Anne. Owen said, “I am so relieved that it’s finished. There were times when I thought it would never end but I’m the sort of person who likes to finish something once I’ve started.”

At first he persuaded his mum to let him do it in her garden and started taking in sheets of steel and pieces of wood. “My mother was happy for me to build it at her house but only bacause I told her it would only take five years.”

1.Why did Owen decide to make his own boat by himself?

2.What problem did Owen face when he finished his boat?

3.Which of the following is TRUE about the boat ?

4.We can infer from the passage that _____.