I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal (谷类食物), eggs or toast. While others had Cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different from other kids' too. But at least I wasn't alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.
My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, then we be gone one hour or less—not one hour and one minute. And she always insisted upon us telling the truth. Now you can see how mean she was.
The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We had to wash dishes, make beds, and learn to cook. We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath, while the other kids always wore their clothes for days. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.
Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, “sick” like our friends did, and miss school. Our marks in school had to be up to par(达到正常水平). Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks.
As the years rolled by, we were one by one put to shame. We were graduated from high school. With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout.
My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. And whom do we have to blame for the terrible way we turned out? You're right, our mean mother. She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults.
Now I am trying to raise my three children. I am filled with pride when my children think I am mean because, you see, I had the meanest mother in the world.
【小题1】What does the sentence “But at least I wasn't alone in my sufferings.” mean?

Mother asked the young kid      with his toy car.

Mother asked the youngest kid _______with his toy car．

A．what the matter was                     B．what was the matter

C．what the matter is                       D．what is the matter

Edie was nine years old, and she was tinier than other children of her age. One day, she ran home crying loudly, because she was   36  by the three new girls of her school. They picked her as the object of their   37  and threatened to beat her up. Edie’s mother held her   38  and comforted (安慰)her. She 39  the next day that the girls had been troublemakers at several other schools and they were being given one more   40   at a new beginning.
Edie’s _41  said ,“Be kind to your enemies, Edie.”She _42  said, “When the girls 43   to threatened you next time ,tell them you want to be their friend.”“Are you 44 enough to do that?”Edie’s mother asked. The   45  girl answered, “Yes, Mom, I’ll try.”
Every day, the girls pushed Edie and called her names and  46  to get in a poke(戳) or two. Each time, Edie looked up at them and said, “ I’d really like to be your 47 .”But it seemed that this wasn’t working.
Then one day the following week, Edie ran home as 48   as she could , shouting ,“Mom, guess what happened today ! Just like I 49 did, I said I’d really like to be their friend, and one of the 50  said ,‘Okay, Edie, we  51  and we’ll be your friends’”A short time later, Edie sat at a table with them and  52  their tutor (私人教师).
Towards the end of the school year,   53   Edie’s parents went to school for a parent-teacher conference, the teacher told   54  ,“Because of Edie’s kindness, those girls have completed 55   and are model students in the class.”

Mother asked the youngest kid _______with his toy car．