Family traditions were important in our house, and none was more appreciated than the perfect Christmas tree.
“Dad, can we watch when you trim(修剪) the tree?” My eldest son, Dan, nine, and his seven-year-old brother John, asked.
“I won’t be cutting this year,” my husband Bob said. “Dan, you and John are old enough to measure things. Do it all by yourselves. Think you boys can handle it?”
Dan and John seemed to grow six inches in their chairs at the thought of such an amazing responsibility. “We can handle it,” Dan promised. “We won’t let you down.”
A few days before Christmas, Dan and John rushed in after school. They gathered the tools they’d need and brought them out to the yard, where the tree waited. I was cooking when I heard the happy sounds as the boys carried the tree into the living room. Then I heard the sound that every mother knows is trouble: dead silence. I hurried out to them. The tree was cut too short. John crossed his arms tight across his chest. His eyes filled with angry tears.
I felt worried. The tree was central to our holiday. I didn’t want the boys to feel ashamed every time they looked at it. I couldn’t lower the ceiling, and I couldn’t raise the floor either. There was no way to undo the damage done. Suddenly, a thought came to my mind, which turned the problem into the solution.
“We can’t make the tree taller,” I said. “But we can put it on a higher position.”
Dan nodded his head sideways. “We could put it on the coffee table. It just might work! Let’s try it!”
When Bob got home and looked at the big tree on top of the coffee table, Dan and John held their breath.
“What a good idea!” he declared. “Why didn’t I ever think of such a thing?”
John broke into a grin. Dan’s chest swelled with pride.
【小题1】The underlined part “grow six inches” (Para. 4) implies the brothers felt .A．proudB．nervousC．embarrassedD．Scared【小题2】What happened after the brothers moved the Christmas tree into the living room?A．They rushed to school.B．They began to decorate the tree.C．They got angry with each other.D．They found the tree was cut short.【小题3】How could the short tree be turned into a perfect one?A．By making the tree taller.B．By lowering the ceiling.C．By placing it on a coffee table.D．By raising the floor.【小题4】What Bob said in the last but one paragraph showed .A．he was a little disappointedB．he was too stupid to think of the ideaC．he appreciated what the brothers had doneD．he should not have given them the taskA
网友回答
(答案→)A
解析：本文讲述了两兄弟帮助爸爸修剪圣诞树过程中发生的故事。
【小题1】推断题：根据第四段最后一句“We can handle it,” Dan promised. “We won’t let you down.丹承诺到：“我们会处理好它的，不会让你失望的。”可知孩子们为能得到这项人物感到恒高兴，很骄傲。故选A。
【小题2】细节题：根据第五段第六句The tree was cut too short树被修剪的太短了，可知D项正确。
【小题3】细节题：根据文章第六段和第七段可知妈妈既不可能降低天花板也不可能升高地板，更不可能使树再长高，但能把它放在更高的位置上，两兄弟齐声说放在咖啡桌上。故选C。
【小题4】推断题： 根据“What a good idea!”和最后一段“John broke into a grin. Dan’s chest swelled with pride”，可知爸爸说的“好主意”和两个孩子一个咧嘴笑，一个胸中充满自豪，可知爸爸是赞赏孩子们所做的事。故选C。