A few years ago, my father arranged to send me a mail- order fruitcake at Christmastime. Although I had a good job and owned an apartment in Manhattan, he feared my cupboards and refrigerator might be bare. I had recently moved from California, where my parents still lived in their suburban bungalow of 50 years, the house I grew up in.
He wanted me to have a particular brand of fruitcake. "It reminds me of my mother's," he told me in a phone call. Ordering the fruitcake was his way of trying to take care of me from afar. "It should arrive the first week of December," he said. "As soon as you get it, let me know what you think." The first week of December passed with no sign of his fruitcake. Delayed by holiday mail, I assumed, or a backlog of orders.
The day before my flight to California, the fruitcake still had not arrived. When I arrived at my parents' house, he said, "Did you get the fruitcake?" "No, but I'm sure it'll be there when I go home."
As soon as the word left my lips, I realized that home, for them, was a kind of triggering(触发)word. Because wasn't this home? Wasn't I home now, with my parents greeting me, asking whether I was hungry after the long flight?
January, February, and March came and went with no fruitcake. Though my father continued to ask about it, I never once considered lying and telling him yes, the fruitcake had finally arrived and was delicious. Instead I said, "That cake is traveling earth, and sooner or later it will land."
"That's a good one!" he said,
His sense of humor never wavered, and as time went on he would bring up the journey of his fruitcake now and then.
"I wonder where it is now," he'd say.
"It's taken a detour(绕道)to Pluto(冥王星)."
He liked that one too.
"Do you want me to order another, in case it never comes?"
"That's OK. Dad. I said. "I'll wait for this one. It'll taste even better after touring the universe."
Early last December, nearly a year after my father died from a failing heart, I got a call from a staffer at the front desk of my apartment building.
"You have a package," he said.
24. Why did the author's father purchase a fruitcake for her a few years ago?
A.Because her father missed his own mother so much. |
B.Because her father was concerned about her very much. |
C.Because her father knew she was too busy to buy one herself. |
D.Because her father wanted to share a particular brand of fruitcake with her. |
25. Which word can be used to describe the author's feeling in paragraph 4?
A.Regretful. | B.Shocked. |
C.Unbelievable. | D.Heartbroken. |
26. What can we know about the fruitcake according to the text?
A.It was touring the universe. |
B.It failed to reach the author. |
C.It arrived after the author's father died. |
D.It was sent to her before she left for California. |
27. What is the best title for the text?
A.A Late Call. | B.Dad's Package. |
C.Adventure of a Gift. | D.Grandma's Fruitcake. |