There is much more to growing up in a bilingual(双语的) family than learning two languages, and the cultural influences from both cultures are just as important.
In July we had a curious incident that shows the slight differences between cultures. My son has already changed a few of his baby teeth and since we lived in Italy we decided to go with the Italian version(版本) of the Tooth Fairy, which is not a fairy(仙女) but a little mouse. So last year when he lost his first tooth we had a visit from the little mouse who took the tooth away and left a rather good amount of coins --- when he lost the second tooth a few days later, however, the amount was significantly less! That in itself caused quite a few questions, but the real questions started when in July during a visit to the UK another tooth left my son’s mouth in Tooth Fairy land! The grandparents made a real problem out of it --- it was their first grandson’s tooth they got to say Goodbye to, so it was Tooth Fairy and rather generous, too!
The Qs & As
Son: Mum, how is the little mouse going to smell my tooth all this way? (as the story goes the little mouse smells a milk tooth and comes to collect it)
Me: No dear, it won’t! We are in England now so the Tooth Fairy will come.
Son: Oh, is she stronger than the little mouse? (I knew where this was going)
Me: She is very strong, and she is magic.
Son: What does the Tooth Fairy bring? (straight to the point)
Me: I am not sure. We’ll find out maybe a nice message.
Son: So is the little mouse coming too?
Me: No, it won’t make it all the way from Italy.
Son: But why don’t they have little mice in England?
Me: Because here the Tooth Fairy collects all baby teeth and she’s too fast, so the little mouse would always get there late.
Son: Oh!?
【小题1】Italian kids are supposed to believe ________ will come and collect the milk teeth.

Having a son as a woman who has only really been around women can be a strange experience. I sometimes tell my husband that raising our 3-year-old boy     someone dropped me off on another planet where I didn’t know the  _   and had no map.

   My son makes me laugh like no other, but his desires and interests sometimes do feel as  _   to me as another galaxy(银河系). He has taught me so much about the bigger man in my life (my husband) and even more about  _   in general.

   When I get mad at my husband now, I look at our son and  _   . He was once as sweet and precious as my son, even if he is so  _   now.

My mother-in-law’s attitude used to be confusing to me, but now I kind of  _   it. I love my son violently. If some woman ever  _   him, she’d be punished for that.

    _   my daughter can’t find something, she searches. But my son is  _   calling, “Mommy! Daddy! Where is my toy?” It’s so much like my husband. He will also spend 0.1 seconds  _   before calling out to me and  _   where the butter, cheese, or coat is. My son has taught me it’s a male thing. _   , that doesn’t mean I won’t break of it. I  _   will. Isn’t that what all moms say?

My husband showers every day on most  _   days. But on the weekends or on vacation? Forget it. Now I understand that. My son hates bath time and  _   the whole time. I have to fight with him and reward him to get  _   .

   Nothing is sweeter for a mom than her baby boy. My son and daughter are equally _   to me, but in a different way. He tells me he loves me and how  _   I am. I wish I could bottle that sweetness and  _   it for the teen years.

1.A. feels like       B. competes with       C. contributes to    D. turns out

2.A. connection      B. movement          C. language        D. change

3.A. risky          B. mild                C. foreign         D. classic

4.A. interests       B. planets              C. kids            D. men

5.A. stop          B. grow                C. rise            D. burst

6.A. exciting       B. confusing            C. touching        D. annoying

7.A. set            B. get                 C. make          D. take

8.A. approaches      B. hurts               C. ignores        D. persuades

9.A. Before         B. Because             C. If             D. Unless

10.A. sincerely       B. immediately          C. fortunately     D. obviously

11.A. guessing       B. imagining            C. wondering      D. looking

12.A. thinking       B. telling               C. asking          D. debating

13.A. However       B. Moreover             C. Otherwise      D. Therefore

14.A. finally         B. probably             C. mainly          D. definitely

15.A. cold           B. rainy                C. meeting         D. working

16.A. laughs         B. screams              C. talks            D. sings

17.A. weak          B. tight                 C. clean           D. clever

18.A. close          B. welcome              C. strange         D. similar

19.A. regretful       B. beautiful              C. skillful          D. shameful

20.A. remind         B. exchange             C. save           D. appreciate

My son has changed so much that I could hardly __________ his voice on the phone.

A. recognize                          B. realize                          C. hear                                 D. find

第二节：语法填空 (共10小题；每小题1.5分，满分15分)
I have a 12-year-old son who is kind and helpful. And he is showing great interest  26  growing plants. I have been helping him plant flowers, vegetables and just plants in general since spring arrived.
When  27  (plant) a bunch of flowers one Saturday afternoon , I found that there were two flowers  28  (leave) in my son’s basket. My son decided to take them to the little house next door  29  an elderly woman lived by herself and didn’t seem to have much company. I watched him as he went up to her door, rather  30  (hesitant ) because he didn’t know her, and he quietly left the flowers  31  her doorstep so that she would get  32  the next time she went outside.
The next morning we were pleased to find that she  33  (plant) the flowers in a pot by the door. They looked really beautiful.  34  it was a small thing , it was important as my son has learnt to do good for  35 .  He said to me, “It feels really good to do things for other people.” 

My son has done considerable _______ to his car and we just got tyres on it in Dec．, but due to his front end being totally screwed up, both the front tyres have already worn out．

1. A.
   ruin
2. B.
   destruction
3. C.
   damage
4. D.
   injury