When I was seven years old I saw my mother making doll clothes. She told me that they were for the poor people, so I never gave it another thought. Come Christmas morning when I opened my present, there were those beautiful doll clothes. My mother just smiled and said, “They are for the poor people. We’re poor.”
When I was nine, my greatest desire in life was to own a pogo stick(弹簧高跷). But my mother told me that we simply couldn’t afford one. A few days before Christmas, my parents and I went shopping. While my mother and I were paying the money, my dad came with a long box. I remember wondering at that very moment if it was a pogo stick in that box. After we arrived back at home my dad put the box in the barn(谷仓). While my parents were away, I snuck out to the barn to find the box. I was so excited and I knew that as soon as I opened that magical box my bright, shiny pogo stick would appear. No such luck! Inside the box was a silly old broom(扫帚). And so Christmas morning was disappointing. After all the wrapping paper was cleaned up, my dad came back from the barn with a beautiful pogo stick. I couldn’t believe it, how they were able to get the money for it and how they tricked me with the broom. My parents probably laugh quietly when they played the trick on me and I wonder if they were watching me from the window as I went out to the barn secretly for my Christmas present.
Although we didn’t have much money, my parents gave me the most important gift of all, much love. We had love and we had joy.
1. For whom does the author think her mother made doll clothes at first? (no more than 5 words)2. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 2 mean? (no more than 5 words)
3. Why did the author feel disappointed when he found a broom in the box? (no more than 10 words)
4. Why did the author’s parents put a broom in the box? (no more than 15 words)
5. What are the best present do you want to give your mother or father? Please give your reasons. (no more than 20 words)
My family had moved into a new house with big back yard. For some time, my older brother and I had been expecting a family pet. Finally, we managed to persuade our parents that the time had come for keeping one.
Though my brother and I were of like minds about the goal of having a family member, what exactly it meant to each of us was entirely different. I was excited and happy when my parents brought home the dog, Snoopy. Despite the fun of playing with him，I knew it was really more my brother’s pet than mine. I really, really wanted a cat! I tried to show my joy for getting a pet while trying to hide my disappointment that he wasn’t a cat. My parents must have known how I was feeling because they suggested that I could make a wish about it.
Running to my bedroom, I made a wish sincerely that I would have a cat. Not more than a minute or two passed when I heard a faint scratching sound(轻微的抓挠声) coming from the front door. Curious, I stood up, approaching the open front door. There, sitting calmly before me was a large, white cat.
I was absolutely amazed! I went close to the white cat, and it began walking towards me. I gathered his mass into my arms and then I went into the back yard where my parents and brother were playing with Snoopy. So, Snowball joined our household that day, too.
Although my parents always denied having anything to do with Snowball's arrival, I guessed they might have. However, even if they did somehow arrange for him to appear at the front door at the very moment when I was making a wish for a cat, it would not reduce the miracle of a cat doing in my life.
1. What were the author's parents persuaded to do? (no more than 10 words)2. Why did the author feel disappointed? (no more than 10 words)
3. What happened to the author after her wish? (no more than 10 words)
4. How can we understand the underlined part in Paragraph 4? (no more than 10 words)
5. What do you think of the author's parents? And why? (no more than 20 words)
