Question

As a five-year-old, I didn’t know how poor we were. My father would not be home that Christmas Eve. He was in the Army serving overseas. My mother and I worked all afternoon making tree decorations. The kitchen table was crowded with stars made of shiny paper. We were going to get the Christmas tree in the evening, when the prices for them usually dropped.

After sunset, we walked four blocks to a parking lot where they sold Christmas trees. “How much is your cheapest tree?” My mother asked the man standing at the entrance. He held his gloved hands over the fire. “Thirty dollars, miss.”

Her smile disappeared, “Nothing for less?” The man picked up a small tree branch and dropped it into the fire. “I just work here. I can’t change the price.”

The sudden melancholy（忧郁）in my mother’s face made me sad. The man looked down at me for what felt like a long time; it probably was only moments. He pointed at a pile of branches in the corner. “Behind it is a tree that we can’t sell. You can have it for free.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said.

There it was, a thing just a little taller than me. It had few branches—almost a ghost（幽灵）of a tree. My mother asked, “Can we take some of these branches?” He waved his arm. “Take it all if you want to, miss.”

We headed back home. We set the tree in the living room. I couldn’t imagine how we could hang many decorations on such a tree. She was smiling again, “Go to sleep now, son. Santa will decorate the tree for us.”

I woke at dawn and rushed into the living room. To my amazement, the tree had a beautiful natural shape. The decorations shone in the morning light. My mother had somehow fixed branches to the tree trunk. A few weeks later, my father returned. When I told him about the tree, tears filled the eyes of that strong soldier.

Since then, I have seen many wonderful holidays. That Christmas remains as my favorite.

1.Why did the mother decide to get the tree in the evening?

A. She wanted to buy it at a lower price.

B. She was fully occupied during the day.

C. She was waiting for the father to pick it up.

D. She had made an appointment with the seller.

2.How did the son feel when he spotted the tree behind the branches?

A. Disappointed. B. Delighted. C. Frightened. D. Relieved.

3.What brought the father to tears?

A. The pain of his war wound. B. The efforts his wife put into the tree.

C. The reunion with his family. D. The decorations his son made for the tree.

Answer 1