题目内容
—Mum, Bill is coming to dinner this evening.
—OK. Let’s give him ___ to eat.
A. something different B. different anything
C. anything different D. different something
A
I can remember the day my father came home from the war. As he walked up the front path of our home, he saw Mum and me and he dropped the suitcase.
I was only five years old so Dad made a fuss of me, then began making an even bigger fuss of my mother. This left me free to examine all the stuff lying around the broken suitcase, and I was quick to notice a newspaper advertisement displaying a new piano. When Dad saw me holding up the newspaper cutting, he smiled.
“Yes, that’s right,” he said. “I bought your mum a piano for ten pounds down and two pounds a week.”
A few moments later, a horse pulled a cart with a piano on top. Soon we all stared at it in our small lounger room. Mum had never been close to a piano before, except at the kindergarten I attended, and she used to say how wonderful it would be if the teachers could teach her to play.
After tea that night, Mum began to teach herself to play. She plinked the keys for about two hours and drove everybody in the street mad, until Dad gently said, “Enough is enough.”
From that day on, she would plink between doing the cooking and housework. Three months went by and Mum was now a skilled pianist, holding parties with all the neighbors gathering around to sing.
Although we were poor, Mum felt like a princess and was delighted at all the attention she was receiving.
At the height of Mum’s happiness, I began to notice that Dad was looking increasingly worried. It turned out that since returning from the war, he’d been unable to find a job. Then, a few weeks later, I observed two men taking Mum’s piano away. Mum sobbed in the kitchen. Suddenly, it all became clear to me: no job, no money, no piano.
Dad finally got a job. Mum was happy again as if he’d just win the lottery(彩票). Dad had to study to qualify as an account. Every night after dinner he’d place a stack of books on the kitchen table and study late into the night. Mum didn’t say much but I could tell she was proud of Dad.
Two years later, Dad bought Mum another piano. This time he paid cash for it.
【小题1】How did the author’s Dad buy the piano for his mum?
| A.He paid part of the bill regularly. |
| B.He earned it by winning a bet. |
| C.He paid cash for it. |
| D.He bought it as a big bargain. |
| A.practice makes perfect |
| B.it was time to stop practicing |
| C.he couldn’t bear being troubled |
| D.his wife played the piano well enough |
| A.It was lost. |
| B.It was broken by one neighbor. |
| C.It was sold by his dad. |
| D.It was taken away. |
| A.His dad’s willingness to help cook. |
| B.His dad’s winning the lottery luckily. |
| C.His dad’s loyalty to his motherland. |
| D.His dad’s determination to rebuild his life. |
Driving home from work one evening in the heavy rain, I found a very wet, injured cat on the side of the road. He looked up at me, meowing pitifully. A car must have hit it so it wasn’t able to move. I stopped my car and carried the cat in and went on driving.
At the nearest vet clinic, the vet gently examined it. "He's about eight months old and has two broken legs, but I would need X-rays to know how serious the damage is," he told me. "As he's not your cat, I don't know if you want to go ahead with this. It could be rather expensive."
I knew it would cost me hundreds of dollars, but I agreed with his advice. The following morning the vet rang to say the X-rays confirmed two bad breaks in his legs. "I'll operate on his legs and put metal pins in them to keep them fixed." he told me.
That afternoon I went to pick up my little friend. There I could hardly recognize him. His previously dirty fur was now a beautiful silver grey. His front legs were in two casts and he lay there looking at me, purring(发咕噜声) happily.
I thanked the doctor and went out to pay the bill. "I think you've given me the wrong account," I said to the clerk. "This is only $85. He's had X-rays and an operation on his legs." "No, that's right," she replied. "The vet has only charged you for the medication. There's a message on the bottom."
Written under the total were the words "SPECIAL RATE FOR ADOPTIONS." I was speechless at his kind and generous gesture. I paid the account and under his message I wrote "WITH GRATEFUL THANKS, CAT AND MUM."
【小题1】Why didn’t the vet give the cat X-rays immediately?
| A.The damage was not serious at all. |
| B.The cat was too young to be X-rayed. |
| C.The doctor wasn’t sure whether the author would like to cover the expenses. |
| D.The examination was too expensive for the author to afford. |
| A.The author was a caring and generous lady. |
| B.The author often adopted animals. |
| C.The author’s workplace was far from home. |
| D.The author only worked at night. |
| A.He was deserted by his owner and nearly starved to death. |
| B.He was saved on a dark and stormy night. |
| C.He was a lively creature with beautiful brown fur. |
| D.His back legs were broken and had to have an operation. |
| A.The adventure of a cat |
| B.An impressive vet |
| C.An unforgettable night |
| D.Love in relays |