完形填空

　　Every year on my birthday, a white gardenia(栀子花)was 　　1　　 to my house．But no card or note came with it．Calls to the flower shop were always 　　2　　－it was a cash purchase．After a while I stopped trying to discover the sender's identity and just 　　3　　 in the beauty and heady perfume of that one magical, perfect white flower lying in soft pink paper．

　　But I never stopped 　　4　　 who the giver might be．My mother 　　5　　 to these imaginations．She asked me if there was someone for whom I had done a special kindness who might be showing 　　6　　．I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy I fell in love with or one who had 　　7　　 me even though I didn't know him．

　　One month before my high-school graduation, my father died．My feelings 　　8　　 from sorrow to fear and 　　9　　：my dad was missing some of the most important events in my life．I became completely 　　10　　 in my coming graduation, the senior-class play and the ball．But my mother would not hear of my losing any of those things．Mother and I had gone shopping and found an impressive dress, but it was the 　　11　　 size．When my father died, I forgot about the dress．

　　The day before my ball, I found that dress－in the right size－hanging over the living room sofa．It was 　　12　　 to me so lovingly．I didn't 　　13　　 if I had a new dress or not．But my mother did．She wanted her children to feel 　　14　　, filled with a sense that there was a beauty even in the face of 　　15　　．

　　My mother died ten days after I was married．The following year the gardenia stopped coming．

阅读理解

　　For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house．Some deal with the situation by watching TV．Some may hide．But all of them have something in common．They spend part of each day alone．They are called latchkey children．They’re children who look after themselves while their parents work．And their bad condition has become a subject of concern．

　　Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school．She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry．A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached．I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts．There were so many keys, it never came to my mind what they meant．” Slowly, she learned they were house keys．

　　She and her husband began talking to the children who had them．They learned of the impact(影响)working couples and single parents were having on their children．Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone．One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared．Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety．

　　The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding．It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet．The second is TV．They’ll often play it at high volume．It’s hard to get statistics(情况，材料)on latchkey children, the Longs learned．Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone．