When I was ten, my sisters and I were amazed at our neighbor’s Christmas tree. We returned home from their house and decided that we must have one of our own. In our house we never had enough money for a Christmas tree.
In fact, we insisted so much that my father had no choice but to agree. “Yes!” he finally said.“This year we will have a Christmas tree.” Our mouths dropped open at the thought of having our own tree. Then Dad said,“I’ll do it myself.”
We followed him around the house as he gathered up the materials he would need, We all sat close to him, carefully watching everything he did. He passed the thread around the first nail on the corner of a box, then back down to the second nail on the box, and up again to the nail, until right there before our eyes a green Christmas tree began to take shape. He carefully did the same with all of the 50 nails in the box and when he had finished, he said,“Now you can decorate it.”
I don’t remember where the decorations came from, but they were red and small and to us they just looked so beautiful and perfect for our tree. When we finished decorating it, we proudly invited all our friends over to see our Christmas tree. We were so happy, not only because it looked so pretty, but because my father had made it himself. It truly was the most beautiful Christmas tree we had ever seen.
Years later, things got better and Dad was able to buy a proper Christmas tree which we would happily decorate. However, my sisters and I will never forget the night when we got our first Christmas tree.
【小題1】What do we know about the writer?

Arthur sat at the desk in his room, pencil in hand. He had to write a story for his English class by Friday. “I don’t know what to write about,” he complained to his dog Toby, who was asleep at his feet. Arthur was talkative when speaking to his friends, yet he had trouble finding words when he had to write.
By bedtime Arthur had drawn a picture of Toby smiling. He had drawn a tree with its branches blowing in the strong wind. He had also written a note asking his friend Lee to go to the movies on Saturday. But he had not written a single word of his story.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Solomon, Arthur’s English teacher, asked the class to turn in the first draft of their stories. His heart sinking, Arthur turned in the only work he had—the page with his name, the drawings and the note.
Arthur wasn’t surprised when Mrs. Solomon asked him to stay after class the next day. But he was surprised by what she said to him. “This is an attractive story, Arthur. The dog, the movie, the tree in the wind—I can’t wait to find out how they all fit together.”
“That isn’t my story, Mrs. Solomon,” Arthur admitted. “I haven’t been able to think of one yet.”
“Oh, I think you have the seed(種子of a story there,” Mrs. Solomon replied, “Look at your note and the pictures and see if a story comes to you.”
That night Arthur sat at his desk, and this is what he wrote: “One Saturday Mike went downstairs to meet his friend Julio at the cinema. It looked as if it might rain, so Mike carried his umbrella. Suddenly a big storm blew in, bending the trees. The noise of the wind sounded like the barking of Mike’s dog Toby. Toby really hated storms and barked whenever he wanted to be let inside. Then Mike realized that it wasn’t the sound of the wind. It was Toby. The dog was running after him down the busy street, barking. The sound was filled with blame. Mike felt guilty because he had left Toby outside. He turned and headed home with Toby running beside him. Mike let Toby in the door just as the rain started to pour down.”
Arthur had a story in the end. The last thing he did was to write his name proudly at the top of the page.
【小題1】Why did Arthur turn in the page with only his name, the drawings and the note at first?

I had worked that day, as a nurse. Now I faced the dirty supper dishes. I wanted to  1  why Jimmy hadn’t phoned as usual to say “Good night” to Bob and Tom. “Maybe Daddy's    2  working on an accident,” I said to Bob. “Go to    3   now. You'll see him in the morning.” Soon there was a knock at the door. “There   4   be something wrong with your phone,” my neighbor told me. “The City Police Station wants you to   5 .”

I went into the living room and dialed. Then I  6   the words every police wife fears (害怕): “Your husband has been hurt.” When I reached the hospital, my heart sank (下沉). The entrance was jammed with TV-news trucks. In the   7  I saw Jimmy’s best friend, Smith. “Just tell me -is he alive ?” I asked.

Smith  8  and didn’t answer. Then I found my younger sister, Mandy. “He’s  9 .” she told me, and we began to cry together.

Later, Smith told me   10   had happened.

In the morning, when my little Bob asked, “Where’s Daddy?” I    11    him into my arms and tried to explain. “A bad man   12   Daddy last night.” I said. “Daddy can’t come home any more. He’s in heaven(天堂) now.”

My son looked at me, his blue eyes    13  the picture of trust(相信). “Do they have    14   in heaven ?” he asked. “Can I call him ?”

“No, Bob, Daddy still loves you, but Daddy can’t   15 ”.

1.                A．know          B．understand      C．remember D．guess

2.                A．busy           B．never          C． sure D．often

3.                A．play           B．study           C．sleep D．wait

4.                A．must           B．need           C．can  D．will

5.                A．rest           B．call            C．work D．stay

6.                A．saw            B．remember      C．heard    D．wrote

7.                A．room          B．crowd          C．truck D．station

8.                A．forgot          B．turned         C．returned  D．understood

9.                A．dangerous      B．fine            C．a(chǎn)fraid    D．gone

10.               A．how           B．where         C．when D．what

11.               A．pulled         B．pushed         C．sent  D．held

12.               A．saw           B．beat           C．hurt  D．caught

13.               A．drawing        B．showing        C．looking    D．enjoying

14.               A．food           B．language        C．phones    D．TVs

15.               A．work          B．talk            C．sleep D．rest