I opened my new patient's chart and headed for her room. My son, Eric, had just brought home a disappointing report card, and my daughter, Shannon, and I had argued again about her getting a driver's license. For the next eight hours I wanted to throw myself into helping people who I knew had much more to worry about than I did. Rebekah, mother of three lovely little girls, was only 32, admitted for chemotherapy after breast-cancer surgery, When I gave her an injection, Rebekah shut her eyes tightly and murmured a prayer until it was over. Then she smiled and squeezed my hand. “Before you go, could you get my Bible from the table?" I handed her the worn book. "Do you have a favorite Bible verse?" she asked. "Jesus wept. John 11: 35." "Such a sad one," she said. "Why?""It makes me feel closer to Jesus, knowing he also experienced human sorrow." Rebekah nodded thoughtfully and started flipping through her Bible as I shut the door quietly behind me.

During the following months, her hospital stays became frequent and she worried about her children. One day when I entered her room, I found her talking into a tape recorder. She picked up a notebook and held it out to me. "I'm making a tape for my daughters, " she said. I read the list on her pad: starting school, confirmation, turning 16, first date, graduation. While I worried how to help her deal with death, she was planning for her children's future. She usually waited until the early hours of the morning to record the tapes so she could be free from interruptions. She filled them with family stories and advice，trying to cram a lifetime of love into a few precious hours. Finally, every item in her notes had been checked off and she entrusted the tapes to her husband.

I often wondered what I would say in her place. My kids joked that I was like an FBI agent, with my constant questions about where they’d been and who they’d been with. Where, I thought, are my words of encouragement and love?

It was three o'clock one afternoon when I got an urgent call from the hospital. Rebekah wanted me to come immediately with a blank tape. She was breathing hard when I entered her room. I slipped the tape into the recorder and held the microphone to her lips. "Ruthie, Hannah, Molly, this is the most important tape." She held my hand and closed her eyes. "Someday your daddy will bring home a new mommy. Please make her feel special. Show her how to take care of you. Ruthie, honey, help her get your Brownie uniform ready each Tuesday. Hannah, tell her you don't want meat sauce on your spaghetti. Molly, don't get mad if there's no apple juice. Drink something else. It's okay to be sad, sweeties. Jesus cried too. He knows about sadness and will help you to be happy again. Remember, I'll always love you. I shut off the recorder and Rebekah sighed deeply. "Thank you, Nan, "You'll give this one to them, won't you?" she murmured as she slid into sleep.

A time would come when the tape would be played for Rebekah's children, but right then, after I smoothed Rebekah's blanket, I got in my car and hurried home. I thought of how my Shannon also liked her sauce on the side and suddenly that quirk, which had annoyed me so many times, seemed to make her so much more precious. That night the kids didn't go out; they sat with me long after the spaghetti sauce had dried onto the dishes. And we talked, without interrogations, without complaints，late into the night.

1.From the first paragraph we can learn that ____________ .

A. Nan was in a bad state and wept a lot in her daily life.

B. Nan was not on good terms with her children.

C. Nan was worried about how to help Rebeka deal with her death.

D. Nan laid more stress on attending on her patients than her children.

2.Which of the following scenes was most likely to be seen at Nan’s home before she met Rebekah?

A. The family sat down in a circle and shared an interesting story.

B. After dinner, the children either went out or shut themselves up in their rooms.

C. The son was the headache of the parents while the daughter their comfort.

D. When Eric did poorly at school, the parents comforted him and cheered him up.

3.Which was the most vital message Rebekah left to her children?

A. Bringing home satisfying school report cards 

B. Landing a job after graduation

C. Growing up healthily and happily          

D. Accepting their step-mother into their lives.

4.The writer learnt from Rebekah that a parent’s real concern should be_______.           .

A. protecting the children from the dangers they may be trapped in.

B. having encouraging and loving talks with children.

C. making tape records to guide the children in their future lives.

D. tolerating the children’s annoying quirks.

A woman renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation．She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself．

“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”

“Of course I have a job,” said Emily．“I’m a mother.”

“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation… ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.

       One day I found myself in the same situation．The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title．“What is your occupation?” she asked．

       The words simply popped out．“I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”

       The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.

       I repeated the title slowly, and then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

       “Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”

       Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t）, in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out)．Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it)．But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”

       There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out．

       As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (依托) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7, and 3.

       Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern．

       I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”

       Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.

What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?

       A．The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was.

       B．The recorder was impatient and rude.

       C．The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced.

       D．Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society.

How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation?

       A．curious        B．indifferent    C．puzzled             D．interested

How did the author feel when describing her job to the clerk?

     A．calm     B．panic-stricken      C．confident      D．cool

Why did the woman clerk show more respect for the author?

       A．Because the author cared little about rewards.

       B．Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab.

       C．Because she thought the author did admirable work.

       D．Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of.

What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

       A．To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it.

       B．To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect.

       C．To show that the author had a grander job than Emily.

       D．To show that being a mother is hard and boring work．                                   

此题要求改正所给短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一作出判断：如无错误，在该行右边横线上画一个勾（√）；如有错误（每行只有一个错误），则按下列情况改正：
该行多一个词：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉，在该行右边横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。
该行缺一个词：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），在该行右边横线上写出该词。
该行错一个词：在错的词下划一横线，在该行右边横线上写出改正后的词。
注意：原行没有错的不要改。
Eddie liked music very much. After leaving in                     【小题1】__________
a medical college he went to work in hospital.                     【小题2】_________
There he found that a lot of patient were happier                   【小题3】_________
and caused little trouble if pleasant music was                     【小题4】__________
playing to them. So, when he began to work in his                  【小题5】__________
office he had a recorder playing beautiful music
to keep his patients happy. A morning soon after                    【小题6】 __________
the recorder has been played, a woman, who was                   【小题7】_________
sitting in the crowded waiting room, she complained,                 【小题8】__________
“We’re all waiting here to see the doctor                          【小题9】_________
while he just playing the violin in his office                        【小题10】_________
instead of doing his medical work.”

Motherhood Is a Career to Respect

A woman renewing her driver’s license at the Country Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”

“Of course I have a job,” said Emily, “I ’m a mother.”

“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation…‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.

One day I found myself in the same situation. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title. “What is your occupation?” she asked.

The words simply popped out. “I’m a Research Associate(研究员) in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”

The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in mid-air.

I repeated the title slowly, then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement(声明) was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

“Might I ask,” said the clerk with interest, “just what you do in your field?”

Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t), in the laboratory and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up(激励) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants—ages 13,7, and 3.

Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6-month-old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.

I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable(不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother”.

Motherhood… What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.

1.How did the female clerk feel at first when the writer told her occupation?

A．Cold-hearted.                          B．Open-minded.

C．Puzzled.                              D．Interested.

2.How many children does the writer have?

A．3                B．4                C．7                D．13

3.Why did the woman clerk show more respect to the writer?

A．Because she thought the writer did admirable work.

B．Because the writer cared little about rewards.

C．Because the writer did something that she had little knowledge of.

D．Because she admired the writer’s research work.

4.What is the point of the article?

A．To show that how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it.

B．To show that the writer had a grander job than Emily.

C．To argue that motherhood is a worthy career.

D．To show that being a mother is hard and boring work.

－Why not follow the recorder and practice your spoken English?

－______