A
Forty-three years seems like a long time to remember the name of a mere acquaintance. I have forgotten the name of an old lady who was a customer on my paper route. Yet it seems like just yesterday that she taught me a lesson in forgiveness.
On a Saturday afternoon, a friend and I were throwing rocks onto the roof of the old lady’s house.The object of our play was to observe how the rocks changed to missiles (导弹) as they rolled to the roof’s edge and shot out into the yard like comets (彗星) falling from the sky. I found myself a perfectly smooth rock and sent it for a ride. However, it slipped from my hand as I let it go and headed straight for a small window. At the sound of crashed glass, we knew we were in trouble and ran away.
A few days later, when I was sure that I hadn’t been discovered, I started to feel guilty for her misfortune. She still greeted me with a smile each day when I gave her the paper, but I was no longer able to act comfortably in her presence. I made up my mind to save my paper delivery money, and in three weeks I had the seven dollars that I calculated would cover the cost of her window. I put the money in an envelope with a note, and put the envelope through the letter slot in her door.
The next day, I handed the old lady her paper and was able to return the warm smile that I was receiving from her. She thanked me for the paper and said, “Here, I have something for you.” It was a bag of cookies. I thanked her and began to eat the cookies as I continued my route.
After several cookies, I felt an envelope and pulled it out of the bag. When I opened the envelope, I was surprised. Inside were the seven dollars and a short note that said, “I’m proud of you.”
1. What was the author forty-three years ago?
A. Ateacher. B. Aresearcher. C. A delivery boy. D. Arepairman.
2. We can learn from the text that the author _______.
A. broke the window by mistake B. avoided the old lady for several days
C. acted as usual after breaking the window D. felt guilty the moment he broke the window
3. The old lady wrote “I’m proud of you” because she thought the author was brave enough ______.
A. to do experiments with smooth rocks
B. to earn money to support his own life
C. to admit his own mistake and make up for it
D. to put an envelope with a note through the letter slot
【答案】1. C 2. A 3. C
【解析】
【分析】
本文是一篇记叙文。文章主要讲述了作者小时候在玩耍的时候，误把自己送报纸的老太太家的窗户撞碎并逃跑，到最终承担错误，并得到老太太的宽恕和赞扬的故事，给作者上了一课，让作者记忆犹新。
【1题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第一段“Forty-three years seems like a long time to remember the name of a mere acquaintance. I have forgotten the name of an old lady who was a customer on my paper route.” （要记住一个仅仅认识的人的名字，43年似乎是一段很长的时间。我忘了我给送报纸的一位老太太的名字了。）由此可知43年前，作者是一个送报纸的小孩。故选C。
2题详解】
细节理解题。根据文章第二段“I found myself a perfectly smooth rock and sent it for a ride. However, it slipped from my hand as I let it go and headed straight for a small window. At the sound of crashed glass, we knew we were in trouble and ran away.” （我给自己找了一块非常光滑的石头，把它扔了出去。然而，当我把它放开时，它却从我手中滑落，径直朝一个小窗口飞去。一听到玻璃撞碎的声音，我们知道有麻烦了，就跑开了。）由此可知，作者误把窗户撞碎，故选A。
【3题详解】
推理判断题。根据上文“I made up my mind to save my paper delivery money, and in three weeks I had the seven dollars that I calculated would cover the cost of her window. I put the money in an envelope with a note, and put the envelope through the letter slot in her door.”（ 我决定把送报纸的钱存起来，三个星期后，我就有了七美元，据我计算，这七美元足够买她的窗户了。我把钱和一张纸条放在一个信封里，然后把信封从她家门口的信槽里塞了进去。）由此可知作者撞碎老太太的玻璃后，存钱赔偿，老太太认为作者敢于承认错误并进行补偿，因此觉得作者非常勇敢，故选C。
【点睛】一般定位关键词适用于解答细节理解题。通过定位关键词解题，考生在阅读题干时，把题干中有标记意义的词或词组标记出来，或者选项中的关键词，然后用这个词回到原文当中定位。如小题1题干中的forty-three years ago，回到原文，可以帮助快速找出答案，故选C。
