As a young boy, I sometimes traveled the country roads with my dad. He was a rural mill carrier, and on Saturdays he would ask me to go with him. Driving through the countryside was always an adventure: There were animals to see, people to visit, and chocolate cookies if you knew where to stop, and Dad did.
In the spring, Dad delivered boxes full of baby chickens, and when 1 was a boy it was such a fun to stick your finger 'through one of the holes of the boxes and let the baby birds peck on your fingers.
On Dad' s final day of work, it took him well into the evening to plete his rounds because at least one member from each family was waiting at their mailbox to thank him for his friendship and his years of service. Two hundred and nineteen mailboxes on my route. he used to say, and a story at every oneOne lady had no mailbox, so Dad took the mail in to her every day because she was nearly blind. Once inside, he read her mail and helped her pay her bills.
Mailboxes were sometimes used for things other than mail. One note left in a mailbox read. Nat, take these eggs to Marian; she's baking a cake and doesn't have any eggsMailboxes might be buried in the snow, or broken, or lying on the groom:. bat the mail was always delivered On cold days Dad might find one of his customers waiting for him with a cup of hot chocolate. A young wrote letters but had no stamps, so she left a few button on the envelope in the mailbox; Dad paid for the stamps. One businessman used to leave large amounts of cash in his mailbox for Dad to take to the bank. Once, the amount came to 8 32,000.
A dozen years ago, when I traveled back to my hometown on the sad occasion of Dad’s death, the mailboxes along the way reminded me of some of his stories. I thought I knew them all, but that wasn't the case.
As I drove home, I noticed two lamp poles, one on each side of the street. When my dad was around, those poles supported wooden boxes about four feet off the ground. One box was painted green and the other was red, and each had a long narrow hole at the top with white lettering: SANTA CLAUS, NORTH POLE. For years children had dropped letters to Santa through those holes.
I made a turn at the er and drove past the post office and across the railroad tracks to our house. Mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table when I heard footsteps. There, at the door, stood Frank Townsend, Dad's postmaster and great friend for many years. So we all sat down at the table and began to tell stories.
At one point Frank looked at me with tears in his eyesWhat are we going to do about the letters this Christmas? he asked.
The letters?
'I guess you never knew.
Knew what?
Remember, when you were a kid and you used to put your letters to Santa in those green and red boxes on Main Street? It was your dad who answered all those letters every year.
I just sat there with tears in my eyes. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine Dad sitting at the old table in our basement reading those letters and answering each one. I have since spoken with several of the people who received Christmas letters during their childhood, and they told me how amazed they were that Santa had known so much about their homes and families.
For me, just knowing that story about my father was the gift of a lifetime.
【小题1】It can be inferred from the passage that the writer regarded his travels with Dad us .A．great chances to help other peopleB．happy occasions to play with baby chickensC．exciting experience* with a lot of funD．good opportunities to enjoy chocolate cookies【小题2】The writer provides the detail about the businessman to show that .A．Dad had a strong sense of dutyB．Dad was an honest and reliable manC．Dad had a strong sense of honorD．Dad was a kind and generous man【小题3】According to the passage, which of the following impressed the writer most?A．Dad read letters for a blind lady for years.B．Dad paid for the stamps for a young girl.C．Dad delivered some eggs to Marian.D．Dad answered children's Christmas letters every year.【小题4】The method the writer uses to develop Paragraph 4 is .A．offering analysesB．providing explanationsC．giving examplesD．making parisons【小题5】What surprised the children most when they received letters in reply from Santa Claus every year?A．Santa Claus lived alone in the cold North Pole.B．Santa Claus answered all their letters every year.C．Santa Claus had unique mailboxes for the children.D．Santa Claus had so much information about their families.【小题6】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?A．The MailB．Christmas LettersC．Special MailboxesD．Memorable TravelsC
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(答案→)C
解析：日常生活类—记叙文
【文章大意】本文主要讲述了邮递员爸爸的简单、丰富而又充实、有趣的邮递生活，尤其是给孩子们回复给圣诞老人的邮件更是感人至深。
【小题1】推理判断题。根据文章的前两段作者和父亲一起大家经历的所见所闻所感，可知那些是愉快的经历，故答案Ｃ符合文意。
【小题2】推理判断题。商人把那么多钱放在邮箱里托付给爸爸存入银行，可见爸爸是一个诚实的、可以信赖的人，故答案Ｂ符合文意。
【小题3】推理判断题。根据文章最后几段对父亲给孩子们回复圣诞老人的回信的回忆的大段描述，可以推断出答案Ｄ符合文意。
【小题4】推理判断题。根据第四段的整体理解，可知本段主要用了举例的写作手段，故答案C符合文意。
【小题5】细节理解题。根据文章倒数第二段最后一句：and they told me how amazed they were that Santa had known so much about their homes and families.可知答案Ｄ符合文意。
【小题6】文章标题题。根据文章的整体理解，本文主要讲的是邮递员爸爸的简单而又朴实的邮递生活，故答案Ａ符合文意。本题可用排除法。
【长难句解析】On Dad' s final day of work, it took him well into the evening to plete his rounds because at least one member from each family was waiting at their mailbox to thank him for his friendship and his years of service. 预计今年秋季开课，一系列有两所大学的的老师开发的课程将通过一个全新S 60 million项目在网上免费提供，众所周知为：edX。Beginning也句子主语a number of courses逻辑上构成主谓关系，用现在分词作状语。Known as，过去分词作后置定语，修饰program，表被动、完成的概念。