Question

It was not until I was 9 years old that I found out my father was ill. It was 1994, but I can remember my mother's words as if it were yesterday: "Kernel, I don't want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very careful when you are around him." AIDS wasn't something we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could take care of himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father's other children lived far away, so it fell to me to took after him.

We couldn't afford all the necessary medicine for him, and because Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn't even buy food for dinner. I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher's words muffled as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage. I did not share my burden with anyone. I had seen people reacted to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel. When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside even though he was too weak to feed himself.

I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days. Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at the nonprofit National AIDS Support. That day, she kept me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who cared. She saved my life.

I was 15 when my father died. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn't want to call attention to AIDS. I do.

1.What does Kernel tell us about her father?

A. He had stayed in the hospital since he fell ill.

B. He worked hard to pay for his medication.

C. He told no one about his disease.

D. He was carefully attended by the nurses on his deathbed

2.What can we learn from the underlined sentence?

A. Kernel found what the teacher said hard to understand.

B. Kernel had special difficulty in hearing.

C. Kernel was too tired to hear her teacher's words.

D. Kernel was too troubled to focus on the lesson.

3.Why did Kernel keep her father's disease a secret?

A. She wanted to obey her mother.

B. She was afraid of being looked down upon.

C. She found no one willing to listen to her.

D. She thought it was shameful to have AIDS.

4.What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A. To tell people about the sufferings of her father

B. To prove how little people knew about AIDS.

C. To draw people’s attention to AIDS.

D. To recall a hard time of her childhood.

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.C

【解析】作者介绍自己的父亲患有艾滋病，但家人以及父亲一直保守这个秘密。作者一直照顾父亲直到父亲去世，作者想通过讲述父亲的事来引起大家对艾滋病的重视。

1.细节理解题。根据最后一段He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me.可知，她的父亲直到去世也没有把这个秘密告诉任何一个人，哪怕是作者自己。故选C。

2.推理判断题。根据前一句I would sit in class feeling completely lost可知，我坐在教室里，完全陷入沉思，因此老师讲的话我根本就没有心思听，也听不清，因为我一直在思考如何度过这段时光，故作者是太烦恼而无法集中精力去听课，故选D。

3.推理判断题。根据第二段I had seen people reacted to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel.可知，作者怕别人知道了也会嘲笑她，故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段He didn't want to call attention to AIDS. I do.可知，作者的父亲不想让艾滋病引起大家的注意，但是作者想让大家注意艾滋病，对艾滋病重视起来，故选C。