My husband and l were talking about possible colours because it was time for painting the kitchen again. The children, sat nearby and suddenly shouted, "Not the measuring（测量）stick!”

    The measuring stick isn't a real stick but the kitchen side of the door between our kitchen and the dining room. Along the edge we have    each child's growth by making a mark showing his or her     on every birthday. Over the ten years so many     pens, pencils and markers were used that the door came to be    like a painting.

    Names and dates    different hand-writing, and I can    by the script(手迹)who measured whom. An eight-year-old brother measured his three-year-old sister, a grandchild measured her grandmother, my husband measured me. At parties, when this door swings, friends stop to      the names and dates. When we ask if they would like to leave their marks, they usually had a smile.

    Many of these listed on the door are still     While some have stopped. Some is still with us only in memory. When my mother came to see our eldest daughter graduating from university, we measured her, too. It was her last visit to our home.

    We haven't decided on the new kitchen colour plan yet, but one thing is    :Whether we paint the trim curry gold, Chowning's Tavern red or Federal blue, the back of the kitchen door will be always      with lots of names and dates in different colors.

1.A. celebrated        B. explain       C. encouraged       D. congratulated

2.A. progress    B. weight                       C. height                  D. size

3.A. new        B. coloured             C. long                     D. short

4.A. simply    B. clearly                 C. unusually            D. unclearly

5.A. make      B. show                    C. give                      D. keep

6.A. tell                    B. understand        C. remind      D. think

7.A. find         B. notice                  C. read                     D. write

8.A. changing           B. adding                 C. putting       D. growing

9.A. curious            B. certain                C. ready                   D. common

10.A. white             B. red                       C. gold                     D. blue

My husband always ______ me flowers every week before we got married, but now he never ________.

My husband and I had just opened up a pet sitting business earlier that year. Our customers had slowly risen from three to thirty a month. We were busy through those hot summer months, driving between visits. Our work was strictly done at the pet owner’s home. It was almost too busy for the two of us, but we were making good money!
We asked pet owners new to our business to phone two weeks ahead so we had enough time to meet the owners and pets at their homes and make any following meetings before the owner leaves.
One day, we decided to take on a new customer just two days before they would leave. We met the family, filled in a form, and spent some time with their dog, Hercules. He playfully jumped on us and touched our hands and arms using his tongue. The family laughed as he did this, showing us that he was very loving.
Two days later I appeared at the house, alone. I came up to Hercules and said hello happily. I filled up his water bowl and cleaned any messes he made. Meanwhile, he was so lovely sitting beside. I thought this would be the good picture to send to the owners as usual. After the light and “click” sound went off, Hercules rushed at me. I didn’t know what had just happened until I noticed the drops of blood. I ran out and did the only thing—calling my husband.
Then I went to neighbors for help. My husband arrived after ten minutes. The helpful neighbor and my husband led Hercules back into his pen(圈). Then my husband and I took off to the hospital.
I must have looked like I was shot when I walked into the hospital. The nurses quickly moved me to a room. I asked the doctor in a weak but playful manner, “Am I going to die?” He replied, “Finally.”
【小题1】According to the text, the author’s work was_____________ .