阅读理解

　　Finally Keith bought a plastic duck. He knew as he bought it that it was much too young a present for a child of ten, but he bought it feeling that somehow it might be the right thing in the situation.

　　He got back to the flat in Ealing early in the afternoon, carrying the duck in a paper bag. He had thought of stopping at the store in Ealing Broadway and discussing the situation across the counter with Katie, but he had given up the idea. Katie would want to come home early in order to be at home when Janice got back from school, and it did not seem quite fair to him to throw all the dirty work on Katie. He felt that he would rather tell Janice himself before Katie got home; enough would fall upon her later anyway.

　　He was sitting in his chair before the fire when Janice came back from school. He called, “That you, Jan? Take off your coat and come in here. I've got something to tell you.”

　　She came in, and he sat up in his chair. “What do you want to tell me?”she asked.

　　“You know, Jan, ”he said, “the people in the boats sometimes get drowned when the storm sinks them.”

　　She stared at him, and he knew that realization was already with her. “Has that happened to my mummy and daddy?”she asked.

　　“I'm afraid it has, Jan,”he said gently.

　　He had thought that she would burst into tears, but that did not happen. She came up on his knee and he held her close, and so they sat in silence for ten minutes.

1．Keith bought that particular present for Janice because ________.

[　　]

A．she liked babyish presents although she was ten already

B．once he had given it to her, she wouldn't listen to the news

C．he didn't really look at anything else

D．he thought it would best help to soften the blow of the news

2．What does the passage tell us about Katie?

[　　]

A．She was a shop assistant in Ealing Broadway.

B．She wouldn't want to tell Janice the facts.

C．She wouldn't know how to break news to Janice.

D．She depended on Keith to do all the dirty work.

3．Janice didn't cry. The reason for this was probably that ________.

[　　]

A．she didn't like her parents very much

B．she didn't realize that her parents were dead

C．she was far too interested in the plastic duck

D．she had already been away from her parents for quite some time

4．“Dirty work”refers to ________.

[　　]

A．having to tell Janice the bad news

B．returning the duck to the store

C．buying a better present for Janice

D．washing and cleaning

5．When Keith mentioned the people getting drowned, Janice ________.

[　　]

A．wasn't sure of the meaning of “drowned”

B．came to know that her parents had died

C．didn't understand at once what he meant

D．didn't believe what he said was true

I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by themselves. One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died “full of years”, as the Bible would say .Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence(吊唁)calls on the two families on the same afternoon.
At the first home, the son of the deceased woman said to me, ”If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today. It’s my fault that she died. ”At the second home, the son of the other deceased woman said, “If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today .That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate ,was more than she could take．It’s my fault that she’s dead.”
You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out bad, they believe that the opposite course------keeping mother at home, putting off the operation----would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?
There seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.
The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.
A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needｓ,and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and summons the rest of the world to his tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him，and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we don not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.
【小题1】The author had to conduct the two women’s funerals probably because_______.

I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by themselves. One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died “full of years”, as the Bible would say .Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence(吊唁)calls on the two families on the same afternoon.

At the first home, the son of the deceased woman said to me, ”If only I had sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today. It’s my fault that she died. ”At the second home, the son of the other deceased woman said, “If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today .That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate ,was more than she could take．It’s my fault that she’s dead.”

You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out bad, they believe that the opposite course------keeping mother at home, putting off the operation----would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?

There seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.

The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.

A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needｓ,and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and summons the rest of the world to his tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him，and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we don not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.

1.The author had to conduct the two women’s funerals probably because_______.

A．he was minister of the local church

B．he wanted to comfort the two families

C．he was an official of the community

D．he had great pity for the deceased

2.People feel guilty for the death of their loved ones because________.

A．they can’t find a better way of express their sorrow

B．they have neglected the natural course of events

C．they believe that they were the reason

D．the don’t know things often turn in the opposite direction

3.According to the main passage, the underlined part in Paragraph 4 probably means that________.

A．everything in the world is predetermined

B．there’s an explanation for everything in the world

C．the world can be interpreted in different ways

D．we have to be sensible in order to understand the world

4.What’s the main idea of the message?

A .Life and death is an unsolved mystery.

B. Never feel guilty all the time because not every disaster is our fault.

C Every story should have a happy ending.

D. In general, the survivors will feel guilty about the people who passed away.

I had an experience some years ago, which taught me something about the ways in which people make a bad situation worse by blaming themselves. One January, I had to hold two funerals on successive days for two elderly women in my community. Both had died “full of years”, as the Bible would say. Their homes happened to be near each other, so I paid condolence(吊唁) calls on the two families on the same afternoon.

At the first home, the son of the deceased(已故的) woman said to me, “If only I sent my mother to Florida and gotten her out of this cold and snow, she would be alive today It’s my fault that she died.” At the second home, the son of the other deceased woman said, “If only I hadn’t insisted on my mother’s going to Florida, she would be alive today. That long airplane ride, the sudden change of climate, was more than she could take. It’s my fault that she’s dead.”

You see that any time there is a death, the survivors will feel guilty. Because the course of action they took turned out bad, they believe that the opposite course ---keeping Mother at home, putting off the operation--- would have turned out better. After all, how could it have turned out any worse?

There seem to be two elements involved in our willingness to feel guilty. The first is our pressing need to believe that the world makes sense, that there is a cause for every effect and a reason for everything that happens. That leads us to find patterns and connections both where they really exist and where they exist only in our minds.

The second element is the view that we are the cause of what happens, especially the bad things that happen. It seems to be a short step from believing that every event has a cause to believing that every disaster is our fault. The roots of this feeling may lie in our childhood.

A baby comes to think that the world exists to meet his needs, and that he makes everything happen in it. He wakes up in the morning and summons(召唤) the rest of the world to his tasks. He cries, and someone comes to attend to him. When he is hungry, people feed him, and when he is wet, people change him. Very often, we do not completely outgrow that childish view that our wishes cause things to happen.

50. What is said about the two deceased elderly women?

A. They weren’t used to the cold and the snow.

B. They died of exhaustion after the long plane ride.

C. They lived out a natural life.

D. They died due to lack of care by family members.

51. The author had to hold the two women's funerals probably because____.

A. he was minister of the local church

B. he was an official from the community

C. they lived in harmony in the same community

D. he wanted to comfort the two families

52. People feel guilty for the death of their loved ones because ____.

A. they couldn't find a better way to express their sorrow.

B. they believed that they were responsible

C. they had neglected the natural course of events

D. they didn't know things often turn in the opposite direction

53. Which of the following is True according to the writer?

   A. People should feel guilty when everything turned out wrong.

   B. People’s childhood view makes them believe that their wishes cause things to happen.

   C. Every effect has its cause.

   D. Babies believe that they make things turn out the opposite.

54. What's the idea of the message?

　 A. Life and death is an unsolved mystery

　 B. Every story should have a happy ending

　 C. Never feel guilty all the time because not every disaster is our fault

　 D. In general, the survivors will feel guilty about the people who passed away