Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen…
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?” a friend asks, horrified. I tell her my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and reduce our electric bill. On this first night of our cost-cutting plan, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re going to suffer, but the three kids complain anyway.
They have grown up in 72-degree comfort, protected from the world outside.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter complains. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother complains down the hall. “Just try it tonight,” I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to turn for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
The neighbor’s dog howls. Probably a passing squirrel. It’s been years since I took the time to really listen to the night.
I think about grandma, who lived to 92 and still helped with my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of grandma’s bed and turn my face toward the open window. I turn the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma saw me turn over and over. “If you just watch for the breeze(清风),” she said, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to move. Lying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug chorus. Neighbors, porch(门廊)-sitting late, speak in unclear words that calm me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old son cries, “I think it was an owl(猫头鹰)family.”
“Probably,” I tell him, “just keep listening…”
Without the working air conditioner, the house is peaceful, and the natural night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze comes in.
【小题1】On the first night of the writer’s cost-cutting plan, her children ______.

Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen…
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?” a friend asks, horrified. I tell her my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and reduce our electric bill. On this first night of our cost-cutting plan, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re going to suffer, but the three kids complain anyway.
They have grown up in 72-degree comfort, protected from the world outside.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter complains. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother complains down the hall. “Just try it tonight,” I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to turn for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
The neighbor’s dog howls. Probably a passing squirrel. It’s been years since I took the time to really listen to the night.
I think about grandma, who lived to 92 and still helped with my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of grandma’s bed and turn my face toward the open window. I turn the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma saw me turn over and over. “If you just watch for the breeze(清风),” she said, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to move. Lying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug chorus. Neighbors, porch(门廊)-sitting late, speak in unclear words that calm me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old son cries, “I think it was an owl(猫头鹰)family.”
“Probably,” I tell him, “just keep listening…”
Without the working air conditioner, the house is peaceful, and the natural night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze comes in.

1. 1.

   On the first night of the writer’s cost-cutting plan, her children ______.

   1. A.
      live a comfortable life as usual
   2. B.
      begin to be unhappy
   3. C.
      are protected from the world outside
   4. D.
      are about to die from the heat
2. 2.

   The author talks about her grandmother and her childhood to show that ______.

   1. A.
      people used to live a hard life
   2. B.
      people at that time were hardworking
   3. C.
      it’s OK for people to live a simple life
   4. D.
      she has learned a great deal from her grandma
3. 3.

   In the writer’s eyes, her children are ______.

   1. A.
      free from parents’ protection
   2. B.
      full of dissatisfaction with life
   3. C.
      dependable because of parents’ love
   4. D.
      lacking in real test of hardships in life
4. 4.

   Which of the following titles best suits the passage?

   1. A.
      Waiting for the Breeze.
   2. B.
      An Interesting Experience.
   3. C.
      Life at Present and Life in the Past.
   4. D.
      Different Times, Different Children

Mrs. Evens was home from work. She had just gone into the kitchen to make the afternoon tea _36_  she saw a mouse running around on the kitchen floor. She  37   and jumped up on the table. As soon as the mouse had disappeared, she jumped off from the  38 , rushed out of the kitchen, _39  her coat, ran out of the house and got on a bus  40  was going into the town. There she hurried into a shop and  41  a large mouse-trap（捕鼠夹）. She wanted to put  42  to this mouse as quickly as  43  .
When she got home  44  the trap, she realized that she had forgotten  45  any cheese （奶酪）to put in it. She searched everywhere  46  there was  47  in the house. It was too late to buy any because now all the shops were  48  . She wondered what to do. In the end she  49  a clever idea. She took a pair of scissors and cut a picture of a piece of cheese  50  a magazine. Then she put the picture in the trap  51  a piece of cheese.
The next  52  Mrs. Evans came down to the  53  and went straight away to the place  54  she had put the trap. She wanted to see if her plan had  55 . The picture of the cheese had gone and in its place was a picture of a mouse.