Have you ever been to an Irish wedding? I have just returned from one．It is a quarter to five in the morning：the sun has already climbed about the horizon；the birds are busy celebrating the new day and have eagerly been in search of food．But some of the guests have not yet left．They are still prolonging the night：dancing，singing，gossiping，putting off the unfortunate necessity of undertaking a day’s work in the fields after a sleepless night．

Throughout most of her life，Bridget Mary，the bride，has been living in the small whitewashed thatched（茅草屋顶）cottage I have just left．Twelve children have been brought up there but only two are still living at home．The eldest son，heir（继承人）to the small farm, is helping his father with the farm work（they employ no farm laborers）：the youngest daughter is still at school．Two years ago，Bridget Mary went to England to take up domestic work in a hospital and it was while she was living there that she met her future husband，Terry．He himself is an Irishman who used to live in Dublin and now has a well-paid job in a light engineering works in England．They got engaged and started saving．Now they are thinking of buying a small house near Terry’s factor．

The wedding ceremony was performed in the church in the nearest town at half past eight yesterday morning．Another couple were being married at the same time．Nobody worried about the cost of the celebrations：four luxurious cars brought bride，bridegroom，family and friends home，and forty people were crowded into the tiled kitchen and the tiny living—room，hung with framed school certificates and religious pictures．A big meal was given；the wedding cake was cut and toasts were drunk in whisky or sherry（葡萄酒）。And while the remains of the feast were being cleared away and the rooms swept，the four cars set out again，taking the married couple and relations for a drive round the country—side．

1．What makes it clear that this is a country wedding?

       A．People get up so early．                       B．Birds are busy searching for food．

       C．The bride is one of a large family．       D．The people’s occupations．

2．From the passage, we know that         ．

       A．nobody worried about the cost of the wedding because the two couples who got married at the same time would share the cost

       B．the family is too poor to employ any farm workers

       C．the author thought much of the country wedding

       D．the author left the moment the wedding ceremony was completed

3．The young couple will not live on the farm after their marriage because           ．

       A．Terry gets used to living in Dublin

       B．they are both employed elsewhere

       C．it’s the bride’s brother who will inherit（继承）the farm

       D．they have a house in England

4．Why were the guests taken for a ride round the countryside?

       A．To give them an opportunity of seeing the surroundings．

       B．To enable the neighbors to see the married people．

       C．To get them out of the way．

       D．As a way of passing the time．

There was a time when I thought my dad didn’t know a thing about being a good father. I couldn’t   31 him ever saying the words “I love you.” It seems to me his only purpose in life was to say “__32_  ” to anywhere I wanted to go and anything I wanted to do, including getting a   33 .  Some parents bought their kids cars when they got their driver’s licenses. Not my dad ---- he said that I’d have to get a job and buy my own.

So that is what I did. I got a job at a very nice restaurant and   34  every penny I could and   35 I had enough to buy my car, I did! The day I brought that car home, my dad was the first one I wanted to   36  to. “Look, dad, a car of my own. If you ever want a ride, I’ll only   37 you five dollars.” I offered with a smile.

“I see,” was all he said.

One day, there was something wrong with my father’s truck. So he needed a   38 to work. . The sun wasn’t even up when we left the house,   39  it was already getting warm out. It was going to be a(n)   40 day. As I dropped my dad off, I   41  him, dressed in his work clothes, getting his   42  from the trunk of my car. Watching his sun-weathered face, and even from a distance I could tell there were   43  lines than I ever remembered being there before. I realized how hard my dad works for the family. My father is a cement finisher. In that instant, it   44 to me that he actually got down on his hands and knees to sweat over hot concrete to make a living for his family. And he did this day in and day out,   45  hot it got. Never, not once, had I heard him   46  about it. To him we were “worth” it. And never once did he “charge” us for it.

When he closed the trunk, his tools set off to the side, he walked over to my window to   47  me five dollars. I rolled down the window and said “Good-bye, dad. Keep your five dollars. It’s my   48. Don’t work too hard. I love you.” His   49 met mine, then glanced away in the direction of his waiting tools, he   50  his throat and said, “Oh, and… me, too.”

There was a time when I thought my dad didn’t know a thing about being a good father. I couldn’t   31 him ever saying the words “I love you.” It seems to me his only purpose in life was to say “__32_  ” to anywhere I wanted to go and anything I wanted to do, including getting a   33 .  Some parents bought their kids cars when they got their driver’s licenses. Not my dad ---- he said that I’d have to get a job and buy my own.

So that is what I did. I got a job at a very nice restaurant and   34  every penny I could and   35 I had enough to buy my car, I did! The day I brought that car home, my dad was the first one I wanted to   36  to. “Look, dad, a car of my own. If you ever want a ride, I’ll only   37 you five dollars.” I offered with a smile.

“I see,” was all he said.

One day, there was something wrong with my father’s truck. So he needed a   38 to work. . The sun wasn’t even up when we left the house,   39  it was already getting warm out. It was going to be a(n)   40 day. As I dropped my dad off, I   41  him, dressed in his work clothes, getting his   42  from the trunk of my car. Watching his sun-weathered face, and even from a distance I could tell there were   43  lines than I ever remembered being there before. I realized how hard my dad works for the family. My father is a cement finisher. In that instant, it   44 to me that he actually got down on his hands and knees to sweat over hot concrete to make a living for his family. And he did this day in and day out,   45  hot it got. Never, not once, had I heard him   46  about it. To him we were “worth” it. And never once did he “charge” us for it.

When he closed the trunk, his tools set off to the side, he walked over to my window to   47  me five dollars. I rolled down the window and said “Good-bye, dad. Keep your five dollars. It’s my   48. Don’t work too hard. I love you.” His   49 met mine, then glanced away in the direction of his waiting tools, he   50  his throat and said, “Oh, and… me, too.”

There was a time when I thought my dad didn’t know a thing about being a good father. I couldn’t   31 him ever saying the words “I love you.” It seems to me his only purpose in life was to say “__32_  ” to anywhere I wanted to go and anything I wanted to do, including getting a   33 .  Some parents bought their kids cars when they got their driver’s licenses. Not my dad ---- he said that I’d have to get a job and buy my own.

So that is what I did. I got a job at a very nice restaurant and   34  every penny I could and   35 I had enough to buy my car, I did! The day I brought that car home, my dad was the first one I wanted to   36  to. “Look, dad, a car of my own. If you ever want a ride, I’ll only   37 you five dollars.” I offered with a smile.

“I see,” was all he said.

One day, there was something wrong with my father’s truck. So he needed a   38 to work. . The sun wasn’t even up when we left the house,   39  it was already getting warm out. It was going to be a(n)   40 day. As I dropped my dad off, I   41  him, dressed in his work clothes, getting his   42  from the trunk of my car. Watching his sun-weathered face, and even from a distance I could tell there were   43  lines than I ever remembered being there before. I realized how hard my dad works for the family. My father is a cement finisher. In that instant, it   44 to me that he actually got down on his hands and knees to sweat over hot concrete to make a living for his family. And he did this day in and day out,   45  hot it got. Never, not once, had I heard him   46  about it. To him we were “worth” it. And never once did he “charge” us for it.

When he closed the trunk, his tools set off to the side, he walked over to my window to   47  me five dollars. I rolled down the window and said “Good-bye, dad. Keep your five dollars. It’s my   48. Don’t work too hard. I love you.” His   49 met mine, then glanced away in the direction of his waiting tools, he   50  his throat and said, “Oh, and… me, too.”

There was a time when I thought my dad didn’t know a thing about being a good father. I couldn’t   31 him ever saying the words “I love you.” It seems to me his only purpose in life was to say “__32_  ” to anywhere I wanted to go and anything I wanted to do, including getting a   33 .  Some parents bought their kids cars when they got their driver’s licenses. Not my dad ---- he said that I’d have to get a job and buy my own.

So that is what I did. I got a job at a very nice restaurant and   34  every penny I could and   35 I had enough to buy my car, I did! The day I brought that car home, my dad was the first one I wanted to   36  to. “Look, dad, a car of my own. If you ever want a ride, I’ll only   37 you five dollars.” I offered with a smile.

“I see,” was all he said.

One day, there was something wrong with my father’s truck. So he needed a   38 to work. . The sun wasn’t even up when we left the house,   39  it was already getting warm out. It was going to be a(n)   40 day. As I dropped my dad off, I   41  him, dressed in his work clothes, getting his   42  from the trunk of my car. Watching his sun-weathered face, and even from a distance I could tell there were   43  lines than I ever remembered being there before. I realized how hard my dad works for the family. My father is a cement finisher. In that instant, it   44 to me that he actually got down on his hands and knees to sweat over hot concrete to make a living for his family. And he did this day in and day out,   45  hot it got. Never, not once, had I heard him   46  about it. To him we were “worth” it. And never once did he “charge” us for it.

When he closed the trunk, his tools set off to the side, he walked over to my window to   47  me five dollars. I rolled down the window and said “Good-bye, dad. Keep your five dollars. It’s my   48. Don’t work too hard. I love you.” His   49 met mine, then glanced away in the direction of his waiting tools, he   50  his throat and said, “Oh, and… me, too.”