Without warning, my father would knock on the door in the middle of night, drunken and begging my mother to open it. Later on, they lived their ______ lives and my mother was ____my family independently.
My father was always claiming he had been planning to do something for us, but he had no ______. The man who was ______ to love us, in fact, lacked the ______ of what it truly meant to love a child.
Maybe it was his complicated relationship to his father that made him ______. Maybe it was the pain ______ with a life of misfortune. Who knows? Whatever it was, it stole him from us, and ______ from me. Not understanding me, he simply ______ me—not just emotionally, but ______ as well. Never once did he hug me.
My best memories of him were from his ______ at participation. Once every month or two, he would ______ and drive us to Trucker’s Paradise. To me, the games were fun but easily forgotten. It was the ______ of my father that was most treasured.
It wasn’t until I was much older that I would find evidence of my father’s love.
When my favorite personal computer came onto the market, I convinced myself that I had to have it even though its price was far ______ my mother’s reach. I mowed （割草）every yard I could find that summer, ______ it still wasn’t enough. Then my dad agreed to help me ____the rest of the money by selling watermelons. This was the first time that I had ever spent time alone with him. He laughed and repeatedly ______ me as “my boy”, a phrase he relayed with a sense of ______.
It just goes to show that however distant the father and however broken the ______, there is still a need for even the smallest bit of ______ of a father’s love. Although he had never told me that he loved me, I would regard that day as the greatest evidence of that fact.
1.A. brief B. separate C. severe D. unbearable
2.A. wishing for B. looking for C. applying for D. providing for
3.A. intention B. permission C. possession D. attention
4.A. advised B. required C. supposed D. instructed
5.A. allocation B. affection C. guarantee D. comprehension
6.A. cautious B. distant C. greedy D. selfish
7.A. connected B. related C. faced D. decorated
8.A. directly B. officially C. temporarily D. particularly
9.A. supported B. ignored C. appreciated D. blamed
10.A. physically B. mentally C. spiritually D. psychologically
11.A. comments B. responses C. attempts D. focuses
12.A. light us up B. bring us up C. put us up D. pick us up
13.A. absence B. reference C. presence D. preference
14.A. beyond B. within C. below D. over
15.A. otherwise B. yet C. so D. or
16.A. raise B. rise C. arise D. arouse
17.A. recognized B. regarded C. introduced D. treated
18.A. shame B. pride C. achievement D. guilt
19.A. surroundings B. feeling C. gesture D. bond
20.A. warning B. signal C. evidence D. mark
—I’ve never seen Mike in low spirits.
—He didn’t pass his driving test a third time. He’s been ________ ever since.
A. on cloud nine B. over the moon
C. down in the dumps D. flying off the handle
He didn’t make ________ preparations, or he would have succeeded in the job interview.
A. vacant B. urgent
C. adequate D. primitive
We look towards strengthening cooperation with universities all over the world ________ scientific research.
A. in response to B. in regard to
C. in defense of D. in case of
Some netizens use “beat a call” as an ________ to “cheering for” to show their approval or support for others.
A. alternative B. account
C. apology D. acquaintance
Walter’s work ________ efficiently, the boss decided to promote him to senior manager.
A. finished B. had been finished
C. finishing D. to finish
