| [1] I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability-to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this… [2] When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a marvellous vacation trip-to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make wonderful plans: the Coloseum①, the Michelangelo② David, the gondolas③ in Venice, etc. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting. [3] After months of eager expectation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The airhostess comes in and says, “Welcome to the Netherlands.” [4] “The Netherlands?!” you say. “What do you mean, the Netherlands?? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” [5] But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in the Netherlands and there you must stay. [6] The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, awful, dirty place, full of diseases. It’s just a different place. [7] So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. [8] It’s just a place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that the Netherlands④ …and the Netherlands has tulips⑤. The Netherlands even has Rembrandts⑥. [9] But everyone you coming and going from Italy and they’re all boasting about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned. [10] And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss. [11] But if you spend your life regretting the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about the Netherlands. | ① ② (1475~1564) Italian artist and architect ③  ④  ⑤  ⑥(1606~1669) Dutch painter |
1. The author compares her motherhood to ________.
| A．her involvement in traveling abroad |
| B．her experience with an unfamiliar task |
| C．her dream of enjoying beautiful scenery |
| D．her journey to an unplanned destination |
| A．the Netherlands has many scenic spots to visit and enjoy |
| B．the Netherlands is a country with many paintings to appreciate |
| C．a mother of a disabled child can also feel the bright side of her life |
| D．a mother who has traveled a lot can receive a special treat from her child |
| A．proud | B．anxious | C．sociable | D．sensible |
| A．beyond her endurance | B．more a gift than a loss |
| C．worthy of others’ sympathy | D．preferable to going to Italy |
注意：开头部分已给出，不计入总词数。
爱丁堡：苏格兰的首府，政治和文化中心。
人口：133万。
面积：260平方公里 (square kilometers)。
地理位置：苏格兰 (Scotland) 的东南部。
交通：机场位于市中心，公共交通十分便利。
天气：气候温和 (mild climate)。
旅游：最受欢迎的旅游城市；古老建筑众多；每年吸引200多万名游客，是理想的度假胜地。
词数：110左右。
Dear Li Hua,
How are things with you? Today I’m writing to tell you something about Edinburgh which you asked about in the last e-mail.
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