Question

【题目】 Still in shock! I moved around the house purposelessly trying to decide what to put into the suitcases (行李箱). Earlier that evening, I’d received a call telling me that my brother was killed in a car crash. “Come as soon as you can.” cried my mother.

I wanted to hurry to her at once. But my husband, Larry, and I were packing to move from New York to Seattle. Our house was in total mess. Supper dishes sat on the kitchen table. Toys lay everywhere. I purposelessly picked things up and put them down. Mother’s crying went through my head again and again.

Larry called some friends to tell them what had happened. Someone asked to speak to me. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.” But I didn’t know what to ask for.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. It was Emerson. He and his wife Donna lived in the block nearby.

“I’ve come to clean your shoes,” he said.

I asked him to repeat.

“Donna had to stay with the baby,” he said, “but we want to help you. I remember when my father died, it took me hours to clean our shoes for the funeral (葬礼). Give me all your shoes.”

I gathered all our dirty shoes to the kitchen. Emerson got to work right away. Watching him devoting himself to one task helped me pull my own thoughts into order. I told myself to wash clothes first. Then, Larry and I bathed the children and put them to bed. One job after another.

When we returned to clear the dishes, Emerson had left. All our shoes stood in a line against the wall, clean, shining. I couldn’t help crying. Early next morning, we left for the airport with all the jobs done.

Now whenever I hear of a friend who’s lost a loved one, I no longer call with the polite offer,” If there’s anything I can do …” Instead I try to think of one specific task that suits that man’s need, like taking the dog to the boarding kennel, or house-sitting during the funeral. If the person asks,” How did you know I needed that one?” I reply, “Because a man once cleaned my shoes.”

【1】What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us?

A. The writer’s house was in a mess.

B. The writer’s mother was very sad about her son’s death.

C. The writer heard the sad news from her mom and had no idea of what to do.

D. The writer was ready to go to Seattle.

【2】The writer didn’t know what to put into the suitcases because _____.

A. she couldn’t do it on her own

B. she was too sad to do anything

C. she wanted to take everything to Seattle

D. she was not good at doing housework

【3】Here’s a time line of what happened in the story.

Which of the events should go in the empty box above?

A. Emerson came to clean the shoes.

B. The couple bathed the children.

C. They cleared the supper dishes

D. The writer found the shoes cleaned.

【4】If one of her friends has lost a loved one, what will the writer probably NOT do?

A. Call her friend to ask what she can do.

B. Look after her friend’s young children.

C. Take her friend’s dog to the boarding kennel.

D. Offer her friend house-sitting during the funeral.

【5】Which sentence best expresses the theme(主题) of this story?

A. One person’s loss is another’s gain.

B. An act of kindness is often rewarded.

C. A near neighbor is better than a brother far off.

D. Do something specific to help those in need.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】A

【4】A

【5】D

【解析】

本文作者讲述了当她的母亲告诉她她的哥哥在车祸中丧生，作者太悲伤了，不知道该怎么做。她的朋友艾默生主动过来给他们擦鞋， 作者把所有的脏鞋子都收集到厨房，艾默生马上就开始工作了。看着他全身心地投入到一项任务中，作者知道该怎么做了。现在每当作者听到一个失去亲人的朋友，她就不再礼貌地打电话，“如果有什么我能做的…”，而是试着去想一个适合那个人需要的具体任务，比如把狗带到寄宿处，或者在葬礼上坐在家里。

【1】考查主旨理解。根据第一段内容“仍在震惊中！我在家里转来转去，目的是想决定把什么放进手提箱里。”可知第一段主要告诉我们作家从她妈妈那里听到了这个不幸的消息，不知道该怎么办。故选C。

【2】考查细节理解。根据第一段中“Earlier that evening, I’d received a call telling me that my brother was killed in a car crash. “Come as soon as you can.” cried my mother” （那天晚上早些时候，我接到一个电话，告诉我我哥哥在车祸中丧生。“你尽快来。”我母亲叫道。）可知作家不知道该把什么放进手提箱里，因为她太伤心了以至于不能做任何事情；故选B。

【3】考查细节理解。第一段告诉我们“作家的弟弟在车祸中丧生”，接着第2描述家里凌乱的场面，作者不知道做什么，第3段描述作者的丈夫和他的朋友打电话，告诉发生的事情，第4-7段讲述爱默生来擦鞋，第8段爱默生来擦鞋之后，作家知道该做什么了，开始洗衣服，给孩子洗澡，收拾餐具。第二天早上，他们动身去机场。可知作家的弟弟在车祸中丧生之后，爱默生来擦鞋；故选A。

【4】考查细节理解。根据第9段第1句Now whenever I hear of a friend who’s lost a loved one, I no longer call with the polite offer,“If there’s anything I can do …” Instead I try to think of one specific task that suits that man’s need, like taking the dog to the boarding kennel, or house-sitting during the funeral.（现在每当我听到一个失去亲人的朋友时，我不再用礼貌的话语打电话，“如果有什么我可以做的......”相反，我试着想出一个适合那个男人需要的具体任务，比如带狗 到了寄宿犬舍，或在葬礼期间的家务。）可知“如果她的一个朋友失去了心爱的人，作家可能不会打电话给她的朋友问她能做些什么。故选A。

【5】考查主旨理解。本文作者讲述了当她听说她的哥哥在车祸中丧生时，她不知道怎么做，但一个朋友给她家来擦鞋，使她理清思路，知道该做些什么。现在每当作者听到一个失去亲人的朋友，她就不再礼貌地打电话，“如果有什么我能做的…”，而是试着去想一个适合那个人需要的具体任务，比如把狗带到寄宿处。故“做一些具体的事情来帮助那些需要帮助的人”最能表达这个故事的主题；选D。