I am my mother’s third child. When I was born, her doctor gently explained to her that my left arm was missing, below the elbow. Then he gave her some advice: “Don’t treat her any differently from the other girls. Demand more.” And she did!

My mother had to work to support our family. There were five girls in our family and we all had to help out. Once when I was about seven, I came out of the kitchen and said, “Mum, I can’t peel potatoes. I only have one hand.”

“You get back to peel those potatoes, and don’t ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”

Of course I could peel potatoes—with my good hand, while holding them down with my other arm. There was always a way, and Mom knew it. “If you try hard enough,” she’d say, “you can do anything.”

Once in the second grade, our teacher had each of us race across the monkey bars(单杠). When it was my turn, I shook my head. Some kids laughed. I went home crying.

After work the next afternoon, Mom took me back to the school playground.

“Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised. She stood by as I practiced, and she praised me when I made progress.

I’ll never forget the praised time when I was crossing the bars. The kids were standing there with their mouths open.

It was the way with everything. When I fear I can’t deal with things, I see Mom’s smile again. She had the heart to face anything. And she taught me I could, too.

46.Which of the following about the writer is TRUE?

A. Her mother took better care of her than of her sister.   B. She was born without the left hand.

C. She had five sisters in her family.                  D. She never wrote at school.

47.From this reading, we know that_______

A. the writer’s mother was a housewife at home 

B. the writer had to race across the monkey bars once a year at school 

C. the writer’s mother was asked to school to teach her to race across the monkey bars

D. the writer had a strict but patient mother

48.The sentence “The kids were standing there with their mouths open.” shows that_______.

A. the kids were hungry            B. there was something wrong with their mouths.

C. the kids felt very surprised.       D. the kids wanted to open their mouths to say “Ah…”

49.The writer’s mum asked her to peel potatoes because_______.

A. her mum was too busy cooking and had no time to do it herself

B. her mum wanted to teach her a lesson because she had told a lie.

C. her mum was teaching her to learn to solve problems in her own way

D. her sisters couldn’t help her mum do the housework

50.This reading mainly tells us_______.

A. the writer had a hard childhood

B. how the writer learned to peel potatoes and cross the monkey bars.

C. it is Mom’s encouragement that helped the writer learn and get over difficulties

D. the writer had an able mother

Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me.
Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby in different seasons.
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy.
“I said ‘That’s not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he’s going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Hug(拥抱)him! And she started to do that. They just want a little hugging and a little love. And it works!” Delores Clemens said.
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. “I’m doing something for them that never has been done for them before.”
In class, with her baby son, is Natasha. She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in looking for a safer life.
“Did you go to high school?”
“Yes.”
“Did you graduate?”
“No, I didn’t. I was in my last year and then, I got pregnant(怀孕)and I got lazy.”
“You look like you are willing to accept responsibility(责任)for that.”
“Yes, I am, and I would like to finish.”
Some teenage mothers wish they themselves could be children again. 18-year-old Placida knows that feeling. “Because you have to get up every two hours in the middle of the night, and you can’t go out and say ‘I am going to buy this for myself.’ No. I have to buy pampers, clothes and food. So now it’s two. So it’s very hard.” Placida said.
【小题1】What did Natasha want to finish high school for?

Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.

The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me.

Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby in different seasons.

She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy.

“I said ‘That’s not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he’s going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Hug(拥抱)him! And she started to do that. They just want a little hugging and a little love. And it works!” Delores Clemens said.

Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. “I’m doing something for them that never has been done for them before.”

In class, with her baby son, is Natasha. She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in looking for a safer life.

“Did you go to high school?”

“Yes.”

“Did you graduate?”

“No, I didn’t. I was in my last year and then, I got pregnant(怀孕)and I got lazy.”

“You look like you are willing to accept responsibility(责任)for that.”

“Yes, I am, and I would like to finish.”

Some teenage mothers wish they themselves could be children again. 18-year-old Placida knows that feeling. “Because you have to get up every two hours in the middle of the night, and you can’t go out and say ‘I am going to buy this for myself.’ No. I have to buy pampers, clothes and food. So now it’s two. So it’s very hard.” Placida said.

1.What did Natasha want to finish high school for?

A．To bring her high school life to an end.

B．To accept the responsibility to look after her baby.

C．To stop the chatting with Adam.

D．To end the relationship with her boyfriend.

2.From what Placida said, we know that she thinks _______.

A．looking after a baby needs love

B．having a baby costs more

C．being a mom is hard

D．loving comes from responsibility

3.The passage is mainly about _______.

A．a class where teen parents are looked after

B．a class where parents are teaching their children

C．a class where homeless mothers learn to find a job

D．a class where teens learn mothering and are mothered