It was December 22．The bitter wind swept the countless snowflakes（雪花） across my front yard．My dad was there sweeping the  1 ．His nose was red as a cherry．With every breath he took, a white puff escaped  2  the air．

       Inside, my mother was _3_the last of the boxes． 4  I entered the front door, the thought that after today I wouldn’t enter through that  5 ever again burned a hole in my stomach．I picked up my dog and sat Indian style with him in my lap on the  6 , wooden floor．I had no 7  but to sit on the floor, for there was no longer any furniture in my house．I sat there in a daze （恍惚）, just 8 ．There was no reason for my parents to make me, a once 9 12-year-old kid, 10．I had two best friends right across the street; I did well in school and I always kept my room clean． 11 , this was “my house”．By no means did I want a couple of  12 living here．These recurring （重复） thoughts  13  around in my mind and I couldn’t find an answer．

       Out of the front window I could see the orange top of a truck pulling in along the cleaned driveway and I knew it was the other U-Haul．At once their men came  14  in through the back door like World War Ⅲ was starting．

       I watched  15  as the men, my mother and my dad loaded the truck．My dog even winced （畏缩） as he stared out of the window．I wondered if he was  16  , too, or if he just wished to play outside in the snow．

       My mum came in, looking solemn （凝重）．She turned  17  the overhead light, put the  18  in my arms and took me out of the back door．A totally 19  feeling filled my heart．For the first time in my life, I wondered what  20  would be like to me tomorrow．

1．A．stairs                    B．garden                 C．sidewalk              D．driveway

2．A．into                      B．down                  C．on                      D．over

3．A．piling                    B．packing               C．collecting            D．locking

4．A．Though                 B．Since                  C．As                      D．While

5．A．yard                     B．door                    C．box                     D．flat

6．A．cold                      B．wet                     C．broken                D．dirty

7．A．choice                  B．way                    C．solution               D．means

8．A．dreaming               B．thinking               C．sleeping               D．laughing

9．A．intelligent              B．clever                  C．happy                 D．honest

10．A．remain                B．cry                     C．suffer                 D．move

11．A．However             B．Besides                C．Therefore            D．Yet

12．A．neighbors            B．strangers             C．visitors                D．elders

13．A．came                  B．traveled               C．danced                D．flowed

14．A．running               B．flying                  C．driving                D．riding

15．A．curiously             B．happily                C．interestingly         D．helplessly

16．A．afraid                  B．angry                  C．sad                     D．lonely

17．A．down                  B．off                      C．on                      D．up

18．A．box                     B．dog                     C．bag                     D．hand

19．A．excited                B．eager                   C．empty                 D．unknown

20．A．weather             B．school           C．home             D．world

We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn’t even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down.  While I watched, mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold．She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop (拖把). She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up; Mum nodded and said, “Very dirty floors.”

    “Yes. I’m glad they’ve finally decided to clean them,” the nurse answered．She looked at Mum strangely and said, “But aren’t you working late?”

    Mum just pushed harder, each swipe (拖) of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.

    After a long time Mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She quickly put the mop back and took my hand．As we turned to go out of the door, Mum nodded politely to the nurse and said, “Thank you.”

　　 Outside, Mum told me: “Dagmar is fine. No fever.”

　　 “You saw her, Mum?”

　　 “Of course. I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It’s a fine hospital. But such floors! A mop is no good．You need a brush.”

1. When she took a mop from the small room what Mum really wanted to do was ________.

A．to clean the floor

B．to please the nurse

C．to see a patient

D．to surprise the story- teller

2. When the nurse talked to Mum she thought Mum was a ________.

A．nurse

B．visitor

C．patient

D．cleaner

3. After reading the story what can we infer about the hospital?

A．It is a children’s hospital.

B．It has strict rules about visiting hours.

C．The nurses and doctors there don’t work hard.

D．A lot of patients come to this hospital every day.

4. Why did Mother go to see Dagmar in the hospital?

A．To give her some message about Dad.

B．To make sure her room was clean.

C．To check that she was still there.

D．To find out how she was.

5. Which of the following words best describes Mum?

A．polite

B．patient

C．changeable

D．clever

We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn’t even lift her eyes from the book．Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down．While I watched mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold．She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop ．She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, “Very dirty floor．”

    “Yes．I’m glad they’ve finally decided to clean them,” the nurse answered．She looked at Mum strangely and said, “But aren’t you working late?”

    Mum just pushed harder, each swipe of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall．I watched until she was out of sight, and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book．

    After a long time Mum came back．Her eyes were shining, She quickly put the mop back and took my hand．As we turned to go out of the door．Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, “Thank you．”

    Outside, Mum told me, “Dagmar is fine．No fever．”

    “You saw her, Mum?”

    “Of course．I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow．Dad  will stop worrying as well．It’s a fine hospital．But such floors! A mop is no good．You need a brush．”

1．When she took a mop from the small room what Mum really wanted to do was ___．

     A．to clean the floor                         B．to please the nurse

     C．to see a patient                       D．to surprise the nurse

2．When the nurse talked to Mum she thought Mum was a ____．

     A．nurse              B．visitor           C．patient           D．cleaner

3．After reading the story what can we infer about the hospital?

       A．It is a children’s hospital．

       B．It has strict rules about visiting hours．

       C．The conditions there can’t be very good．

       D．The nurses and doctors there don’t work hard．

4．From the text we know that Dagmar is most likely ___．

       A．the story teller’s sister                 B．Mum’s friend

       C．the story teller’s classmate             D．Dad’s boss

I get off the bus and walk a few blocks. I stop when I get to a garage-like place and walk to the metal door with brown paint. I turn the knob(把手)and walk in. A thousand eyes look at me as I take my place at the end of the long line. When I finally get up to the window, I hand the officer my ID. “I’m here to visit Mr C. Yes, I’m his daughter.”

I learn that line by heart. The officer hands me a piece of paper with my name as the visitor and my father’s as the prisoner. It tells me which floor to go to. As I get on the elevator, a rush of excitement runs through me. Then I go to the eighth floor, look around and see the faces I see here every Sunday and Thursday.

There he is. I stand on tiptoe(脚尖)to get a better view since I can hardly see him. He doesn’t look like my father. He’s got a beard now and he looks a lot weaker. He’s the dad that I see through a window. My dad who is separated from the world. The only place he now knows is his room in the prison. When I look deep into his eyes, I see emptiness and pain.

It’s difficult to hear him through the thick glass and over everyone else who is trying to talk. We try to carry on a normal conversation about simple things including my day and what I’m doing in school, but we mostly talk about how we can’t wait until he gets out. After an hour my time is up. We say our good-byes and love-yous.

I get on the bus to go home. My favorite place is where my father is—prison. I know, how can prison be anyone’s favorite place? But it is because my father is there. It’ll no longer be my favorite place once he gets out, though—home will be.

1.The author goes to the prison_________.

A．to talk with the officer                    B．to visit her father

C．to get a piece of paper from the officer       D．to pay a visit to her favorite place

2.It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s father is ____________.

A．working there for a long time              B．just in prison for a short while

C．still healthy and strong in prison            D．seldom keeping in touch with people outside

3.What does the author mainly talk of with her father?

A．Her behavior in school.                   B．Simple things in everyday life.

C．Difficulty and trouble in her life.            D．The feeling of expecting him home.

4.What can we know from the passage?

A．The author’s father will never go home.     B．The author meets her father once a week.

C．The author’s favorite place will change.     D．The author hates her father.