My father died when I was a baby, and my mother had to go out to work. I was the only  36  so I had no brothers and sisters to play with at home. I used to play in the street with other children, or ride my bike down to the park, but I remember I  37  a lot of time just sitting at home reading. We had a television, I think, but don’t remember   38  it very much.
My grandparents lived with us and we used to do a lot of things together.I remember we played cards a lot. At the weekends, my mother always  39  -- We often went down to the sea and swam, and I   40  to swim when I was quite young.
We didn’t have a car, so we went everywhere by bus. Occasionally（偶尔），one of my uncles used to come and take us out in his car, which was a great   41 .For holidays we always went to the seaside, but never far away maybe a short train journey.
My mother wasn’t very    42 , and I don’t remember her ever    43   me. In fact（事实上），I got my way too much.
I was given small pocket money because we weren’t very   44  and I probably spent most of it on sweets, as far as I remember I don’t think anyone thought they were   45  for you then.

When my father got home，I _________a letter to my friend．

A．write     B．am writing       C．wrote               D．was writing

My father died when I was a few months old． After his death, my mother moved back to Louisville, Kentucky, where __1__ had grown up． We lived in a small house with her older sister, Marion, and their mother． This was a time when being a single __2___ was still considered unusual．

When I was small, there was a children’s book called The Happy Family, and it was a real piece of work． Dad worked all day log at the office, Mom cooked in the kitchen, and brother and sister always had friends sleeping over． The image of the family in this book was typical （典型的） of the time． It looked __3___ like my family, but luckily that wasn’t the way I heard it． The way my Aunt Marion read it to me made the story really __4__．

Kind-hearted and open-minded, my aunt was the one who played baseball with me, who took me horseback riding, who took me to the father-son dinners and who gave me lessons on how to drive． Believing that anything __5__ was probably good for, she __6__ to get a loan （贷款） so that I could go to Africa to work as a volunteer, which was my most important experience．

As a young girl, Aunt Marion always planned to have a large number of children of her own, but she never got married．This __7__ that she was free to spend all her time taking care of me．Many people say we have a lot in common．She always __8__ me to do my best． She never __9__ to make me believe that I could do anything with my life that I wanted, if I only tried hard enough．

For more than sixty years, Aunt Marion didn’t and still don’t think of herself． __10__ she is forced to come up to the front, my aunt will stand in the back in family photos, and she doesn’t think that her efforts have made much __11___．I honor my aunt, who taught me the things my __12___ couldn’t．So every June for the past 40 years, in growing thankfulness to my Aunt Marion, I’ve sent her a Father’s Day card．

1． A． I                        B． she                     C． he                      D． we

2． A． man                   B． family                  C． parent                 D． child

3． A． nothing               B． anything              C． everything           D． something

4． A． surprising            B． boring                 C． sad                     D． funny

5． A． interesting         B． pleasant               C． impossible   D． unusual

6． A． decided               B． afforded              C． offered               D． prepared

7． A． said                    B． meant                 C． proved                D． showed

8． A． allowed               B． afforded              C． offered               D． forced

9． A． hoped                 B． agreed                C． stopped              D． tailed

10． A． Unless              B． Although             C． Since                  D． Before

11． A． difference          B． progress             C． trouble                       D． sense

12． A． Teachers            B． mother                       C． father                        D． friends