Occasionally, my father came back drunk. Late at night, he beat on the door, pleading to my mother to open it .He was on his way home from drinking, gambling, or some combination thereof, misspending money that we could have used and wasting time that we desperately needed.

It was the late-1970s. My parents were separated. My mother was now raising a group of boys on her own. My father spouted off about what he planned to do for us, buy for us. In fact, he had no intention of doing anything. As a father who was supposed to love us, in fact, he lacked the understanding of what it truly meant to love a child—or to hurt one. To him, this was a harmless game that kept us excited and begging. In fact, it was a cruel, corrosive lie. I lost faith in his words and in him. I wanted to stop caring, but I couldn’t.

Maybe it was his own complicated relationship to his father and his father’s family that caused him cold. Maybe it was the pain and guilt associated with a life of misfortune. Who knows. Whatever it was, it stole him from us, and particularly from me.

While my brothers talked about breaking and fixing things, I spent many of my evenings reading and wondering. My favorite books were a set of encyclopedias(百科全书) given by my uncle. They allowed me to explore the world beyond my world, to travel without leaving, to dream dreams greater than my life would otherwise have supported. But losing myself in my own mind also meant that I was completely lost to my father. Not understanding me, he simply ignored me—not just emotionally, but physically as well. Never once did he hug me, never once a pat on the back or a hand on the shoulder or a tousling of the hair.

My best memories of him were from his episodic attempts at engagement with us. During the longest of these episodes(插曲), once every month or two, he would come pick us up and drive us down the interstate to Trucker’s Paradise, a seedy, smoke-filled, truck stop with gas pumps, a convenience store, a small dining area and a game room through a door in the back. My dad gave each of us a handful of quarters, and we played until they were gone. He sat up front in the dining area, drinking coffee and being particular about the restaurant’s measly offerings.

I loved these days. To me, Trucker’s Paradise was paradise. The quarters and the games were fun but easily forgotten. It was the presence of my father that was most treasured. But, of course, these trips were short-lived.

It wasn’t until I was much older that I would find something that I would be able to cling to as evidence of my father’s love.

When the Commodore 64 personal computer debuted, I convinced myself that I had to have it even though its price was out of my mother’s range. So I decided to earn the money myself. I mowed every yard I could find that summer for a few dollars each, yet it still wasn’t enough. So my dad agreed to help me raise the rest of the money by driving me to one of the watermelon farms south of town, loading up his truck with wholesale melons and driving me around to sell them. He came for me before daybreak. We made small talk, but it didn’t matter. The fact that he was talking to me was all that mattered. I was a teenager by then, but this was the first time that I had ever spent time alone with him. He laughed and repeatedly introduced me as “my boy,” a phrase he relayed with a sense of pride. It was one of the best days of my life.

Although he had never told me that he loved me, I would cling to that day as the greatest evidence of that fact. He had never intended me any wrong. He just didn’t know how to love me right. He wasn’t a mean man. So I took these random episodes and clung to them like a thing most precious, storing them in my mind for the long stretches of coldness when a warm memory would prove most useful.

It just goes to show that no matter how friendless the father, no matter how deep the damage, no matter how shattered the bond, there is still time, still space, still a need for even the smallest bit of evidence of a father’s love.

“My boy.”

1.From the passage, the father was_____ in the writer’s memory.

A. selfish and cruel B. proud and cold

C. imperfect but loving D. shy but thoughtful

2.The writer used not to feel Father’s true love because______ .

A.father showed his love but had no good way to express himself to his children

B.he just lost himself in his own mind without getting close to his father

C.father was too busy so unable to communicate with his children enough

D. he had a prejudice(偏见) and was too stubborn to feel it

3.The underlined phrase “cling to” can be replaced by __________.

A.catch hold of B. depend on

C. stick to D. keep

4.From the last parts (para7-11), we can infer that ______ .

A.father liked to show off his family before others

B.I couldn't understand Father’s love unless he expressed to me

C.father intended to show a loving father he was but failed.

D.I would definitely treasure all the small love from father

5.What’s the right order of the episodes?

1. His dad agreed to help him.

2. The Commodore 64 personal computer was just on sale.

3. The writer decided to buy it and earn the money himself.

4 His dad drove the writer to one of the watermelon farms south of town, loaded up his truck with wholesale melons and drove the writer around to sell them.

5. The writer didn’t have enough money.

A. 23541 B. 23514 C.32541 D. 32514

6.What’s the best title of the passage?

A. Remembrances of my father B. Father and son

C. My boy D. The past days

Apple’s so-called iPhone 4 “Death Grip” ----where holding the phone in the left hand weakens the signal ---- may rank among the top marketing failures of the 2010s.

Frustrated iPhone 4 owners don’t need to wait around for Apple to handle the problem. They can solve the calling problems on their own. I’ve got five guaranteed solutions, but you probably won’t like them.

1.________________. In most US states, purchasers can return phones within 14 days - 30 days in states like California. It’s the “buyer’s regret” period, and for some people who can’t make clear calls there surely is some kind of regret. Apple’s newest handset may be the most fashionable phone on the planet, but it is by no means the only choice. Yes, you can use another smart phone and find happiness.

2.________________. OK, so this might seem like an extreme choice, but, hey, aren’t all those phone calls annoying? I’ve dramatically reduced the number of phone calls and must say it feels good to be free of them. The iPhone has a touchscreen for a reason. Use it. But, please, don’t text and drive.

3.________________. If you must make phone calls, change your location. Repeatedly test for the Death Grip, but don’t let the sellers know the real reason for moving. Surely they’ll think that anyone willing to wait all night in a line to buy a cell phone is some one who is easily tricked or taken in. Don’t let your iPhone 4 enthusiasm drive up the seller’s counter offer.

4.________________. Hey, why should Apple be the only one who makes money? The iPhone 4 eBay auctions(拍卖)are crazy. There are “buy it now” prices of $1,000 and auctions with bids(出价)starting above $800. While writing this post, I watched one auction count down 7 minutes to zero, where in the final seconds the winning bid was $1,300 for the 32GB black model, unopened.

5._______________. It’s surprising how effectively some people can just ignore problems like they don’t exist. No matter what the situation, they ignore it. “Hey, Johnny, don’t you know Toyota recalled(召回) a bazillion cars for accelerator pedal defects?” You know his answer: “Toyota is the best company on the planet. There is no problem with my car.” I’ve seen this kind of denial behavior among some Mac enthusiasts, too. About Death Grip, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is on record firmly stating: “Just avoid holding it in that way.” Apple claims the problem really isn’t iPhone 4 but you. Hey, you can choose to believe that. Denial will fix your problem, because you’ll never admit to having one.

A. Live in denial

B. Sell your iPhone

C. Stop making phone calls

D. Purchase a car rather than an iPhone

E. Move to a location with strong carrier signal

F. Return the phone and get one from a different manufacturer(制造商)

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