阅读理解 　　My husband an答案解析

阅读理解

　　We discuss the issue of when to help a patient die．Doctors of our generation are not newcomers to this question．Going back to my internship(实习)days, I can remember many patients in pain, sometimes in coma(昏迷), with late, hopeless cancer．For many of them, we wrote an order for heavy medication－morphine(吗啡)by the clock．This was not talked about openly and little was written about it．It was essential, not controversial．

　　The best way to bring the problem into focus is to describe two patients whom I cared for．The first, formerly a nurse, had an automobile accident．A few days later her lungs seemed to fill up; her heart developed dangerous rhythm disturbances．So there she was：in coma, on a breathing machine, her heartbeat maintained with an electrical device．One day after rounds, my secretary said the husband and son of the patient wanted to see me．They told me their wife and mother was obviously going to die; she was a nurse and had told her family that she never wanted this kind of terrible death, being maintained by machines．I told them that while I respected their view, there was nothing deadly about her situation．The kidney(肾)failure she had was just the kind for which the artificial kidney was most effective．While possibly a bit reassured, they were disappointed．Here was the head surgeon seemingly determined to keep everybody alive, no matter what．

　　Within a few days the patient's pacemaker(起搏器)could be removed and she awoke from her coma．About six months later, the door of my office opened and in walked a gloriously fit woman．After some cheery words of appreciation, the father and son asked to speak to me alone．As soon as the door closed, both men became quite tearful．All that came out was, "We want you to know how wrong we were．"

　　The second patient was an 85-year-old lady whose hair caught fire while she was smoking．She arrived with a deep burn; I knew it would surely be deadly．As a remarkable coincidence there was a meeting for discussion going on at the time in medical ethics(道德)．The speaker asked me if I had any sort of ethical problem I could bring up for discussion．I described the case and asked the students their opinion．After the discussion, I made a remark that was, when looking back, a serious mistake．I said, "I'll take the word back to the nurses about her and we will talk about it some more before we decide．" The instructor and the students were shocked："You mean this is a real patient?" The teacher of ethics was not accustomed to being challenged by actuality．In any event, I went back and met with the nurses．A day or two later, when she was making no progress and was suffering terribly, we began to back off treatment．Soon she died quietly and not in pain．As a reasonable physician, you had better move ahead and do what you would want done for you．And don't discuss it with the world first．There is a lesson here for everybody．Assisting people to leave this life requires strong judgment and long experience to avoid its misuse．

阅读理解

　　For more than six million American children, coming home after school, means coming home to an empty house．Some deal with the situation by watching TV．Some may hide．But all of them have something in common．They spend part of each day alone．They are called latchkey children．They’re children who look after themselves while their parents work．And their bad condition has become a subject of concern．

　　Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school．She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry．A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached．I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts．There were so many keys; it never came to my mind what they meant．” Slowly, she learned they were house keys．She and her husband began talking to the children who had them．They learned of the impact(影响)working couples and single parents were having on their children．Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone．One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared．Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety．

　　The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding．It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet．The second is TV．They’ll often play it at high volume．It’s hard to get statistics on latchkey children, the Longs learned．Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone．

阅读理解

　　When Ben delivered milk to my home one morning before Christmas, he wasn't his usual sunny self．He told me a customer had left without paying the bill, ＄79, nor leaving her new address．So it meant that he had to cover the loss．

　　“She was a pretty woman,”he said,“with six children and another on the way．She was always saying．'I'm going to pay you soon when my husband gets a second job．'I believed her, but she left．Isn't it annoying?”

　　“Give her the milk．Make it a Christmas present to the kids who need it．”I said．

　　The holidays came and went．On a sunny January morning two weeks later, Ben was rushing to deliver milk when he saw a woman running down the street, waving money．He recognized her immediately－the woman who didn't pay her bill．

　　“I'm so sorry．”she said．“I really have been meaning to pay you．”

　　She explained that her husband had come home one night and announced he'd found cheaper apartment．He' d also got a new job．With all that happened, she'd forgotten to leave the new address．“But I've been saving,”she said．“Here's ＄20 toward the bill．”

　　“That' s all right,”Ben replied．“It's been paid．”

　　“Paid!”she exclaimed(惊叫)．“What do you mean?Who paid it?”

　　“I did,”Ben said,“It went to the children as a Christmas present!”

