D
My family is still recovering(恢复)from the terrible times of the past couple of years. They began when my teenage stepson became ill. His autoimmune disease(自身免疫性疾病)led to kidney(肾)failure and an ongoing need for treatment.
As anyone who has cared for a sick child knows, the stress doesn't go away. And there was so much stress. My husband and I were too tired, and it was as if(仿佛)we forgot how to communicate — we couldn't have a simple conversation without fighting. Our once-happy home had become tense(紧张的)and unhappy.
In a rare event of communication, my stepson and I were discussing Valentine's gifts. I remembered that his dad gave me a kazoo(卡祖笛)for our first Valentine's Day.
My reaction to this gift was embarrassment(尴尬)when I, a professional saxophone(萨克斯)player, couldn't get it to make a sound. The kazoo finally got packed away and forgotten.
But he was interested and asked to see it. After some trouble, I found it.
“You couldn't get a sound?” he asked, amazed, turning it around in his hands. “What's so hard about it?”
“I don't know. It just never worked.”
My husband got the kazoo — “It's easy! Look, you just do this...” — and blew. Nothing happened. Surprised, he tried again. Still there was no sound.
Frustrated(挫败的), he tried again, only to produce a sound like an angry bumblebee(大黄蜂)trapped in the mouth of a bear.
My stepson burst(爆发)into laughter.
Seeing his face light up like that was wonderful. Soon, we were all laughing to the point of tears.
It was as if the gloom(阴郁)had lifted, and a ray of sunshine was let in. Eyes met and hearts reconnected. My stepson took a turn on the kazoo. He did no better than us. More laughing.
It was the best 10 minutes of the past couple of years.
The mood stayed light for the rest of the evening. Months later, we still remembered it. It didn't solve anything. While my stepson has recently had a successful kidney transplant(移植), his life will always have challenges.
But this experience with the kazoo proved to be a turning point. It has showed us that there are still things to laugh at and enjoy and that we can still connect as a family. Thanks to a simple kazoo, we remembered that we are one.
(
A. They fought a lot after her stepson became ill.
B. They all felt hopeful about her stepson's future.
C. They didn't have enough money to treat her stepson's disease.
D. They supported each other while taking care of her stepson.
(
A. She didn't like the gift at all. B. She was not able to play it.
C. She forgot where she had put it. D. She failed to get her stepson interested in it.
(
A. Grew deeper. B. Got lost. C. Went up. D. Went away.
(
A. fell in love with music B. felt reconnected with each other
C. successfully solved the challenges they faced D. understood the meaning of gift-giving
My family is still recovering(恢复)from the terrible times of the past couple of years. They began when my teenage stepson became ill. His autoimmune disease(自身免疫性疾病)led to kidney(肾)failure and an ongoing need for treatment.
As anyone who has cared for a sick child knows, the stress doesn't go away. And there was so much stress. My husband and I were too tired, and it was as if(仿佛)we forgot how to communicate — we couldn't have a simple conversation without fighting. Our once-happy home had become tense(紧张的)and unhappy.
In a rare event of communication, my stepson and I were discussing Valentine's gifts. I remembered that his dad gave me a kazoo(卡祖笛)for our first Valentine's Day.
My reaction to this gift was embarrassment(尴尬)when I, a professional saxophone(萨克斯)player, couldn't get it to make a sound. The kazoo finally got packed away and forgotten.
But he was interested and asked to see it. After some trouble, I found it.
“You couldn't get a sound?” he asked, amazed, turning it around in his hands. “What's so hard about it?”
“I don't know. It just never worked.”
My husband got the kazoo — “It's easy! Look, you just do this...” — and blew. Nothing happened. Surprised, he tried again. Still there was no sound.
Frustrated(挫败的), he tried again, only to produce a sound like an angry bumblebee(大黄蜂)trapped in the mouth of a bear.
My stepson burst(爆发)into laughter.
Seeing his face light up like that was wonderful. Soon, we were all laughing to the point of tears.
It was as if the gloom(阴郁)had lifted, and a ray of sunshine was let in. Eyes met and hearts reconnected. My stepson took a turn on the kazoo. He did no better than us. More laughing.
It was the best 10 minutes of the past couple of years.
The mood stayed light for the rest of the evening. Months later, we still remembered it. It didn't solve anything. While my stepson has recently had a successful kidney transplant(移植), his life will always have challenges.
But this experience with the kazoo proved to be a turning point. It has showed us that there are still things to laugh at and enjoy and that we can still connect as a family. Thanks to a simple kazoo, we remembered that we are one.
(
A
)11. What can we know about the writer's family from the first two paragraphs?A. They fought a lot after her stepson became ill.
B. They all felt hopeful about her stepson's future.
C. They didn't have enough money to treat her stepson's disease.
D. They supported each other while taking care of her stepson.
(
B
)12. Why was the writer embarrassed by the gift?A. She didn't like the gift at all. B. She was not able to play it.
C. She forgot where she had put it. D. She failed to get her stepson interested in it.
(
D
)13. What does the underlined word “lifted” in the passage mean?A. Grew deeper. B. Got lost. C. Went up. D. Went away.
