Question

I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to sit above the top of it. Mother sat writing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be a most wonderful thing in the world.

Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she said again, “ is for Elizabeth.”

I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed in action. But as a young girl, I wanted to have heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易動感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface(表面)”.

As years passed and I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me.

My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace — it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.

But the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside — a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折疊) and refolded many times. It was my letter.

“In any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.”

1. The passage shows that __________.

A. Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter

B. Mother was too serious about her daughter in words

C. Mother wrote to her daughter in careful words

D. Mother wrote to her daughter in careless words

2.The word “gulf” in the passage means __________.

A. deep understanding between the old and the young

B. different ideas between mother and daughter

C. free talks between mother and daughter

D. part of the sea going far in land

3. What’s best title of the passage?

A. My Letter to Mother                      B. Mother and Children

C. My Mother’s Desk                        D. Talks between Mother and me

Answer 1

1. A  .    2. B     3. C