阅读理解

　　Mr．Brown worked in a factory of a small town．He had been there for twenty years before one day he was sent to the capital for important business．He was quite excited because he had never been there before．Before he set off, he asked his wife and three daughters if they wanted him to buy something for them in London．Mrs．Brown began to think it over and then she said she wished her husband would be able to buy a nice umbrella for her, and so did their three daughters．As he was afraid he would forget it, he drew an umbrella on his hand．To his regret, he lost it at the station．

　　On the train Mr．Brown sat opposite to an old woman．The woman's umbrella was so nice that he carefully looked at it and said to himself not to forget to buy a few umbrellas like it．When the train arrived at the station in London, he said good-bye to the old woman took his bag and her umbrella and was going to get off．

　　“Wait a minute, sir,” shouted the old woman．“That's my umbrella!”

　　Now Mr．Brown noticed that he had taken her umbrella．His face turned red at once and said in a hurry, “Oh, I'm very sorry, Madam! I didn't mean it!”

　　Seven days later Mr．Brown left the capital．To his surprise, he met the old woman and sat opposite to her again．Looking at the four umbrellas, the old woman was satisfied with herself．“It seems that I had a better result than the other four women．” She thought．

阅读理解

　　Rome had the forum．London has Speaker’s Corner．Now always-on-the-go New Yorker has Liz and Bill．

　　Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in the subway station and on busy street corners．Just talk．

　　Using a 2-feet-high sign that says, “Talk to Me,” they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits．

　　They don’t collect money．They don’t push the religion．So what is the point?

　　“To see what happens,” said Liz．“We simply enjoy life with open conversation(交流)．”

　　Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York city to Washington, a 270-mile trip．They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to talk with the strangers after their return．

　　“It started as a crazy idea,” Liz said．“We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their stories．People will talk to us about anything：their jobs, their clothes, their childhood, anything．”

　　Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was going to take．She had stopped for the second time in two days, to let two listeners know how it went．

　　Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease．“That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said．“To be able to talk about it to totally strangers was very good,” she explained．

　　To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met in the past year．A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters．

　　They may plan more parties or tried to attract more people to join their informal talks．Some publishers have expressed their interest in the book, something they say they’ll consider．

阅读理解

　　When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble－a word game－against herself, I knew I had to do something．My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against．I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it．After all, it had taken 15 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker．Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’ home．And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers．

　　It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me．I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything．She has been the one teaching me all my life; to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad．Now it was my turn to give something back．

　　It wasn’t easy at the beginning．There was so much to explain and to introduce．Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook．After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字处理)．This proved to be a bigger challenge(挑战)to her, so I gave her some homework．I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces．

　　“Are you this demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she said．

　　“No, of course not,” I said．“They already know how to use a computer．”

　　My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period．Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(过敏反应)．For as long as I remember,

　　and time I called, my mother would answer, Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years．

阅读理解

　　I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage．For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father．Totally loving．No ifs, ands or buts．

　　The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio．The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives．Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will．A person can choose to love．” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband．Well, for two weeks that would change．

　　And it did．Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you．” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased．Maybe a little puzzled．After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read．Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach．I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn's been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me．” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites．

　　So it went．Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums．Relaxed and happy, that's how the whole vacation passed．I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love．?

　　There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however．Evelyn and I still laugh about it today．On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression．

　　“What's the matter?” I asked her．

　　“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with sadness, “Do you know something I don't?”

　　“What do you mean?”

　　“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you've been so good to me…am I dying?”

　　It took a moment for it all to be understood．Then I burst out laughing．

　　“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms．“You're not dying; I'm just starting to live．”

阅读理解

　　One afternoon I toured an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting．I was looking forward to a quiet view of the wonderful works．

　　A young couple viewing the paintings ahead of me chatted nonstop between themselves．I watched them a moment and decided she was doing all the talking．I admired his patience for tolerating her constant words．Disturbed by their noise, I moved on．

　　I encountered them several times as I moved through the various rooms of art．Each time I heard her continuous flow of words, I moved away quickly．

　　I was standing at the counter of the museum gift shop doing some shopping when the couple approached the exit．Before they left, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a white object．He turned it into a long cane(手杖)and then tapped his way into the coatroom to get his wife's jacket．

　　"He's a brave man, " the clerk at the counter said．" Most of us would give up if we were blinded at such a young age．During his recovery, he made a promise his life wouldn't change．So, as before, he and his wife come in whenever there's a new art show．"

　　"But what does he get out of the art?" I asked．"He can't see"

　　"Can't see! You're wrong．He sees a lot．More than you and I do," the clerk said．"His wife describes each painting so he can see it in his head．"

　　I learned something about patience, courage and love that day．I saw the patience of a young wife describing paintings to a person without sight and the courage of a husband who would not allow blindness to change his life．And I saw the love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away arm in arm．