When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble—a word game—against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against. I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken 15 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’ home. And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers.
It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She has been the one teaching me all my life; to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.
It wasn’t easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字处理). This proved to be a bigger challenge(挑战) to her, so I gave her some homework. I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.
“Are you demanding this with your kindergarten pupils?” she said.
“No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”
My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(过敏反应). For as long as I remember, and time I called, my mother would answer, Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years.
【小题1】What does the author do?

When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble-a word game-against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against. I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken15 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so ,we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’ home. And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers.

It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She has been the one teaching me all my life: to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.

It wasn’t easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble  and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing. This proved to be a bigger challenge to her, so I gave her some homework. I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.

“Are you this demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she asked.

“No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”

My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(过敏反应). For as long as I can remember, any time I called, my mother would answer. Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years.

53．What does the author do?

A．She is a cook                                     B．She is a teacher  

C．She is a housewife                              D．She is a computer engineer

54．The author decided to give her mother a computer ________.

A．to let her have more chances to write letters   B．to support her in doing her homework

C．to help her through the bad times                  D．to make her life more enjoyable

55．The author asked her mother to write her a letter ________.

A．because her mother had stopped using the telephone

B．because she wanted to keep in touch with her mother

C．so that her mother could practice what she had learned

D．so that her mother could be free from housework

56．After the computer was brought home, the author’s father ________

A．lost interest in cooking                       B．took more phone calls

C．played more games                            D．began to use it