Ⅰ. 阅读理解
I was standing in the kitchen helping with dinner, asking my mom about my brother’s doctor’s appointment. They were testing him for autism(自闭症 ). My brother, Captain, four years old at the time, had always been my best friend. We would wrestle, play games and have the best of times together, even though we were far apart in age. My mom told me about the appointment, but when she got to the point about the test, she stopped. I turned around and she had tears in her eyes. I stared at her, wishing she would say something, when I realized what that silence meant. My eyes got blurry (模糊的) and my breathing got very ragged. “The test was positive, sweetheart. ”she said. I broke down, crying.
My mom was trying to cool me down, saying that Captain couldn’t see me like this and I had to be a big girl, when the front door opened, and Captain, our three-year-old sister Cali, and my father came in. I walked out of the kitchen. I couldn’t look at him. Everything had just changed. He was no longer that little baby brother who was just a normal little boy.
We had to move a while later because Captain needed treatment. One day, I was standing in the bus line waiting when the “short bus” came and picked some kids up. The children in the other line started making jokes about the “retards( 智力迟钝者)”on that bus and I felt a strange feeling in my stomach, which I had never felt before.
During a band class, my teacher, Mrs Young, stopped our playing to give us some feed-back. “Guys, we’re playing like the kids on the short bus ! Come on! ” I felt that same feeling I had in the bus line. The entire room was laughing when I raised my hand. “Yes, Alexis? ” Mrs Young asked. “I don’t think we should make fun of the short bus, because there are a lot of people on that bus who have great personalities and have the same feelings as we do. And also, I know some people on those buses and they are some of the most caring, sweetest, and smartest people, so I would appreciate it if you didn’t make fun of them. ”
Everyone stared at me. Mrs Young apologized for the comment and then started the song again.
【文章大意】本文主要讲述了 Alexis 的弟弟被确诊为自闭症, 对 Alexis 的影响很大。到学校以后, 音乐老师在课堂上嘲笑了智力迟钝的孩子, Alexis 大声地表达了自己的想法, 谴责了老师的错误做法。
1. What did Alexis think her mother’ s silence mean in Paragraph 1?
A. There was no chance for Alexis to play games with Captain.
B. Captain was likely to miss the appointment.
C. Alexis had to prepare dinner quickly.
D. Captain really suffered from autism.
【解析】选D。细节理解题。根据“My eyes got blurry and my breathing got very ragged. ”以及“The test was positive, sweetheart”可知, 弟弟被确诊为自闭症了。
2. Why did Alexis go out of the kitchen?
A. Because she didn’t want to help with dinner.
B. Because she wanted to play with Captain outside.
C. Because she would be much sadder looking at Captain.
D. Because she wasn’t willing to meet a sick brother.
【解析】选C。细节理解题。根据第二段中 I couldn’t look at him. Everything had just changed. He was no longer that little baby brother who was just a normal little boy. 可知 Alexis 走出去是因为她无法面对自己的弟弟, 看见他就会感觉很难受, 所以走开去回避一下。
3. What Alexis said to her teacher can be seen as a kind of ______.
A. threat B. approval
C. condemnation D. apology
【解析】选C。推理判断题。 根据文章倒数第二段可知 Alexis 认为老师不应该嘲笑那些孩子, 因为那样会伤害别人的感情。
