Question

The Faces of Christmas

“ Oh, Sally! Christmas is going to be so terrible this year,” my best friend Laura said to me on the school bus. “ Mom and Dad have to be out of town on Christmas, and I have to stay with my Aunt Jane. She always treats (对待) me like a five-year-old! I wish I had a ______ family like you, so I could go somewhere else.”

I do have a big family: Mom, Dad, Mary, Jim and I, as well as lots of aunts and uncles. Every Christmas, the whole family get together at our house to have dinner.

Later that day, I told Mom about Laura’s ______ .

“ Why don’t you ask Laura to spend Christmas at our house? ” Mom offered.

“ Oh, Mom, that would be great! I’m sure Laura would love to come.” I was so excited.

“ There will be an extra (额外的) place at the table anyway, because Mary has a chance to go to France with her teachers.” Mom went on while washing dishes.

“No! Mom, she can’t go, or she’ll ______ Christmas with the family. We’ve always spent it together…” When I wanted to say more, the telephone rang. It was my brother Jim calling. He asked if Mom and Dad wouldn’t ______ too much if he didn’t come home for Christmas, because he wanted to go skating with friends. Of course, Mom and Dad said Jim could go, but I had wanted them to say no.

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Laura came over, which cheered me up a lot.

“Where are Mary and Jim?” she asked me.

“They’ve made other ______ , so they aren’t coming home,” I said. “Christmas just isn’t going to be the same this year ______ them.”

“Of course,” Mom went over and said. “No two Christmases are ever the same. People ______ —children grow older, new members are added (添加) to the family, and sometimes people die. Do you understand that, Sally?”

“ Yes, Mom,” I said. “ I think I do.”

Next evening, all my relatives (亲戚) arrived. As I looked around the dinner table, I really began to ______ what Mom had tried to tell me. I saw the new faces of babies, my aunt’s boyfriend, and my best friend, Laura, and I saw the old familiar faces that would always be there. No, I thought. No two Christmases are ever the same.

1.A. big B. happy C. rich D. usual

2.A. accident B. advice C. difference D. problem

3.A. follow B. miss C. forget D. spend

4.A. ask B. speak C. mind D. think

5.A. conversations B. plans C. suggestions D. mistakes

6.A. against B. around C. between D. without

7.A. change B. appear C. improve D. move

8.A. imagine B. remember C. understand D. show

Answer 1