Sue looked out of the window. All she saw was an old yellow and green ivy (常春藤) plant. The half-dead plant had few leaves on it because of the autumn winds.
“There are only five now,” said Joanna.
“Five what, dear? What are you counting?”
“The ivy leaves.” answered Joanna. “When the last one goes, I’ll die. I’ve known that for two days. Didn’t the doctor tell you about it?”
“Joanna, don’t say that.”
“I don’t want any soup,” said Joanna, looking out of the window. “Now there are only four.”
“Joanna dear, try to sleep. I must ask Mr. Berman to come up. I want to draw a picture of him.”
Mr. Berman, who was over 60 years old, lived downstairs. He was a painter, too, but he never sold anything, and he drank a lot. Sue told him all about what Joanna was saying.
“She can’t really think that this will happen! The poor woman!” he cried.
Finally there was only one last leaf on the ivy plant. After a few windy days, the leaf was still there.
“Sue,” said Joanna, “I’ve been a bad girl. That last leaf is telling me that it was very wrong of me to want to die. Bring me some soup, dear.”
The next day, the doctor said, “She’s out of danger. But poor Mr. Berman downstairs is dying.”
That afternoon Sue went into Joanna’s bedroom.
“Joanna dear, Mr. Berman died today. And do you know why? One terrible, cold wet night he took a ladder (梯子) and some green and yellow paint and he climbed up, and — oh, look at the last ivy leaf on the wall! Why didn’t it ever move in the wind? Can’t you see? It was Mr. Berman’s last great picture!”
27. What Joes the underlined word “counting” mean?
28. “She can’t really think that
this will happen!”. Here “this” refers to (指代) ________.
A.Joanna wasn’t willing to cat any soup |
B.The doctor said she would die |
C.Joanna counted the leaves of the ivy plant |
D.When the last ivy leaf went, she would die |
29. Why didn’t the last ivy leaf fall after a few windy days?
A.Because it was painted on the wall. | B.Because the leaf was green. |
C.Because the wind wasn’t strong. | D.Because it was tied (系) to the tree. |
30. From the passage we know that ________.
A.Joanna was a bad girl without love from others |
B.Mr. Berman was a very kind, great artist |
C.Sue never let Mr. Bennan know what Joanna said |
D.Mr. Berman s pictures were so terrible that he couldn’t sell them out |