One day while Father was in his office downtown, Auntie Gussie and Cousin Flossie arrived. Mother immediately began planning to take them to dine at the Waldorf, a much – talked – of new hotel at Fifth Avenue and Thirty – third Street, which she very much wanted so see. She knew Father mightn’t like the idea, but he would enjoy himself after he got there, and she thought she could manage him. When he came in, she went to his bedroom to break the good news to him. Whenever she was planning to manage him, the very tone of her voice put him on guard; it had an impatient note, as though really the only plan she could think of was to wish he was manageable. So on this occasion, when she tried to get him in a good mood, he instantly got in a bad one. He looked suspiciously （怀疑地） at Mother and said, “I don’t feel well.”

But Mother was fully prepared to see that he would take it hard at the start. She said brightly that the Waldorf was lovely and that it would do him good to go out. There was no dinner at home for him anyway, so what else was there to do?

When Father took in the situation, he undressed and put on his nightshirt. He shouted angrily at Mother that he had a sick headache. It made no difference to him whether there was any dinner or not. What he needed was rest. After walking around, he put his clothes away and darkened his room. He climbed into bed. Pulling up the sheets, he let out his breath in deep groans （呻吟）.

Mother had got tired of scolding Father and trying to make him get out of bed, and had made up her mind to dine at the Waldorf without him. She and Auntie Gussie and Flossie marched off by themselves. But they had to come back almost immediately because Mother didn’t have enough money, and when she rushed into Father’s sickroom and lit the gas again and made him get up and give her ten dollars, his roars （咆哮） of pain were terrific.

1．Mother wants to dine at the Waldorf probably because           .

       A．she has not prepared dinner

       B．she feels Father needs a change

       C．she’s curious to know what the new hotel is like

       D．Auntie Gussie and Gousin Flossie have come to visit

2．From the underlined sentence “he would take it hard”, we learn that Father would          .

       A．talk with Mother seriously                    B．face Mother with difficulty

       C．feel very upset about the idea                D．accept the idea unwillingly

3．We can infer from the passage that          .

       A．Father has a poor appetite

       B．Father pretends to be sick

       C．Father has the final say in the family

       D．Father thinks dining out a waste of time

4．What is the author’s attitude?

      A．He stands by Mother.                           B．He takes Father’s side.

       C．He is ashamed of his parents.                D．He is just reporting the story.

I first met her on the beach near where I live．I drive to this beach, a  1  of three or four miles, whenever I’m feeling down．At that time she was  2  something．

    Looking  3  ，she said，“Hello．”I nodded，not wanting to  4  with a small child．

    “I’m Wendy and I’m building something．”she said．

    “I see, but what is it?” I asked，not   5 ．

    “Don’t know，I just like the   6   of sand．”

    A sandpiper（矶鹞鸟）flew by．

    “That’s a   7  ．Mum says sandpipers come to bring us joy．”

    “Good-bye，joy，”I thought to myself，”Hello， 8  ．”and walked away．My life then seemed completely out of   9 ．

    “Come again，”she called．”and have another   10  day．”

But the days and weeks that followed   11  to other people：naughty boys and a  12 mother．One morning I suddenly realized I needed my  13  and headed for the beach．The breeze was cool, but I walked along，trying to recapture（捕捉）the inner peace I needed．I had almost  14  the child so I was surprised when she appeared．

    “  15  do you live?” I asked．She pointed toward a summer cottage．

    “Why?” she asked．

    “My mother died! “

    “Did it hurt when she died?”

    “Of course it hurt!” I shouted，misunderstanding her．

When I next went to the beach, she wasn’t there. Feeling   19  , and admitting I  20   her,

I went up to the cottage. A woman answered the door. “Wendy, my daughter, died last week. She had leukemia（白血病）. May be she didn’t tell you.”

1．A．length                   B．distance               C．space                  D．reach

2．A．observing              B．drawing               C．building               D．collecting

3．A．up                        B．out                      C．down                  D．over

4．A．work                    B．play                    C．stay                    D．talk

5．A．caring                   B．seeing                 C．wanting               D．worrying

6．A．feel                       B．sense                  C．smell                   D．comfort

7．A．sorrow                 B．joy                      C．pity                     D．lie

8．A．comfort                B．pleasure               C．kindness              D．pain

9．A．balance                 B．sight                   C．mind                   D．range

10．A．sad                     B．happy                  C．busy                   D．fine

11．A．added                  B．led                      C．belonged             D．related

12．A．kind                    B．poor                    C．lonely                  D．sick

13．A．partner                B．sandpiper             C．chance                D．holiday

14．A．searched             B．known                C．noticed                D．forgotten

15．A．How               B．What             C．Where         D．Which

16．A．mood             B．time                C．way           D．place

17．A．alone              B．lonely             C．unique         D．special

18．A．happy             B．pale               C．good          D．powerful

19．A．sorry              B．excited           C．cold           D．puzzled

20．A．cheated           B．lost               C．troubled        D．missed