(
B
)14. After playing the kazoo together, the writer's family ______.A. fell in love with music B. felt reconnected with each other
C. successfully solved the challenges they faced D. understood the meaning of gift-giving
答案：11. A 12. B 13. D 14. B
解析：
翻译:
### 文章部分
D
我的家庭仍在从过去几年的艰难时期中恢复。这一切始于我的十几岁的继子生病。他的自身免疫性疾病导致了肾衰竭，并且需要持续治疗。
任何照顾过生病孩子的人都知道，压力不会消失。而且压力非常大。我和我的丈夫太累了，仿佛我们忘记了如何交流——我们甚至无法进行一次简单的对话而不发生争吵。我们曾经幸福的家变得紧张而不愉快。
在一次难得的交流中，我和我的继子正在讨论情人节礼物。我记得他的爸爸在我们的第一个情人节送了我一个卡祖笛。
当我，一个专业的萨克斯演奏者，却无法让它发出声音时，我对这份礼物的反应是尴尬。这个卡祖笛最终被收起来并被遗忘了。
但他很感兴趣，并要求看看它。经过一番周折，我找到了它。
“你发不出声音？”他惊讶地问道，手里转动着它。“这有什么难的？”
“我不知道。它就是从来没发出过声音。”
我的丈夫拿起卡祖笛——“这很容易！看，你就这么做……”——然后吹了起来。什么都没发生。他很惊讶，又试了一次。仍然没有声音。
他很沮丧，又试了一次，结果只发出了一种声音，就像一只愤怒的大黄蜂被困在熊的嘴里。
我的继子突然大笑起来。
看到他的脸那样亮起来，感觉很棒。很快，我们都笑得泪流满面。
仿佛阴郁消散了，一缕阳光照了进来。目光相遇，心灵重新连接。我的继子接过卡祖笛试了试。他做得并不比我们好。又是一阵大笑。
这是过去几年里最好的10分钟。
那天晚上剩下的时间里，气氛都很轻松。几个月后，我们仍然记得这件事。它并没有解决任何问题。虽然我的继子最近成功进行了肾移植，但他的生活将永远充满挑战。
但这次与卡祖笛的经历被证明是一个转折点。它向我们表明，仍然有值得我们去笑和去享受的事情，而且我们仍然可以作为一个家庭联系在一起。多亏了一个简单的卡祖笛，我们记住了我们是一家人。
### 题目部分
11. 从前两段我们可以了解到关于作者家庭的什么情况？
A. 继子生病后，他们经常吵架。
B. 他们都对继子的未来充满希望。
C. 他们没有足够的钱来治疗继子的疾病。
D. 他们在照顾继子时互相支持。
12. 为什么作者对这份礼物感到尴尬？
A. 她一点也不喜欢这份礼物。
B. 她不会演奏它。
C. 她忘记把它放在哪里了。
D. 她没能让继子对它感兴趣。
13. 文中划线单词“lifted”是什么意思？
A. 变得更深。
B. 消失。
C. 上升。
D. 消散。
14. 一起演奏卡祖笛之后，作者的家庭______。
A. 爱上了音乐
B. 感觉彼此重新连接在一起
C. 成功解决了他们面临的挑战
D. 理解了送礼物的意义
### 文章部分
D
我的家庭仍在从过去几年的艰难时期中恢复。这一切始于我的十几岁的继子生病。他的自身免疫性疾病导致了肾衰竭，并且需要持续治疗。
任何照顾过生病孩子的人都知道，压力不会消失。而且压力非常大。我和我的丈夫太累了，仿佛我们忘记了如何交流——我们甚至无法进行一次简单的对话而不发生争吵。我们曾经幸福的家变得紧张而不愉快。
在一次难得的交流中，我和我的继子正在讨论情人节礼物。我记得他的爸爸在我们的第一个情人节送了我一个卡祖笛。
当我，一个专业的萨克斯演奏者，却无法让它发出声音时，我对这份礼物的反应是尴尬。这个卡祖笛最终被收起来并被遗忘了。
但他很感兴趣，并要求看看它。经过一番周折，我找到了它。
“你发不出声音？”他惊讶地问道，手里转动着它。“这有什么难的？”
“我不知道。它就是从来没发出过声音。”
我的丈夫拿起卡祖笛——“这很容易！看，你就这么做……”——然后吹了起来。什么都没发生。他很惊讶，又试了一次。仍然没有声音。
他很沮丧，又试了一次，结果只发出了一种声音，就像一只愤怒的大黄蜂被困在熊的嘴里。
我的继子突然大笑起来。
看到他的脸那样亮起来，感觉很棒。很快，我们都笑得泪流满面。
仿佛阴郁消散了，一缕阳光照了进来。目光相遇，心灵重新连接。我的继子接过卡祖笛试了试。他做得并不比我们好。又是一阵大笑。
这是过去几年里最好的10分钟。
那天晚上剩下的时间里，气氛都很轻松。几个月后，我们仍然记得这件事。它并没有解决任何问题。虽然我的继子最近成功进行了肾移植，但他的生活将永远充满挑战。
但这次与卡祖笛的经历被证明是一个转折点。它向我们表明，仍然有值得我们去笑和去享受的事情，而且我们仍然可以作为一个家庭联系在一起。多亏了一个简单的卡祖笛，我们记住了我们是一家人。
### 题目部分
11. 从前两段我们可以了解到关于作者家庭的什么情况？
A. 继子生病后，他们经常吵架。
B. 他们都对继子的未来充满希望。
C. 他们没有足够的钱来治疗继子的疾病。
D. 他们在照顾继子时互相支持。
12. 为什么作者对这份礼物感到尴尬？
A. 她一点也不喜欢这份礼物。
B. 她不会演奏它。
C. 她忘记把它放在哪里了。
D. 她没能让继子对它感兴趣。
13. 文中划线单词“lifted”是什么意思？
A. 变得更深。
B. 消失。
C. 上升。
D. 消散。
14. 一起演奏卡祖笛之后，作者的家庭______。
A. 爱上了音乐
B. 感觉彼此重新连接在一起
C. 成功解决了他们面临的挑战
D. 理解了送礼物的意义