It was a hot summer day. My dad and I were getting ready to go out for a ride on the boat. Just then the phone call came, the call changed that sunny and beautiful day into a cold and dark one.

When I saw my father answering the phone, he was crying. I’d never seen my dad cry before. My heart sank. What possibly could happen?

“Max, I’m so sorry,” I heard him say. That’s when it hit me. I knew that Suzie had died.

Max has been my dad’s best friend for years. Suzie, his daughter, had a serious illness. She knew she was different from other kids. Although she couldn’t live a normal life, she was still happy.

When Suzie and I were little girls, we spent quite a bit of time together. When Suzie was ten, she had to live in a hospital. About eight months before she died, we talked at least twice a week on the phone until the end. Suzie was always so excited to talk to me and wanted to know everything I did and every thing I ate.

When Suzie and I first started calling each other, I thought it would be more of a burden on me, but I was completely wrong. I learned so much from her. She gave me more than I could ever give her. I will never forget her or the talks we had. I now know that I must never take anything for granted, especially my health and the gift of life.

1.That phone call on a summer day made the author very _________.

A. sad              B. dark             C. cold              D. disappointed

2.Which of the following is Not true?

A. The author’s day had never cried before.

B. Max was the best friend of the author’s dad.

C. Suzie was in bad health, so she was always unhappy.

D. Suzie enjoyed talking to the author on the phone.

3.The underlined word “it” probably refers to _________.

A. all the talks between Suzie and the author on the phone

B. Suzie’s serious illness

C. Suzie’s death

D. the first talk between Suzie and the author on the phone

4.Which is the best title for the passage?

A. The Gift of Life                                                B. A Cold Dark Day

C. Suzie’s Death                                                  D. My Friend Suzie

阅读理解：

　　Before her operation, Anna's eyesight was so bad that she could not see that alarm clock by her bedside.“I need glasses to find my glasses,”said Anna. Her glasses were as thick as a Coke bottle, and she said she was ready for anything that offers a better view of the world. So when she learned about the surgical(外科)way to correct near-sightedness, she needed no persuasion to accept the treatment.

　　It has been about four years since she had the operation on both of her eyes. She remains pleased with the results.“I had perfect vision only a day after the operation. It was as if I had never been short-sighted,”said Anna.

　　Being seriously shortsighted, Anna experienced some side-effects at first. The first was a tendency for the eye to water, especially when sleeping. It was a part of the healing process and lasted only a week. The second side-effect was a discomfort when looking at bright lights in the dark. It lasted six months and it did not harm her ability to drive at night.

　　Now the operation can be done with a laser guided by a computer instead of a diamond knife. With the operation, most patients will notice the improvement within 24 hours.“You can experience the operation today and throw away your glasses tomorrow,”said Dr. Karas, who has been operating on thousands of patients for over five years.

　　This operation has been around for more than twenty years and has been performed on millions of patients around the world. It has been studied by eight American universities for years, and the results are quite satisfactory. However, it is not yet known whether glasses will be out of use in the near future.

1．The word“eyesight”in the first paragraph means ________.

[　　]

2．In the passage the side-effects ________.

[　　]

A．mean great harm to one's health

B．cause other diseases

C．are the signs of getting well

D．make the patient uncomfortable

3．This operation has been around for more than twenty years. The word“around”means ________ in this sentence.

[　　]

When I was growing up in America, I was ashamed of my mother’s Chinese English. Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly. People in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.
My mother has realized the disadvantages of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on phone to pretend I was she. I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rude to her. One time I had to call her stockbroker. I said in a voice that was not very convincing, “This is Mrs. Tan.” And my mother was standing beside me, whispering loudly, “Why he doesn’t send me the cheek. It’s already two weeks late.”
And then, in perfect English I said: “I’m getting rather anxious .You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived.” Then she talked more loudly. “What does he want? I’ll come to New York and say it in front of his boss.” And so I turned to the stockbroker again, “I can’t accept any more excuses. If I don’t receive the check immediately, I have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week.”
The next week we ended up in New York. While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English. When I was a teenager, my mother’s broken English embarrassed me. But now, I see it differently. To me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is clear and direct. It was the language that helped me form the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world.
【小题1】Why was the author’s mother poorly treated?