Question

A mother’s love

I’M a New York City firefighter. Every day, I see terror — sometimes even death. But the day I found Scarlett was different. That day I saw life. And love.

We were responding to a call about a burning garage. Outside, I heard the sound of cats crying. I couldn’t stop — I would have to look for the cats after the fire was put out.

It took a long time to finally bring the big fire under control, but we did it. No one inside was hurt.

At that point I was free to investigate the cat noises. There was still a lot of smoke and heat coming from the building. I followed the meowing(猫叫) to a spot on the sidewalk near the front of the garage. There, crying and huddled(挤作一团) together, were five terrified kittens. They must have been inside the building, as their fur was badly singed(烫烧).

I left the five kittens in a box on a neighbor’s porch(门廊).

I wanted to find the mother. It was obvious that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all of her babies, one by one — unbelievable.

We finally found her. She was badly burnt: her eyes were blistered (起水泡), her paws(爪子) were blackened, and her fur was singed all over. You could even see her reddened skin beneath the burned fur. She could barely move. I picked her up, and she relaxed in my arms as much as her pain would allow. Sensing her trust, I shed a tear. I was determined to save this brave little cat and her family.

The vet told me they would observe the kittens and their mother overnight, but they weren’t optimistic about the mother’s changes.

About a week later, I found out she was going to live. One of the technicians suggested we name her Scarlett, because of her reddened skin.

Knowing what Scarlett endured(忍受) for her kittens, it melted my heart to see her reunited with them. She touched each of them again, nose to nose, to make sure they were all safe. She had risked her life five separate times — and it had paid off. All of her babies had survived.

As a firefighter, I see heroism(英雄事迹) every day. But what Scarlett showed me that day was the kind of bravery that can only come from a mother’s love.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the article?

A. The author went to rescue the cats as soon as he heard them crying.

B. The firefighters put out the big fire quickly and no one was hurt.

C. The mother cat moved all of her five babies to a safer place despite the fire.

D. The author didn’t find the cats until the smoke and heat were gone.

2.Why was the author determined to save the cats?

A. He refused to watch someone else die in his work.

B. He was impressed by the mother’s strong love and courage.

C. The cat’s story had made many people concerned.

D. It had taken much time and effort for him to save them.

3.Which best describes the author’s tone in the article?

A. Objective.B. Admiring.C. Excited.D. Optimistic.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.B

【解析】

试题分析：作者是一个消防员，他讲述了一次在救火中遇到的感人的故事。一只猫妈妈在大火中冒着生命危险救了她的5个孩子，她自己却身负重伤。作者非常感动，尽全力救活了猫妈妈和小猫咪。

1. 细节理解题。根据第六段It was obvious that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all of her babies, one by one — unbelievable.可知，猫妈妈在火中救了5个猫宝宝。故选C。

2. 推理判断题。根据六七段的描述可知，作者被猫妈妈对子女强烈的爱以及勇气所感动，决定一定要救她，故选B。

3. 观点态度题。纵观全文，尤其是最后一段的描述，作者被这只猫的母爱和勇气深深打动，故描述文章的口吻应该是敬佩的。

【名师点拨】

作者态度及写作意图推断

每一篇文章都会包含作者的某种观点和态度，只不过有的直截了当，有的含而不露，有的通过所用词语的褒贬来体现。此类题可细分为作者态度题(表明作者的好恶)和作者观点题(表明作者对某事物的看法)。准确把握作者的情感和态度，需要注意以下几点：

1.作者对某一事物的看法，要么支持，要么反对，带中立色彩的词最不可能是正确答案。

2.漠不关心类词语往往不对，既然写文章就不会不关心。

3.不要把自己的态度揉入其中，也要区分作者的态度和作者引用的别人的态度。

4.当作者的态度没有明确提出时，要学会根据作者使用词语的褒贬性来判断。

5.作者的观点一般与文章的主旨相关联。

6.绝对化或语气过于强烈的选项常常是错误的，如:strong, complete, entire等。

考点：记叙文阅读。