Question

It took place at the Biltmore Hotel. My grandmother, my mother, and I were having lunch after a morning spent shopping. I gladly ordered a Salisbury steak. When brought to the table, it was accompanied by a plate of peas. I do not like peas now. I did not like peas then. I have always hated peas.

“Eat your peas,” my grandmother said.

“Mother,” said my mother in her warning voice. “He doesn't like peas. Leave him alone.”

My grandmother did not reply, but leaned in my direction, looked me in the eye, and spoke out the fateful words that changed my life, “I’ll pay you five dollars if you eat those peas.”

I only knew that five dollars was a huge, nearly unimaginable amount of money, and awful as peas were, only one plate of them stood between me and the possession of that five dollars. I began to force them down my throat.

My mother looked livid (铁青色的). My grandmother had a self-satisfied look and said, “I can do what I want, Ellen, and you can't stop me.” My mother glared at her mother. She glared at me. No one can glare like my mother. If there were a glaring Olympics, she would undoubtedly win the gold medal.

I, of course, kept shoving peas down my throat, and every single pea made me want to throw up, but the magical image of the five dollars floated before me, and I finally swallowed every last one of them. My grandmother handed me the five dollars with satisfaction. My mother continued to glare in silence.

That night, at dinner, my mother served two of my all-time favorite foods, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Along with them came a big, steaming bowl of peas. She offered me some peas, and of course I declined. My mother fixed me with a cold eye as she heaped（堆积) a huge pile of peas onto my plate. Then came the words that were to haunt (萦绕) me for years. “You ate them for money,” she said, “You can eat them for love.”

1.From the passage, we can conclude the mother’s attitude towards the author is         .

A. sympathetic but disappointed    B. annoyed but satisfied

C. sympathetic and scared    D. scared and disappointed

2.The author uses “fateful words” in Paragraph 4 to show that he         .

A. regarded these words as dangerous

B. didn't expect it to be so influential

C. believed in the existence of fate (命运)

D. knew they would change his life

3.The mother looked livid because she thought          .

A. the way her son ate the peas was harmful to his health

B. she had lost face for losing the competition of glaring

C. her son shouldn’t have had peas because of money

D. her mother shouldn’t have been so kind to her son

4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. A powerful mother and a more powerful grandmother.

B. An argument caused by a plate of peas.

C. A choice between money and love.

D. The haunting of a plate of peas.

Answer

1. A

2. B

3. C

4. D

【解析】

本文讲述一次“我”和母亲祖母一起吃中饭，“我”拒绝吃豆子，母亲并未强制，但祖母说只要“我”吃豆子就给我五美元，于是“我”硬是吃下了豆子，使得母亲和祖母之间气氛紧张。之后一天晚饭母亲给了“我”一大碗豆子，“我”仍是拒绝，母亲说：“既然你可以为钱吃掉，你也能为爱吃掉它。”，“我”只能吃下，此后豆子就变成了“我”经常的菜肴。

1.考查推理判断题。根据第六段中的My mother glared at her mother. She glared at me. No one can glare like my mother. If there were a glaring Olympics, she would undoubtedly win the gold medal.她瞪着我，没人像妈妈那样瞪着我，如果有一个比瞪人奥运会，妈妈无疑会赢得金牌，可以推知母亲对作者的做法既同情又失望。故选A。

2.考查推理判断题。根据第四段中的My grandmother did not reply, but leaned in my direction, looked me in the eye, and spoke out the fateful words that changed my life,外婆没回话，她朝我的方向靠过来，看着我的眼睛，说出了那句改变我命运的决定性话语。故选B。

3.考查推理判断题。根据第四段中的I only knew that five dollars was a huge, nearly unimaginable amount of money, and awful as peas were, only one plate of them stood between me and the possession of that five dollars. I began to force them down my throat.My mother looked livid (铁青色的).我只知道五美元是一大笔钱，尽管豌豆很可怕，我还是强忍着把豌豆咽下。但是妈妈对我为了钱而吃不爱吃的豆子的做法感到很生气。故选C。

4.考查主旨大意题。纵观全文，本文介绍了作者与母亲、外婆一起就餐，从而开始吃豌豆的生活。故选D。