Question

Brenda Linson never goes anywhere without an empty spectacles case. It is as vital to her as her purse. Yet，she doesn，t wear glasses. The reason she cannot do without it is that she cannot read and she cannot write. If ever she gets into any situation where she might be expected to do either of these things,she fishes around in her bag for the spectacles case,finds it's empty,and asks the person concerned to do the reading for her. Until a few months ago hardly anybody knew about her problem. Her husband didn't know and her children didn't know. The children still don't.

She had many tactics for hiding her difficulty―for example,never lingering near a phone at work,in case she had to answer it and might be required to write something down.

It has never occurred to the children that their mother cannot read. She doesn，t read them stories，

but then their father doesn，t either，so they find nothing surprising in the fact. Similarly they just accept that Dad is the one who writes the sick notes and reads the school reports. Now that the elder boy Tom is quite a proficient reader,Brenda can skillfully get him to read any notes brought home from school simply by asking, "What's that all about,then?"

Brenda, s husband never guessed the truth in ten years of marriage. For one thing，he insists on handling all domestic correspondence and bills himself,A salesman for a large company，he travels a great deal and so is not around so much to spot the truth. While he' s away Brenda copes with any situations by explaining that she cannot do anything until she' s discussed it with her husband.

Brenda was very successful in her job until recently. For the last five years she had worked as waitress at an expensive restaurant,and had eventually been promoted to head waitress. She kept the thing a secret there too,and got over the practical difficulties somehow.

(   ) 1. Brenda carries an empty spectacles case wherever she goes because       .

     A.   she is always so forgetful

    B.   she uses it as a purse

    C.   it may provide her with an excuse

    D.   she wishes to look like an educated woman

(   ) 2.Brenda's children have never found out about her problem as         .

     A.  she isn't often at home

    B.  they are too young to guess the truth

    C.  they find it normal to ask their father for everything

    D.  they think it natural that short-sighted people like their mother don't do much reading or writing

(   ) 3. What most probably made Brenda try hard to hide her difficulty?

     A.   Her desire to be successful in her job.

    B.   Her fear of losing face.

    C.   Her deceitful nature.

    D.   Both A and  B.

Answer 1

1. C细节理解题。从第一段"If ever she gets into any situation where she might be expected to do either of these things, she fishes around in her bag for the spectacles case,finds it is empty, and asks the person concerned to do the reading for her."可知她天天空眼镜盒不离手的目的是为给自己不能读写的事实提供借口。

2. C逻辑推理题。从第三段"Similarly they just ac?cept that Dad is the one who writes the sick notes and reads the school reports."及第四段"...he insists on handling all domestic correspondence and bills him?self."可推断出孩子们不知道实情是因为他们认为父亲做每件事都很正常。

3. D逻辑推理题。从她隐瞞她不识字的事实，时时小心谨慎恐会露馅以及最后一段提及她事业现在非常成功可知。