It was Saturday. As always, it was a busy one, for “Six days shall you labor and all your work” was taken seriously back then. Outside, Father and Mr. Patrick next door were busy chopping firewood. Inside their own houses, Mother and Mrs. Patrick were engaged in spring cleaning.
Somehow the boys had slipped away to the back lot with their kites. Now, even at the risk of having brother caught to beat carpets, they had sent him to the kitchen for more string(线). It seemed there was no limit to the heights to which kites would fly today.
My mother looked at the sitting room, its furniture disordered for a thorough sweeping. Again she
cast a look toward the window. “Come on, girls! Let’s take string to the boys and watch them fly the kites a minute.”
On the way we met Mrs. Patric, laughing guiltily as if she were doing something wrong, together with her girls. There never was such a day for flying kites! We played all our fresh string into the boys’ kites and they went up higher and higher. We could hardly distinguish the orange-colored spots of the kites. Now and then we slowly pulled one kite back, watching it dancing up and down in the wind, and finally bringing it down to earth, just for the joy of sending it up again.
Even our fathers dropped their tools and joined us. Our mothers took their turn, laughing like schoolgirls. I think we were all beside ourselves. Parents forgot their duty and their dignity; children forgot their everyday fights and little jealousies. “Perhaps it’s like this in the kingdom of heaven,” I thought confusedly.
It was growing dark before we all walked sleepily back to the housed. I suppose we had some sort of supper. I suppose there must have been surface tidying-up, for the house on Sunday looked clean and orderly enough. The strange thing was, we didn’t mention that day afterward. I felt a little embarrassed. Surely none of the others had been as excited as I. I locked the memory up in that deepest part of me where we keep “the things that cannot be and yet they are.”
The years went on, then one day I was hurrying about my kitchen in a city apartment, trying to get some work out of the way while my three-year-old insistently cried her desire to “go park, see duck.” “I can’t go!” I said. “I have this and this to do, and when I’m through I’ll be too tired to walk that far.”
My mother, who was visiting us, looked up from the peas she was shelling. “It’s a wonderful day,” she offered, “really warm, yet there’s a fine breeze. Do you remember that day we flew kites?”
I stopped in my dash between stove and sink. The locked door flew open and with it a rush of memories. “Come on,” I told my little girl. “You’re right, it’s too good a day to miss.”
Another decade passed. We were in the aftermath(余波) of a great war. All evening we had been asking our returned soldier, the youngest Patrick Boy, about his experiences as a prisoner of war. He had talked freely, but now for a long time he had been silent. What was he thinking of --- what dark and horrible things?
“Say!” A smile sipped out from his lips. “Do you remember --- no, of course you wouldn’t. It probably didn’t make the impression on you as it did on me.”
I hardly dared speak. “Remember what?”
“I used to think of that day a lot in POW camp (战俘营), when things weren’t too good. Do you remember the day we flew the kites?”
【小题1】Mrs. Patrick was laughing guiltily because she thought .A．she was too old to fly kites B．her husband would make fun of herC．she should have been doing her housework D．her girls weren’t supposed to the boy’s games【小题2】 By “we were all beside ourselves writer means that they all .A．felt confused B．went wild with joyC．looked on D．forgot their fights【小题3】 What did the author think after the kite-flying?A．The boys must have had more fun than the girls.B．They should have finished their work before playing.C．Her parents should spend more time with them.D．All the others must have forgotten that day.【小题4】Why did the writer finally agree to take her little girl for an outing?A．She suddenly remembered her duty as a mother.B．She was reminded of the day they flew kites.C．She had finished her work in the kitchen.D．She thought it was a great day to play outside.【小题5】 The youngest Patrick boy is mentioned to show that .A．the writer was not alone in treasuring her fond memories B．his experience in POW camp threw a shadow over his lifeC．childhood friendship means so much to the writerD．people like him really changed a lot after the warC
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(答案→)C
解析：本文讲述了小时候放风筝的一件快乐的事情对我有很大的影响，让我记住了那样的快乐而且很多人有和我一样的想法。
【小题1】C 推理题。根据文章第四段1,2行On the way we met Mrs. Patric, laughing guiltily as if she were doing something wrong, together with her girls. There never was such a day for flying kites!可知她们也没有做家务，出来放风筝了。故C正确。2.B
【小题2】B 推理题。根据下句Parents forgot their duty and their dignity; children forgot their everyday fights and little jealousies.可知父母亲和孩子都玩得忘记了自己应该做的事情了，玩得非常开心。故B正确。
【小题3】D 细节题。根据文章第8段最后一句I locked the memory up in that deepest part of me where we keep “the things that cannot be and yet they are.可知我以为人们把这件事情都忘记了。故D正确。
【小题4】B 推理题。根据文章My mother, who was visiting us, looked up from the peas she was shelling. “It’s a wonderful day,” she offered, “really warm, yet there’s a fine breeze. Do you remember that day we flew kites?”
I stopped in my dash between stove and sink. The locked door flew open and with it a rush of memories. “Come on,” I told my little girl. “You’re right, it’s too good a day to miss.”
可知她同意带女儿出去是因为她想起了小时候出去玩的快乐。故B正确。
【小题5】A 推理题。根据文章最后一段“I used to think of that day a lot in POW camp (战俘营), when things weren’t too good. Do you remember the day we flew the kites?”可知记住那一次愉快经历的人有很多，不仅仅是作者一个。故A正确。