There is a fine line between a parent who is active and open-minded and one that doesn’t know when to let go （放手）．As my daughter, Nicole, prepares to leave home for college, I’m discovering how hard it is to stay on the __1__ side of this line．When I hold __2__ the apron strings （围裙带） connecting us, Nicole, eager to __3__ independence, tries to loosen my grasp．What results is a （an） __4__ mother-daughter, push-me, pull-you kind of tango．

For the past two years, it’s gone like this:

Mother’s question: “Have you thought of taking an advanced placement class （大学预修课程） so that you can earn college credit?”

Daughter’s __5__: “No, I’m not interested in that．”

………

I bit my lip a few times and Nicole shot me a few glares．

Two months ago, she was _6__ to a great university．However, I was still the mother having a __7_ time letting go．The night before the introductory meeting of the university, I had read the course catalog carefully and __8__ courses which I thought looked good．We met on the campus the next afternoon, and Nicole’s face _9__ with excitement．“I have had my entire schedule figured out,” she said．“Already?” I was astonished, __10__ she should have discussed it with me．I examined the schedule．Nicole hadn’t taken a （an） __11__ one of the courses I had suggested．Every course she had chosen __12__ suited her interests．Just then I saw a mature, capable young woman with a __13__ mind and the ability to shape her future．She no longer needed her mother __14__ every decision she made．I felt proud, though still a bit __15__．

I __16__ the lessons carefully．Nicole has struggled to learn over the past 18 years: __17__, sympathy, and hard work．There have been a few holes along the way．__18__, she is well-equipped and eager to __19__ the future．The next step, I recognized, was mine to take: giving my daughter and myself the _20__ we both needed．

1．A．left　　　　 B．right　　　 C．either　　　 D．each

2．A．onto　　　　 B．up　　　　　 C．back　　　　 D．out

3．A．keep　　　　 B．refuse　　　 C．taste　　　 D．bear

4．A．awkward　　　 B．relaxing　　 C．lively　　　 D．beautiful

5．A．comment　　　 B．word　　　　 C．concept　　 D．response

6．A．received　　 B．invited　　 C．treated　　 D．accepted

7．A．good　　　　 B．great　　　 C．hard　　　　 D．easy

8．A．taken　　　　 B．underlined　 C．offered　　 D．emphasized

9．A．lit up　　　 B．built up　　 C．turned up　 D．made up

10．A．imagining　 B．thinking　　 C．hoping　　　 D．adding

11．A．only　　　　 B．just　　　　 C．even　　　　 D．single

12．A．mostly　　　 B．hardly　　　 C．exactly　　 D．slightly

13．A．sharp　　　 B．normal　　　 C．different　 D．typical

14．A．encouraging B．evaluating　 C．disagreeing D．agreeing

15．A．anxious　　 B．excited　　 C．sad　　　　 D．tense

16．A．reviewed　　 B．observed　　 C．checked　　 D．studied

17．A．competence　 B．creativity　 C．responsibility　　　　　 D．confidence

18．A．Therefore　 B．Instead　　 C．Still　　　 D．Besides

19．A．embrace　　 B．discover　　 C．determine　 D．control

20．A．character　 B．strength　　 C．relief　　　 D．independence

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
From its opening lines – “ ‘You my lucky piece,’ Grandma says.... Her hand is wrapped around mine” – Heidi W. Durrow pulls us into her first novel, a moving story encircling us as firmly as that protective grandmotherly grip.
When we meet Rachel Morse, the daughter of an African-American GI and a Danish woman, she is just moving into the Portland, Oregon., home of her strong-minded paternal grandmother and her warm, classy Aunt Loretta. We soon learn that Rachel has survived a fall from a nine-story apartment building in which her mother, brother, and baby sister all died. Three months earlier, Rachel’s mother had left her alcoholic husband in Germany, following her “orange-haired” lover to Chicago. But Nella hadn’t been prepared for boyfriend’s drinking and racism, or for the looks and questions she gets as the mother of three brown children.
Rachel’s “new-girl feeling” in her grandmother’s home goes beyond her recent tragedy. Having grown up with a Scandinavian mother in the more colorblind society of an overseas Army base, this is her first time in a mostly black community. Her light-brown skin, “fuzzy” hair, and blue eyes raise questions about her racial identity that are entirely new and puzzling to her.
Starting sixth grade in her new school, Rachel notes, “There are fifteen black people in the class and seven white people. And there’s me. There’s another girl who sits in the back. Her name is Carmen LaGuardia, and she has hair like mine, my same color skin, and she counts as black. I don’t understand how, but she seems to know.” Several years later, in high school, her status remains uncertain. “They call me an Oreo. I don’t want to be white. Sometimes I want to go back to being what I was. I want to be nothing.”
Winner of the Bellwether Prize, created by Barbara Kingsolver to celebrate fiction that addresses issues of social injustice, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” comes at a time when bi-racial and multicultural identity – so markedly represented by President Obama – is especially topical.
But set in the 1980s and focusing on one unusually sympathetic girl overcoming family tragedy and feeling her way through racial tensions, Durrow’s novel surpasses topicality.
Like Rachel, Durrow is the light-brown-skinned, blue-eyed daughter of a Danish mother and an African-American father enlisted in the Air Force. With degrees from Stanford, Columbia Journalism School, and Yale Law School, it’s no wonder she gives her heroine discipline and brains.
Rachel’s life, however, is clearly not Durrow’s. No, there’s alcohol and drug addiction; deaths by fire, trauma, and infection. There are mothers who lose their children, and a saintly drug counselor who loses his beloved girl-friend. Through it all, what makes Durrow’s novel soar is her masterful sense of voice, her assured, delicate handling of complex racial issues – and her heart.
After hearing the blues music for the first time, Rachel feels what her mother called hyggeligt – “something like comfort and home and love all rolled into one.” She wonders what might have happened if her mother had known about such soulful music, “that sometimes there’s a way to take the sadness and turn it into a beautiful song.”
This, of course, is precisely what Durrow has done in this powerful book: taken sadness and turned it into a beautiful song.
60. What should be the direct cause of Rachel coming to Portland, Oregon?
A. Her mother left her alcoholic father.
B. A deadly tragedy happened to her family.
C. Her grandmother wants her to come and stay with her.
D. There was too much racism where she used to live with her mother.
61. Durrow’s life is different from Rachel’s in that _____________.
A. Durrow has to struggle through her life, depending on herself.
B. Durrow is troubled in her life by racism, living in a poor neighborhood.
C. Durrow has come through life much easier, with a better family background.
D. There’s alcohol and drug addiction in Durrow’s suffering-laden neighborhood.
62. Why does the writer of the book review mention President Obama in this writing?
A. To show the progress in America’s black community.
B. To highlight the racial harmony in the United States.
C. To indicate Obama’s influence in helping Durrow win the Bellwether Prize.
D. To remind readers of the background when the novel was written and won the Bellwether Prize.
63. The blues music Rachel hears is, deep at the bottom of her heart, most suggestive of ______.
A. bravery          B. hope           C. sadness         D. beauty

