1 . A few years ago, my father arranged to send me a mail-order fruitcake at Christmas time. Although I had a good job and apartment in Manhattan, he feared my cupboards might be bare. I had recently moved from California, where my parents still lived in their suburban bungalow (平房) of 50 years, the house I grew up in.

He wanted me to have a particular brand of fruitcake. A fruitcake, in his mind, was a perfect Christmas gift. Made in Texas, it was famous among fruitcake lovers — or at least, among people who gave fruitcake to those who were assumed to love them.

I knew there would be plenty to eat in California. For each Christmas, in addition to my mother’s cookies, fudge (乳脂软糖), and other treats, my father always gave my sister and me each a large bag of assorted foods he called, rather plainly, the “Food Bag”. One year, I secretly listed the contents of my Food Bag in a notebook for the day when I might not get a Food Bag for Christmas. That year, my bag contained a can of mixed nuts, a box of whole-wheat crackers, a Belgian chocolate bar, some English breakfast tea ₉and many other items.

I was 44 when my father gave me that Food Bag, and he was 72.

That day before my flight to California, the fruitcake still hadn’t arrived. When my father called to wish me a safe trip and he said “Did you receive it?”

“Not yet,” I said. “Maybe it will be there today.” He regretted deeply about the lost fruitcake.

He remained hopefully the fruitcake would come by New Year’s Eve. But January, February and March came and went with no fruitcake. Though my father continued to ask about it. I never considered lying. Instead, I would say, “That cake is orbiting earth and sooner or later will land.”

As time went by, he would bring up the journey of his fruitcake. “I wonder where it is now.” he’d say.       

Early last December, nearly a year after my father died, I got a call from a staffer of my apartment building, “You have a package.”

I went downstairs to pick it up. The brown box had a FedEx label with a return address in Texas.

1. What does the underlined word “bare” probably mean in Paragraph 1?

A．Plain.	B．Short.
C．Empty.	D．Abundant.

2. What would the author receive for each Christmas?

A．Treats from his parents.	B．A big Christmas dinner.
C．A food bag from his parents.	D．A Special fruitcake.

3. Where did the fruitcake finally end up?

A．In Texas.	B．At Lost and Found.
C．In California.	D．In Manhattan.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Dad’s Mystery Package	B．Disturbing Delivery Service
C．My Favorite Food	D．Memorable Food Bags