Question

It was Saturday. As always, it was a busy one, for “Six days shall you labor and do all your work” was taken seriously back then. Outside, Father and Mr. Patrick next door were busy chopping firewood. Inside their own houses, Mother and Mrs. Patrick were engaged in spring cleaning.

Somehow the boys had slipped away to the back lot with their kites. Now, even at the risk of having Brother caught to beat carpets , they had sent him to the kitchen for string(线). It seemed there was no limit to the heights to which kites would fly today.

My mother looked at the sitting room, its furniture disordered for a thorough sweeping, A gun she cast a look toward the window. “Come on, girls! Let’s take string to the boys and watch them

On the way we met Mrs. Patrick, laughing guiltily as if she were doing something wrong, together with her girls.

There never was such a day for flying kited! We played all our fresh string into the boys’ kites and they went up higher and higher .We could hardly distinguish the orange-colored spots of the kites. Now and then we slowly pulled one kite back, watching it dancing up and down it the wind, and finally bringing it down to earth, just for the joy of sending it up again.

Even our fathers dropped their tools and joined us. Our mothers took their turn, laughing like schoolgirls. I think we were all beside ourselves. Parents forgot their duty and their dignity; children forgot their everyday fights and little jealousies. “Perhaps it’s like this in the kingdom of heaven,” I thought confusedly.

It was growing dark before we all walked sleepily back to house. I suppose we had some sort of supper. I suppose there must have been a surface tidying-up, for the house on Sunday looked clean and orderly enough. The strange thing was, we didn't mention that day afterward. I felt a little embarrassed .Surely none of the others had been as excited as I. I locked the memory up in that deepest part of me where we keep “the things that cannot be and yet they are.”

The years went on, then one day I was hurrying about my kitchen in a city apartment, trying to get some work out of the way while my three-year-old insistently cried her desire to “go park ,see duck.”

“I can’t go!” I said. “I have this and this to do, and when I’m through I’ll be too tired to walk that for.”

My mother , who was visiting us , looked up from the peas she was shelling ,“It’s a wonderful day,” she offered，“Really warm , yet there’s a fine breezy . Do you remember that day we flew kites?”

I stopped in my dash between stove and sink. The looked door flew open and with it a rush of memories. “Come on.” I told my little girl. “You’re right, it’s too good a day to miss.”

Another decade passed. We were in the aftermath (余波)of a great war. All

evening we had been asking our returned soldier, the youngest Patrick Boy, about his experiences as a prisoner of war. He had talked freely, but now for a long time he had been silent. What was he thinking of – what dark and horrible things?

“Say!” A smile slipped out from his lips. “Do you remember --- no, of course you wouldn’t. It probably didn’t make the impression on you as it did on me.”

I hardly dared speak. “Remember what?”

“I used to think of that day a lot in POW camp(战俘营), when things weren’t too good. Do you remember the day we flew the kites?”

1. Mrs. Patrick was laughing guiltily because she thought .

A. she was too old to fly kites

B. her husband would make fun of her

C. she should have been doing her housework then

D. her girls weren’t supposed to play the boy’s game

2. By” we were all beside ourselves”, the writer means that they all .

A. felt confused B. went wild with joy

C. looked on D. forgot their fights

3. What did the writer think after the kite-flying?

A. The boys must have had more fun than the girls.

B. They should have finished their work before playing.

C. Her parents should spend more time with them.

D. All the others must have forgotten that day.

4. Why did the writer finally agree to take her little girl for an outing?

A. She suddenly remembered her duty as a mother.

B. She was reminded of the day they flew kites.

C. She had finished her work in the kitchen.

D. She thought it was a great day to play outside.

5. The youngest Patrick Boy is mentioned to show that _____ .

A. the writer was not alone in treasuring her fond memories

B. his experience in POW camp threw a shadow over his life

C. childhood friendship means so much to the writer

D. people like him really changed a lot after the war

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.B

5.A

【解析】细节理解题。由文章第一段Mrs. Patrick were engaged in spring cleaning.

可知，Mrs. Patrick原本该作家务，结果去放风筝了。放完风筝以后，内疚的笑然后去家务了。

1. D细节理解题。根据文章I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.可知答案。

2. A 推理判断题，由You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8. Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. 作者需要养育4个儿女，同时还要坚持学习的梦想， joyous可见作者在感到家庭是忙碌而幸福的。

3. B推理判断题。根据Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember；little steps add up to big dreams.可以看出作者的学习是在循序渐进，千里之行始于足下，最终才取得学位的。Little by little ,one goes far.与之符合。

4. A推理判断题。通过全文作者照顾祖母和照顾家庭，可以看出作者Caring；通过作者坚持不懈的学习，最终拿到学位，可以看出作者的决心determine，选A。