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

From its opening lines – “ ‘You my lucky piece,’ Grandma says.... Her hand is wrapped around mine” – Heidi W. Durrow pulls us into her first novel, a moving story encircling us as firmly as that protective grandmotherly grip.

When we meet Rachel Morse, the daughter of an African-American GI and a Danish woman, she is just moving into the Portland, Oregon., home of her strong-minded paternal grandmother and her warm, classy Aunt Loretta. We soon learn that Rachel has survived a fall from a nine-story apartment building in which her mother, brother, and baby sister all died. Three months earlier, Rachel’s mother had left her alcoholic husband in Germany, following her “orange-haired” lover to Chicago. But Nella hadn’t been prepared for boyfriend’s drinking and racism, or for the looks and questions she gets as the mother of three brown children.

Rachel’s “new-girl feeling” in her grandmother’s home goes beyond her recent tragedy. Having grown up with a Scandinavian mother in the more colorblind society of an overseas Army base, this is her first time in a mostly black community. Her light-brown skin, “fuzzy” hair, and blue eyes raise questions about her racial identity that are entirely new and puzzling to her.

Starting sixth grade in her new school, Rachel notes, “There are fifteen black people in the class and seven white people. And there’s me. There’s another girl who sits in the back. Her name is Carmen LaGuardia, and she has hair like mine, my same color skin, and she counts as black. I don’t understand how, but she seems to know.” Several years later, in high school, her status remains uncertain. “They call me an Oreo. I don’t want to be white. Sometimes I want to go back to being what I was. I want to be nothing.”

Winner of the Bellwether Prize, created by Barbara Kingsolver to celebrate fiction that addresses issues of social injustice, “The Girl Who Fell From the Sky” comes at a time when bi-racial and multicultural identity – so markedly represented by President Obama – is especially topical.

But set in the 1980s and focusing on one unusually sympathetic girl overcoming family tragedy and feeling her way through racial tensions, Durrow’s novel surpasses topicality.

Like Rachel, Durrow is the light-brown-skinned, blue-eyed daughter of a Danish mother and an African-American father enlisted in the Air Force. With degrees from Stanford, Columbia Journalism School, and Yale Law School, it’s no wonder she gives her heroine discipline and brains.

Rachel’s life, however, is clearly not Durrow’s. No, there’s alcohol and drug addiction; deaths by fire, trauma, and infection. There are mothers who lose their children, and a saintly drug counselor who loses his beloved girl-friend. Through it all, what makes Durrow’s novel soar is her masterful sense of voice, her assured, delicate handling of complex racial issues – and her heart.

After hearing the blues music for the first time, Rachel feels what her mother called hyggeligt – “something like comfort and home and love all rolled into one.” She wonders what might have happened if her mother had known about such soulful music, “that sometimes there’s a way to take the sadness and turn it into a beautiful song.”

This, of course, is precisely what Durrow has done in this powerful book: taken sadness and turned it into a beautiful song.

1.What should be the direct cause of Rachel coming to Portland, Oregon?

  A. Her mother left her alcoholic father.

  B. A deadly tragedy happened to her family.

  C. Her grandmother wants her to come and stay with her.

  D. There was too much racism where she used to live with her mother.

2.Durrow’s life is different from Rachel’s in that _____________.

  A. Durrow has to struggle through her life, depending on herself.

  B. Durrow is troubled in her life by racism, living in a poor neighborhood.

  C. Durrow has come through life much easier, with a better family background.

  D. There’s alcohol and drug addiction in Durrow’s suffering-laden neighborhood.

3.Why does the writer of the book review mention President Obama in this writing?

  A. To show the progress in America’s black community.

  B. To highlight the racial harmony in the United States.

  C. To indicate Obama’s influence in helping Durrow win the Bellwether Prize.

  D. To remind readers of the background when the novel was written and won the Bellwether Prize.

4.The blues music Rachel hears is, deep at the bottom of her heart, most suggestive of ______.

  A. bravery          B. hope           C. sadness         D. beauty