It was an autumn morning shortly after my husband and I moved into our first house. Children were upstairs unpacking , and I was looking out of the window at my father moving around mysteriously on the front lawn. My parents lived nearby ,and Dad had visited us several times already. “What are you doing out there?” I called to him .He looked up, smiling. “I’m making you a surprise.” Knowing my father, I thought it could be just about anything. A self-employed jobber, he was always building things out of odds and ends. When we were kids, he always created something surprising for us.
Today, however, Dad would say no more, and caught ups in the busyness of our new life, I eventually forgot about his surprise. Until one gloomy day the following March when I glanced out of the window. Any yet… I saw a dot of blue across the yard. I headed outside for a closer look. They were crocuses (番红花), throughout the front lawn. Lavender, blue, yellow and my favorite pink ---- little faces moved up and down in the cold wind.
Dad! I smiled, remembering the things he had secretly planted last autumn. He knew how the darkness and dullness of winter always got me down. What could have been more perfectly timely to my needs?
My father’s crocuses bloomed each spring for the next four or five seasons, bringing the same assurance every time they arrived: hard times was almost over. Hold on, keep going, light is ing soon.
Then a spring came with only half the usual blooms. The next spring there were none. I missed the crocuses. I would ask Dad to e over and plant new bulbs. But I never did.
He died suddenly one October day. My family was in deep sorrow, leaning on our faith. I missed him terribly.
Four years passed, and on a dismal spring afternoon I was driving back when I found myself feeling depressed. “You’ve got the winter depression again and you get them every year.” I told myself.
It was Dad’s birthday, and I found myself thinking about him. This was not unusual --- my family often talked about him, remembering how he lived his faith. Once I saw him give his coat to a homeless man.
Suddenly I slowed as I turned into our driveway. I stopped and stared at the lawn. And there on the muddy grass and small gray piles of melting snow, bravely waving in the wind, was one pink crocus.
How could a flower bloom from a bulb more than 18 years old, one that had not blossomed in over a decade? But there was the crocus. Tears filled my eyes as I realized its significance.
Hold on, keep going, light is ing soon. The pink crocus bloomed for only a day. But it built my faith for a lifetime.
【小题1】According to the first three paragraphs, we learn that .A．the writer was unpacking when her father was making the surpriseB．the writer knew what the surprise was because she knew her fatherC．it was not the first time that the writer’s father had made a surpriseD．it kept bothering the writer not knowing what the surprise was【小题2】Which of the following would most probably be the worst time of the year as seen by the writer?A．Spring.B．Summer.C．Autumn.D．Winter.【小题3】Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?A．The writer’s father planted the crocus to lift her low spirit.B．The crocuses bloomed each spring before the writer’s father died.C．The writer often thought about her father since her father died.D．The writer’s father died some years after he planted the crocus.【小题4】The writer’s father should be best described as .A．a full-time gardener with skillful handsB．a part-time jobber who loved flowersC．a kind-hearted man who lived with faithD．an ordinary man with doubts in his life【小题5】Crocus was viewed as the symbol of by the writer.A．faithB．familyC．loveD．friendshipC
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(答案→)C
解析：文章讲述了一个感人的故事，父亲在庭院种下番红花，每年春天美丽的番红花就会迎风摇曳，仿佛在说：艰难的时期就会过去，坚持！光明即将到来。每当作者看到绽放的番红花时，都会想起慈爱的父亲，想起父亲一直坚持的并且通过番红花告诉她的信念：坚持！光明即将到来。
【小题1】C细节理解题。第一段末句When we were kids, he always created something surprising for us.当我们是孩子的时候，他总是给我们制作一些让我们惊喜的东西，由此可知C选项正确。
【小题2】D细节理解题。文章第四段He knew how the darkness and dullness of winter always got me down.他知道冬天的黑暗和色彩的沉闷总会让我情绪失落。由此判断D选项正确。
【小题3】B细节理解题。根据文章第五段Then a spring came with only half the usual blooms. The next spring there were none. I missed the crocuses.可知父亲在世时番红花并不是每年都开花，所以判断B选项正确。
【小题4】C推理判断题。从文章内容我们可知父亲知道女儿冬天容易情绪低沉，所以种了番红花，让它在春天到来时点缀女儿的心情，提醒她要相信美好时光即将到来，由此可知父亲是个kind-heartedman，而且文中也提到my family often talked about him, remembering how he lived his faith，由此判断A选项正确。
【小题5】A推理判断题。文中My father’s crocuses bloomed…, bringing the same assurance every time they arrived: hard times was almost over. Hold on, keep going, light is ing soon.逆境总会过去，坚持住，光明很快就会到来。而且文章最后再次点明主题Hold on, keep going, light is ing soon. The pink crocus bloomed for only a day. But it built my faith for a lifetime.由此推断番红花的花语是坚贞，快乐，是信念信仰的象征。所以A选项正确。