Question

A friend asked me for my Calgary address last week. “Oh, are you sending me a present?” I asked. “I love presents.”

“No, it’s not for you. It’s not about you,” he said, “it’s for baby Rowan.”

Damn. He’s right. No one cares about me any more. At 5:30 the other morning, exhausted after another sleepless night, I hit my nose on the bedroom wall while walking. There was a lot of blood and I wanted comfort, so I called my mommy.

“So did you e-mail the list yet?” my mother asked.

What? Didn’t she hear me? I had just told her that I ---her daughter had walked into a wall and had likely broken my nose and would have to go to a doctor.

“We need to buy all the things for the baby Rowan,” she answered. “You’d better get on with that.”

My husband and I are coming back to Toronto for a visit next week and my mother offered to buy and set up a baby room in our house before our arrival. My list was very long and included everything for baby Rowan.

Whenever people call now, they want to know about baby Rowan first. On my husband’s birthday several weeks ago, even his parents asked how Rowan was before wishing him—their son---a happy birthday.

We took baby Rowan out for her first dining experience. I was so hungry that I thought I would faint.

“So, how old is she?” the waitress asked.

“She’s four weeks old,” I answered. “How big is your salad? Is it enough for a meal?”

Was the waitress pretending not to hear me? “On, she’s so small,” she responded. “How much does she weigh?”

“Yes, yes, she is small. Should I start with a Diet Coke?”

“She’s really cute,” the waitress continued.

Yah,yah, she is lovely but can I please order now?

All this has made me realize that indeed, it’s no longer about me. So I’ve gotten smart. At the bottom of the list of things I want my parents to get for baby Rowan, I added a few things for me. Perhaps my parents will actually believe that a five-week-old can eat apples and yogurt and drink bottled water.

1.Rowan is ________

A. a baby boy. B. five weeks old now

C. able to eat apples. D. living with her grandparents.

2.Why did the writer call her mother the other day?

A. She had a sleepless night.

B. She e-mailed a list to her mother.

C. She got hurt and wanted comfort from her mother.

D. She was going to see a doctor.

3.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “exhausted”？

A. excited. B. happy C. tired D. upset

4.How did the baby influence the people around?

A. Baby Rowan ruins the relationship between the writer and her husband.

B. The writer’s parents buy a new house for the baby.

C. The waitress became politer because of the baby.

D. Baby Rowan has changed the writer’s life and makes her feel less important.

Answer 1