I stood there listening to my father shout at top of his voice. The    1    on his face said that one of us had done something wrong.
“   2   one of you did this? ”
We all stared down at the step. There was child’s handwriting in chalk there. I was very  3  . I hoped no one could see it. Would he guess it was me? I was so scared. When he asked me, I   4   , “Not me, Dad. ”
The others denied (否认) it as well. Of course, we all knew that one of us   5  have done it. But as the   6  and the smallest of the three, I just couldn’t find the courage to tell the  7   .
To find out who had written on the  8  , father gave us each a piece of paper and a pencil. “I want each of you to   9  exactly what you see on the step. ”
I tried my best to write the words  10 . I didn’t want Dad to be able to tell it was me.
He gathered up our pieces of paper and looked at them. “ Since  11 of you will
admit(承认) to have done it, then I will punish you all. ” I stood there and said  12 . The last thing I wanted was for Dad to punish me!
“ I  13 it. ” My sister stepped forward and said she had done something she hadn’t. She was punished for a month.
We didn’t talk   14 that day for many years. Not until we were all older and I knew it was safe to finally tell my dad it was really me. I always felt sorry  15  it. That was the last time I let anyone take the blame for me.

When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I could make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have three-day passes (通行证) posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers.
It was Christmas Eve when I arrived, and a light snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood. There were lights, all colors, and ornaments (装饰物) shining against the green of a pine.
“Where did it come from？” I asked.
“I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn’t have had one just for myself, but when you called--- oh, such a rush! He just brought it in this afternoon…”
The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the Tree Top Krystal Star was in its place. A few green branches reached about a little awkwardly (难看地) at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with pleasant smell of Christmas.
“It’s not like the ones you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn’t know where to look. But I couldn’t be picky.”
“Don’t worry, ” I told her. “It’s perfect.”
It wasn’t, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect.
【小题1】When the writer got home, ________.

In front of my daughter Sindu was a bowl filled with cabbage. She      cabbage. She sat there in silence with tears（眼泪）in her eyes.

“Sindu, darling, why don’t you        a little? Your Mom will shout at me.”

Sindu wiped (擦) her tears with the back of her hand.

“OK, Dad. I’ll eat, just a       .” Then Sindu said: “Dad, if I eat it all, will you give me what I want?”

“Yes, within reason.”

       she began to eat. It took her almost half an hour to finish the    . Then she came up to me and said: “Dad, I want to have my head shaved (剃)！”

“Sindu, why don’t you       something else? If we see you with a clean-shaved head, we will be      ,” I said.

“But, Dad, you       ! Now, you are going back on your words.”

I had to        my promise. Sindu had all her hair cut off. She looked beautiful

On Monday morning, I took her to school. Just as we      , a boy got out of a car, and shouted, “Sindu, please wait for me!”

Guess what? The boy had       hair either.

“Sir, your daughter is       !” A man got out of the car and said, “That boy is my son Harish. He has cancer. He lost his hair        he got ill. Sindu cut hers off, so Harish would feel less       . She’s a special girl.”

I stood for a while, then said “My little girl, you are          me how selfless (无私的) real love is!”

1.A. liked                     B. enjoyed                  C. hated                 D. cooked

2.A. cook                             B. cut                     C. ask                      D. eat

3.A. few                           B. little                     C. moment     D. lot

4.A. Luckily                B. Slowly        C. Easily             D. Happily

5.A. food                             B. homework           C. game                 D. talk

6.A. ask for            B. look for             C. work for             D. pay for

7.A. happy                     B. sad                      C. funny              D. excited

8.A. said                      B. understood       C. promised            D. proved

9.A. make                            B. break                C. change           D. keep

10.A. arrived                  B. met                      C. left                       D. drove

11.A. much                         B. no                           C. thick                  D. short

12.A. great                     B. silly                     C. weak             D. strange

13.A. before              B. and                      C. so                       D. when

14.A. different             B. strong           C. dangerous         D. important

15.A. giving                     B. offering        C. teaching            D. advising

When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I could make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have three-day passes (通行证) posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers.

??? It was Christmas Eve when I arrived, and a light snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood. There were lights, all colors, and ornaments (装饰物) shining against the green of a pine.

??? “Where did it come from？” I asked.

??? “I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn’t have had one just for myself, but when you called--- oh, such a rush! He just brought it in this afternoon…”

??? The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the Tree Top Krystal Star was in its place. A few green branches reached about a little awkwardly (难看地) at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with pleasant smell of Christmas.

??? “It’s not like the ones you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn’t know where to look. But I couldn’t be picky.”

??? “Don’t worry, ” I told her. “It’s perfect.”

It wasn’t, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect.

1. When the writer got home, ________.

A. it was December 23?????????????

B. it was snowing heavily

C. he found a Christmas tree in the living room????????????? ???

D. the Gates boy was cutting a Christmas tree for his mother

2. From the passage, we can conclude（推断） that ________.

A. the writer used to cut very beautiful Christmas trees??? ????????????? ?????????????

B. his mother didn’t like perfect trees????????????? ????????????? ?????????????

C. his mother didn’t want to have a tree???

D. the writer wouldn’t have a tree cut by someone else

3.“All Christmas trees are perfect”, because they can remind you of ________.

A. the wartime????????????? ? B. the green of a pine?????????????

C. the pleasant smell??? D. the sweet home

4. The best title for this passage would be “________”.

A. How to Choose a Christmas Tree

B. How Soldiers Spent Christmas

C. The Perfect Christmas Tree

D. The Christmas Without a Tree