阅读理解

　　When she turned ten, my daughter decided I was no longer good enough to provide input on anything useful．Then, in high school she took a parenting class．

　　“Mum, I need your idea,” she told me．“What are the skills you need to be a good parent?” she asked, pencil pointed over her homework．

　　Skills? I’d always thought of parenting as requiring patience, understanding and kindness．And I was pretty sure those were characteristics(性格), not skills．

　　“Hang on, I know this one,” I told her, thinking fast．Looking at the wall calendar(日历), I noted that my next seven days included two appointments(约会), 20 minutes each, three forms to hand in at two different schools and a cover for the pool to pick up．“Organizational(组织的)skills,” I answered．“It also helps if you can drive－and have the ability to be in two places at once．”

　　“Got it,” she said．“What else?”

　　I thought about the school year：school fees(学费), class pictures, running shoes．Not to mention weekly shopping－the bill for which was growing as fast as the kids．

　　“Financial(理财的)skills,”I said．“You’ll have to plan your money－especially if you end up with two birthdays in one pay period．You must be good at math, too．”

　　“Money and math make sense,”she said．“Anything more?”

　　“You also need a good memory,”I continued．“At any given time, you may remember birthdays, names of people and who likes apples or who can’t stand grape juice．”

　　I talked and talked．My daughter’s pencil moved quickly as she tried to keep up with what I was saying．Her homework finally finished．My daughter told me about a new parenting-skill project(项目)．“We’re getting dolls programmed to cry from time to time．We have to keep them with us all the time and take care of them．It’s to show us how hard it is to be a parent．”

　　I thought if students would come up with a doll that throws things around and shouts at the top of its voice, that might give them an idea of the patience, understanding and kindness that parenting requires．

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　　Linda and David have travelled by air from London to Sydney, Australia．Linda has promised her mother that she will ring her to let her know that they have arrived safely．This is something she has done ever since she was a child．David thinks it is not a good idea to ring so far, to spend too much．and to say so little．

　　But Linda has promised that she would ring．She says：“It doesn't cost much when you just think that it's the other side of the world．It's only six pence per second．”

　　“If you're on that telephone for less than one minute, I'll eat my hat．”David says, “And one minute is nearly four pounds．”

　　“That's no more titan you'd pay for a new hat．”Linda answers．

　　She has asked the man at the hotel desk to get her the number．The telephone rings．Linda picks it up．

　　“Hello, Mum．Is that you?”She says．

　　“Six pence per second．”David reminds her．

　　“Hello, love．”It is Mrs Lee, Linda's mother, speaking from London．“I can hear you very clearly just like you are in the next room．It's a better line than when you called me from your office．Do you remember?I shouted at that time, and still you couldn't hear me sometimes．”

　　“Yes, Mum．”Linda puts in, “I just wanted to ring to…．”

　　“I remember how you rang when you went to Betty's house to eat, when you were a little girl．And then when you…”．Mrs Lee is a great talker．

　　“Nearly four pounds．”says David．

　　Linda tries to tell her mother that it is time to say goodbye．

　　“Yes, all right,”says Mrs Lee, “But you will write, won't you, as you did when you were at work…”．

　　“Four pounds fifty,”says David．

　　At last, Linda cuts her mother short, promises to write, and rings off．

　　“There!That wasn't long, was it?”

　　“Four pounds, ninety pence．”David answers．“And you didn't even say that we've arrived．”

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