In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.

My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.

Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopt and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic---and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.

You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 81. Our home was a complete zoo---a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant talking as few as one class each semester.

The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.

In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree!

I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.

1. When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be ______.

A. a writer B. a teacher C. a judge D. a doctor

2. Why did the author quit school in her second year of college?

A. She wanted to study by herself.

B. She fell in love and got married.

C. She suffered from a serious illness.

D. She decided to look after her grandma.

3. What can we learn about the author from Paragraphs 4 and 5?

A. She was but yet happy with her family life.

B. She ignored her guilty feeling for her sons.

C. She wanted to remain a full-time housewife.

D. She was too confused to make a correct choice.

4. What does the author mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A. Failure is the mother of success.

B. Little by little, one goes far.

C. Every coin has two sides.

D. Well begun, half done.

5. Which of the following can best describe the author ?

A. Caring and determine.

B. Honest and responsible.

C. Ambitious and sensitive.

D. Innocent and single-minded.

【答案】1C

2D

3A

4B

5A

(二)

When milk arrived on the doorstep

When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.

Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note—“Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery”—and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically(魔术般)appear.

All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.

There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete (竞争). Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practiced to have a delivery service.

Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. 1 took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊). Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.

1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer_______.

A. to show his m magical power

B. to pay for the delivery

C. to satisfy his curiosity

D. to please his mother

2. What can be inferred from the fact that the milkman had the key to the boy’s house?

A. He wanted to have tea there.

B. He was a respectable person.

C. He was treated as a family member.

D. He was fully trusted by the family.

3. Why does home milk delivery no longer exist?

A. Nobody wants to be a milkman now.

B. It has been driven out of the market.

C. Its service is getting poor.

D. It is forbidden by law.

4. Why did the author bring back home an old milk box?

A. He missed the good old days.

B. He wanted to tell interesting stories.

C. He needed it for his milk bottles.

D. He planted flowers in it.

参考答案

1. C

2.D

3.B

4.A