Alice’s mother died when she was five. Although her brothers and sisters were loving and caring, their love couldn’t take the place of a mother’s. In 1925 Alice became my mother and told me that her family couldn’t even afford her a doll.
One afternoon in December 1982, when I was getting ready for Christmas, I suddenly decided to buy two dolls, one for my five-year-old daughter, Katie, and one for my old mother.
Things went smoothly when a friend told me that his dad, who played Santa Claus in my area, would be willing to make a visit on Christmas morning to our home with the gifts! Knowing that my parents would also come to my house, I began to get ready for the most memorable day of my mother’s life.
Christmas Day arrived and so did Santa Claus at the planned time. Katie was very excited and happy all the time to welcome the Santa. My mother was enjoying watching Katie welcoming this special guest. As Santa turned to leave he looked again into his bag and took out one more gift. As he asked who Alice was, my mother, without thinking of her name being called, said that she in fact was Alice. Santa handed her the gift with a message card that read:
For Alice:
I was cleaning out my sleigh (雪橇) before my trip this year and came across this package that should be sent on December 25, 1925. The gift inside has aged, but I felt that you might still wish to have it. Many apologies for the lateness of the gift.
Love,
Santa Claus
My mother was very excited and deeply moved to tears. She couldn’t speak but only held tightly in her arms the doll she had waited fifty-seven years to receive as tears of joy flew down her face. That doll made my mother the happiest “child”.
小题1:Why couldn’t Alice get a doll as a child?
A．Because her mother died quite early.
B．Because her family disliked her.
C．Because her family was very poor.
D．Because Alice didn’t love dolls.小题2:What did the friend’s father do that Christmas morning?
A．He acted as Santa Claus to send Christmas gifts.
B．He went to her home to see Alice.
C．He bought some Christmas gifts for Katie.
D．He helped her to get Christmas gifts ready.小题3:Why didn’t Alice expect there was also a gift for her?
A．The gifts from Santa Claus were usually for children.
B．The gift was forgotten many years ago.
C．The gift for her was bought by accident on the way.
D．The gifts for Katie were enough to share with her.小题4:The author wrote the message card in order to _________.
A．show her deep apology to her mother
B．make it clear that Santa Claus didn’t forget her
C．show that Santa Claus was hard-working
D．make Alice believe the gift was exactly for her小题5:From the last paragraph we can infer that _________.
A．old people still keeps something of childishness
B．we should always give our parents a surprise
C．old people usually feel lonely on festivals
D．we should spend more time with our parents
