Question

It was my first day back home since starting college. A lot had changed in the last year. Not with my hometown but with me. I had left as a 17-year-old boy and had now returned as an 18-year-old man. In the city, I was living on my own, had a part-time job and was studying. Even the government recognized I was an adult: I had a driver’s license. So here I was, on my summer vacation, walking down the main street with my father, desperate for him to acknowledge how mature I was. When his recognition failed to appear, I took matters into my own hands. “Dad,” I said casually, “I’m thirsty. Let’s go for a beer.” It was the first time I’d ever mentioned beer in front of my father, let alone ask him to drink one with me.

He turned to me with a curious expression on his face. “A beer ? Well I guess you’re old enough now. Let’s go to Sailors’ Bar. It’s where my cousin Tom, your uncle, used to drink. You remember him, right?”

I had only some vague(模糊的) memories of my uncle. He was the black sheep of the family. We didn’t talk about him much. “What ever happened to Uncle Tom, Dad? I haven’t seen him in years,” I said as we continued towards the bar.

“Neither have I, unfortunately. He was a good kid once. But things changed,” my father said sadly. As a boy, he explained, there had been no better-behaved boy than Tom. But after leaving school, he moved to the city and fell in with bad company. He started going out every night, drinking in nightclubs and playing cards. Soon he lost everything and had to beg his mum to pay his debts. She agreed on the condition he returned home.

My dad took a deep breath and continued his tale. “Things settled down for a while. He married a lovely woman, gave up his bad habits. But it didn’t last. He was soon back to his old ways. He couldn’t resist. He was at Sailors’ Bar almost every night. His poor mother died of grief and shame. His wife followed her soon after.

“What ruined him was alcohol. He told me once, when a man begins drinking, he never knows where it’ll end. ‘So’, Tom warned me, ‘beware of your first drink!’

“He went from bad to worse. Last year Tom sent me a letter saying he had been found guilty of stealing, and sent to prison for ten years.”

Dad finished talking just as we reached the front of Sailors’ Bar. “Anyway, here we are. Let’s go in,” he said. But I understood. I put my arm around my father and said, “I’m not thirsty any more, Dad. Let’s go home.”

1.Why did the young man invite his father to drink a beer?

A. Because he was thirsty.

B. Because he wanted to show he was an adult.

C. Because he wanted to impress his father casually.

D. Because he wanted to discuss his Uncle Tom.

2.What does the young man mean by referring to Uncle Tom as “the black sheep of the family”?

A. The family was concerned about Tom because he was always in trouble.

B. The family showed sympathy to Tom because he was unfortunate.

C. The family felt ashamed of Tom because he was a failure.

D. The family felt disgusted about him because he was different.

3.What was the main source of Uncle Tom’s problems?

A. His overly-strict family.

B. His addiction to card games.

C. The deaths of his mother and wife.

D. His inability to control his drinking.

4.In the story, the father told his son about Tom in order to ________.

A. entertain the son while they walked to the bar

B. convince the son of the harm caused by drinking

C. recall an interesting period in the father’s life

D. warn the son to keep away from Tom

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：儿子长大了想和父亲去喝酒，父亲借Uncle Tom终日酗酒，家破人入狱的故事让儿子知道喝酒的危害，儿子明白了父亲的用意，欣然回家。

1.on my summer vacation, walking down the main street with my father, desperate for him to acknowledge how mature I was.和第二段Well I guess you’re old enough now. Let’s go to Sailors’ Bar.的内容可知作者想在父亲面前显示已经长大了，是成年人了，所以提出去喝酒，故选B.

2.Uncle Tom终日酗酒，家破人入狱的叙述可知家人为他感到羞愧。black sheep“败家子，害群之马”，故选C.

3.He started going out every night, drinking in nightclubs and playing cards. Soon he lost everything and had to beg his mum to pay his debts.第五段He couldn’t resist. He was at Sailors’ Bar almost every night.及第六段“What ruined him was alcohol. He told me once, when a man begins drinking, he never knows where it’ll end.可知导致Tom结果的根源是他终日酗酒，故选D.

4.Let’s go to Sailors’ Bar. It’s where my cousin Tom, your uncle, used to drink. You remember him, right?”父子二人去酒吧前父亲提及Tom，一路上讲述Tom的故事，故事讲完后父亲又提到Tom warned me, ‘beware of your first drink!’可知父亲是想借Tom的教训让儿子知道喝酒的危害，故选B.

考点：考查生活哲理类短文阅读。

【名师点睛】

在做阅读理解题过程中，应首先略读一下短文，了解一下短文的大致意思，然后把几个选项含义理解透，尤其注意意思相近，表达有交叉的选项之间的区别。然后再细读短文，把答案填入合适位置。答题时可以把含义相近的几个选项轮流填入同一处位置，反复阅读，反复体会，找出最佳选项，如第1小题根据第一段on my summer vacation, walking down the main street with my father, desperate for him to acknowledge how mature I was.和第二段Well I guess you’re old enough now. Let’s go to Sailors’ Bar.的内容可知作者想在父亲面前显示已经长大了，是成年人了，所以提出去喝酒，故选B.对于实在没有把握的小题可以最后完成。完成短文后，再认真通读一遍全文，看看上下语意是否通顺，是否符合逻辑关系。

另外，做题时要注意文章的首段和每一段的首句或尾句，因为它们往往就是文章的主题句。阅读中要注意要点之间的关系。