This story took place a long time ago. But it has been repeated time and time again. Everyone is moved by the true story.

  An old man was knocked down by a car and was taken to hospital. He was badly hurt, and during his few returns to consciousness, he repeatedly called for his son.

  None knew where his son was. A dirty letter was found in his pockets. The nurse learned that his son was a solider in North Carolina.

  The hospital called the Red Cross offices to find the young man. The young solider was rushed to the airport in time to catch the plane.

  It was evening when the young solider walked into the hospital. A nurse took him into the bedsides of the old man.

  “Your son is here,” she said to the man. She had to repeat the words several times before the old man’s eyes opened. He dimly saw the young man and got great comfort. He reached out his hand. The young solider held the old man’s hand and offered words of hope.

  All through the night the young solider sat besides the bed. The nurse offered to watch instead of him for a while. He refused.

  At dawn the old man died. The nurse started to comfort him but the solider asked her, “Who was that old man?”

  “He was your father,” she answered.

  “No, he wasn’t. I never saw him before.”

  “I knew right away there was a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn’t here. I realized I was needed. So I stayed.”

56. What is true about the old man?

  A. He was seriously injured and would die soon.

  B. He knew quite well what had happened to him.

  C. He once and again wanted to call his son.

  D. He was knocked dead near a hospital.

57. How did people get to know something about his son?

  A. They guessed from the old man’s anxious expression on the face.

  B. They found him from the address on the letter.

  C. They found someone who knew the father and son.

  D. They asked for the help from the Red Cross.

58. When the old man and the young man met, ________.

  A. the old man wished the young man good luck in the future

  B. the young man said something to comfort the old man

  C. the doctors and nurses felt it hopeful to save the old man

  D. they both recognized each other at once

59. We know from this passage________.

  A. the Red Cross is something for people to find persons

  B. the young man knew he was wrongly called when he got on the plane

  C. the hospital had meant to save the old man with the young man’s coming but failed

  D. the young man might have the same name as the old man’s son

       In spite of the instructions he had been given, Tommy did not hurry straight round to Mrs. Blakey’s house with the note. Reading the toy-shop window with its decorated Christmas tree, he could not tear himself away from it until he had spent ten minutes staring at the gift he most wanted: a gun that fired corks. Where the road began to run downhill to Mrs. Blakey’s house he met some of his friends who were throwing snowballs. He joined in the fight, and by the time it finished, another twenty minutes had gone by. Ten more minutes were lost looking for the note for Mrs. Blakey, which had somehow dropped from his pocket during the fight, When, with the help of his friends, his finally found it, it was not only very wet, but, to his horror, he found that part of it was torn way and missing. That meant a further search, but in vain. So it happened that, now looking very untidy, Tommy reached Mrs. Blakey’s house nearly an hour late and carrying a dirty piece of paper that contained only the words:

for tea this afternoon

                         important to talk about

                        u. If it is inconvenient,

tell Tommy; otherwise,

ur house at four o’clock.

                             Yours sincerely,

                              Alice Hendry

       Mrs. Blakey was puzzled over the note for a while, then, imagining she knew what the missing words were, told Tommy to tell his mother it would be all right.

       Tommy returning home in much the same way as he had made the outward journey to Mrs. Blakey’s, arrived not long before four o’clock to find his mother very angry and already putting her hat on.

       “You naughty boy, where have you been?” she cried, and without waiting for an answer, “What did Mrs. Blakey say?”

       Tommy told her.

       “All right, you’d better come with me,” Mrs. Hendry said．And so once again Tommy found himself on the downhill road to Mrs. Blakey’s.

       At about the same moment that Mrs. Hendry and her son Tommy reached Mrs. Blakey’s door, Mrs. Blakey herself, having taken a different road, was waiting outside the Hendry’s home, wondering why there was no answer to her knock. Who could blame her for thinking that the torn note was an invitation to tea at the Hendry’s, instead of which Mrs. Hendry had in fact been asking herself out to tea with Mrs. Blakey?

1．In “he could not tear himself away from it” ‘it’ refers to________.

A．Mrs. Blakey’s house                              B．the message

C．the toy-shop window                            D．the road

2．Tommy’s mother told him_________

       A．to hurry straight round to Mrs. Blakey’s house with the note

       B  to play snowfight with the other kids

       C．to look at the toy-shop window

       D．to look for the note

3. Mrs. Blakey “told Tommy to tell his mother it would be all right” means_______.

       A．she didn’t mind the note being torn

       B．Mrs. Hendry’s request was inconvenient

       C．she thought she could accept Mrs. Hendry’s invitation

       D．she would find the missing words

4．Which of the statements is true according to the story?

       A．After taking the note to Mrs. Blakey, Tommy hurried straight home

       B．Tommy looked for the missing part of the note but could not find it

       C．Mrs. Blakey guessed correctly what the missing words were

       D．Mrs. Blakey expected to find Mrs. Hendry when she was going to her home at four o’clock