Question

Papa’s jaw dropped when Mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams—not to succeed but to fail. “It’s unbelievable!” he said. “Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!”

“Yes, she has,” said Mama. “But it’s not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team.”

“Wanted off the swimming team?” said Papa. “She never said anything about that to me.”

“Of course she didn’t,” said Mama. “She was afraid you’d blow your top. You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn’t have been much fun.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead. “I’ve been so stupid! I just thought she’d want to be a champion swimmer because she’s so good at it.”

“It’s like anything else, dear,” said Mama. “No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won’t want to do it anymore.”

Papa put his head in his hands.

“She must be really mad at me,” he mumbled. “Maybe I should say sorry to her.”

Sister’s footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents.

“Honey,” said Mama with a smile, “your papa and I have decided that there’s no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don’t want to.”

Sister’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yippee!” she cried.

“And,” added Papa, “there’s no need for any more drills. I’m sure you’ll bring your grades back up all by yourself.”

Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. “I’m going to go play cards with Lizzy!” she said. “See you later!”

From the kitchen window, Mama and Papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy’s house.

“It’s good to see her happy again,” said Mama.

“It sure is,” Papa agreed. “As for the swimming team, there’s always next year.”

“If?” Mama prompted him.

“Oh, right,” said Papa. “If she wants to.”

Mama smiled. “At least you’re learning, dear,” she said. She kissed him.

“Well, you know what they say,” Papa said. “Better late than never.”

1.The underlined expression “blow your top” probably means ________.

A. change your opinionB. become very excited

C. get very angryD. fall down with fear

2.Mama insisted that the child should do ________.

A. what she was willing toB. what she felt easy to

C. what she was able toD. what she felt right to

3.Which of the following words best describes Papa?

A. Cruel but reasonable.B. Crazy but confident.

C. Stubborn but honest.D. Ambitious but considerate.

4.Which might be the proper title for the passage?

A. Easier Said Than DoneB. Health Is Better Than Wealth

C. Better Late Than NeverD. Something Is Better Than Nothing

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文介绍一位父亲对女儿要求太高，导致女儿想离开游泳队，不过，在父亲知道了这件事之后，勇敢地承认了自己的过错。

1. 词义猜测题。根据下一句You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt?（你让她获得上大学的奖学金以及赢得奥运金牌。你能想象得到她有多大的压力吗？）可判断，女儿不敢直接说的原因是怕爸爸生气。故C正确。

2.，母亲认为孩子应该做她自己愿意做的事情，故选A项。

3. 推理判断题。通读全文可知，父亲对孩子充满了较高的期望，可以说是ambitious(抱负远大)，但当他知道女儿因此而不快乐时，能勇敢地承认自己的过错，可以说是considerate(善解人意)，故答案选D项。

4.，故C项作为标题能较好地概括全文。

考点 ：故事类阅读。