We always celebrated Dad’s birthday on Thanksgiving Day, even after he entered a nursing home. When we knew it might be his last birthday, the whole family decided to come together for a huge birthday celebration at the nursing home.
Dad was a good storyteller. But this time I told Dad that it was now his turn to listen to some stories for a change. One after another, people told old stories from their hearts, while Dad listened with tears in eyes. People recalled kinds of stories-stories about when they were little, stories about when Dad was young, and stories that shared family treasures.
Everyone seemed to have more than one story. Even the little grandchildren couldn’t wait to tell Dad why they loved him. For a man who had been kind to so many hundreds of people in his life, here was a chance to tell him how much we love him. A few months later, at Dad’s memorial service, we more fully realized what we had given to Dad that night. Those are the stories people normally tell at a funeral( 葬礼 )after a loved one is no longer alive to hear his life, and we had told them through laughter, together with hugs and joy. He had them to hold and enjoyed them from time to time in his mind during his last days and months.
That’s the way to give back love and that’s our chance to celebrate to a person in his or her life.
1 ． The whole family decided to have a huge birthday celebration because ________
A ． Dad was to leave the hospital. B ． It might be Dad’s last birthday.
C ． They would celebrate Thanksgiving Day. D ． Dad was at the nursing home.
2 ． They celebrated Dad’s birthday by ________.
A ． listening to Dad about his story. B ． singing and dancing at the party.
C ． telling stories about Dad from hearts. D ． sharing family presents with Dad.
3 ． The writer fully realized what they had given to his father that night ________.
A ． when Dad was still alive B ． at Dad’s memorial service
C ． from time to time in his life D ． after Dad entered a nursing home
4 ． Father enjoyed the memories of love and held them in his last days, didn’t he?
A ． Yes, he did. B ． No, he didn’t C ． Yes, he didn’t D ． No, he did.
5 ． We can learn from the passage that ________
A ． We can tell stories to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.
B ． We should show our love to those people we love in his or her life.
C ． We should tell our love to those people we love when they are dying.
D ． We should give back love to those people we love after their death.
1 ． B
2 ． C
3 ． B
4 ． A
5 ． B
【分析】
文章讲述了在作者的父亲在世时，全家人为父亲庆祝了最后一个生日，分别讲述了对父亲的爱的故事，表达了各自的爱，由此告诉我们要趁着家人还在世的时候，大胆地说出自己对他们的爱。
1 ．
细节理解题。根据 “When we knew it might be his last birthday, the whole family decided to come together for a huge birthday celebration at the nursing home.” 可知，全家人决定为父亲举行一个盛大的生日庆祝活动，因为这可能是他最后一个生日了，故选 B 。
2 ．
细节理解题。根据 “...But this time I told Dad that it was now his turn to listen to some stories for a change. One after another, people told old stories from their hearts” 可知，他们通过给父亲讲故事的方式庆祝生日，故选 C 。
3 ．
细节理解题。根据 “A few months later, at Dad’s memorial service, we more fully realized what we had given to Dad that night.” 可知，在父亲的追悼会上，作者更加充分地意识到那天晚上他们给了父亲什么，故选 B 。
4 ．
细节理解题。根据 “He had then to hold and enjoyed them from time to time in his mind during his last days and months.” 可知，父亲享受着爱的回忆，并在他生命的最后日子里将它们珍藏着，故选 A 。
5 ．
主旨大意题。根据 “That’s the way to give back love and that’s our chance to celebrate to a person in his or her life.” 以及整个文章的理解可知，文章主要是想通过家人为父亲举行的最后一个生日聚会的故事，告诉我们要趁着家人还在世的时候，大胆地说出自己对他 / 她的爱，故选 B 。
阅读短文，根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
It’s always challenging to face fear. Here are some ways to help you overcome（克服）it.
Breathing
As we know, breathing can help us relax. If you purposely breathe out longer than you breathe in, your body will calm down. If you start to feel fearful, try this. Take a breath in (to a count of 7 in your mind), and then slowly breathe out (to a count of 11 in your mind). To your surprise, if you do this for a minute or so, you’ll calm down quickly. We call this "7/11 breathing".
Using a different part of your brain
When we feel fearful, it’s harder to think clearly. But if we force ourselves to use the part of thinking brain, this will help to calm us down. The easiest way to do this is with numbers. You can set your own fear from l to 10, 10 being the worst state and 1 being the most relaxed state. When you’re feeling fearful, ask yourself; “Okay, what grade do I get right now? 7 or 5?” Just doing this will reduce fear because it starts the thinking brain. Once I gave a speech to three hundred people and I felt fearful. So I graded myself at 6, and waited for myself to go down to 3 before starting. I took control.
Getting control of your imagination
Imagine seeing yourself in the situation you were scared, but see yourself being calm and things going well. Doing this starts to recondition your mind to more calmly face the coming events which were causing fear.
It seems that overcoming fear is always the first step to finish all you need to do and it will help you devote yourself to what you really want to be and to do. It takes efforts, but it’s worth your try.
| 59． to overcome fear | |||
| Introduction | It’s challenging to face fear in your life. | ||
| Ways | Breathing | To calm down, you can breathe out 60． than you breathe in. You’ll be 61． that you’ve calmed down very quickly if you take 7/11 breathing. | |
| Using a different part of your brain | You can set ten 62． for your own fear with numbers. Grading your state of mind helps 63． the thinking brain and make you 64． fearful. | ||
| Getting control of your imagination | Imagine you’re in a bad 65． but you feel calm and things go well. It can help you feel 66． to face the coming events. | ||
| Conclusion | To finish all you need to do, you must overcome fear 67． It’s worth 68． though it takes efforts. | ||
