It is Sunday and lunch has, as usual, come to a hurried end．My wife and I are still sitting at the table．My wife likes to be
in the life of her child, but I sometimes fear she is in too deep．She has
the morning on an online student forum, asking questions about UCAS
Dick．
“A lot of people haven’t had any offers yet,” she says． “I said I already had one．”
“Wait,” Dick says． “Are you
to be me?”
“No, I have my own login details now,” she says．
“How do you know he isn’t his own mother pretending to be him?” Dick says．
Earlier, when we all sat down to lunch, Dick, who had been to parties the
evening, came back．
“Who were there?” my wife asks Dick． “What was it like?”
“It was OK．” he says．
“Not good enough,” she says． “What was the worst thing
happened?” My wife’s continued question
a deepening, boring silence． I start to eat faster． There is a long, highly
pause in the conversation．
“So,” she says
, “was it a kissing party?”
“Oh my God!” shouts Dick,
his fork． “What is wrong with you? Why are you like this?”
Surrounded by further scolds, lunch comes to a hurried end． Dick finds himself
with clearing up．
, the running of water and the sound of washing plates are the only sounds in the room．
“
at any time you’re prepared to apologize for being rude,” she says, “you can go and finish watching the football．”
“Are you joking?” he shouts． “No way! Why
I apologize to you?”
He pauses to look into the bottom of a pan, and a smile
across his face． “What I mean is, I’m really very sorry,” he says, dropping the pan into the sink and running from the room． “Bye!”
“You don’t have to worry,” my wife says． “In a
’s time, you’ll be 18 and I won’t be able to do this to you any more．”
“Really?” he says．
“You’ll be a（n）
,” she says．
The boy stops to consider the blue print that after a
set seven days from then on, his parents will be
to stop ruining his life． He looks both doubtful and a little alarmed．
I approaches my wife，whispering to her． “Dear, I agree with you—understanding and trust may
be a good way to communicate with our teen children．”
| 小題1: | | A．lost | B．confused | C．involved | D．joined |
|
| 小題2: | | A．spent | B．cost | C．spared | D．used |
|
| 小題3: | | A．in need of | B．on behalf of | C．in charge of | D．as a result of |
|
| 小題4: | | A．willing | B．bound | C．intended | D．pretending |
|
| 小題5: | | A．urgent | B．latter | C．previous | D．obvious |
|
| 小題6: | | A．to be | B．that | C．which | D．being |
|
| 小題7: | | A．focuses on | B．meets with | C．caters to | D．deals with |
|
| 小題8: | | A．motivated | B．unlikely | C．evolved | D．charged |
|
| 小題9: | | A．finally | B．gradually | C．initially | D．randomly |
|
| 小題10: | | A．casting | B．falling | C．dropping | D．washing |
|
| 小題11: | | A．crowded | B．furnished | C．equipped | D．tasked |
|
| 小題12: | | A．For a time | B．Once upon a time | C．Sooner or later | D．In time |
|
| 小題13: | | A．Unless | B．Supposing | C．If only | D．While |
|
| 小題14: | | A．must | B．will | C．should | D．shall |
|
| 小題15: | | A．comes | B．wanders | C．gets | D．steals |
|
| 小題16: | | A．moment | B．week | C．year | D．month |
|
| 小題17: | | A．adult | B．freedom | C．origin | D．friend |
|
| 小題18: | | A．goal | B．record | C．example | D．deadline |
|
| 小題19: | | A．required | B．limited | C．forbidden | D．permitted |
|
| 小題20: | | A．also | B．too | C．as well | D．either |
|
