Question

    My husband David was waiting at the door when our daughter Laura and I came back． It wasn't like him to be home so early． The disbelief on his face told me that something was up．

"Do you still have a job？"

"No． Redundant，" he answered， looking away from me．

"OK． We'll figure it out，" I replied calmly． I actually had no idea how we were going to figure it out． I immediately started to think of how we'd cut costs and who we should start to get in touch with． That night， after David had fallen asleep， I cried myself to sleep， and frequently sobbed（抽泣） in the shower in the days that followed．

I knew the loss of David's income would have great effect on us． He had worked for the same  company for twenty﹣one years and was our main income． I work at home caring for Laura， and my income is uncertain． We have debts， and job hunting takes time．

Still， I was more concerned about my husband's emotional state than our financial situation． David's sense of identity was tied to his job． He called his parents to tell them about losing his job， but didn't say a word to anyone else for weeks． He told me that he felt like "a failure"．

It was tough for me to watch David struggle with unemployment． One night several weeks after he lost his job， David woke me just before midnight， sweating， pacing the bedroom floor and saying he didn't feel well． We spent the night in the emergency room waiting to see if he had a heart attack． Thankfully， it was just a serious anxiety attack． It was then that I knew I needed to do more to understand what my husband was going through． Here is what I learned from my own experience﹣ and from talking to experts﹣ on how to support your loved ones through a job loss．

1.The underlined word in Paragraph 3 probably means     ．

A. A piece of cake

B. Out of question

C. It's a secret

D. Out of employment

2.What did the writer do about her husband's situation at first？

A. She always remained calm and gave him advice．

B. She appeared calm when in fact she was worried．

C. She began to write about his situation to the newspapers．

D. She talked to some experts to ask for advice．

3.What can we know about David？

A. He talked much to others to reduce his anxiety．

B. He never thought himself "a failure" even when jobless．

C. He was fired by the company for which he had worked for twenty﹣one years．

D. Once leaving the job， he suffered a heart attack and had to consult the doctor．

4.What will be talked about in the following part of the passage？

A. Why the company fired David．

B. How David suffered from the heart attack and the treatment．

C. How the writer supported David to get through the jobless period．

D. What the writer did to help get some income．

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇故事类阅读。文章作者通过自己的亲身经历说明了如何帮助自己的伴侣度过失业期。

1.词义猜测题。根据第一段中的"The disbelief on his face"和丈夫的回答No可知，David失业了，故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据四、五两段内容可知，作者当时冷静地回答丈夫的话，但那天晚上哭着睡着了，在接下来的几天里，作者又经常在淋浴室里哭，由此推断出作者其实很担心但又不敢表现出来，要装作很平静，故选B。

3.细节理解题。从Do you still have a job？No．以及He had worked for the same insurance company for 21years and is our main income可知他在一家保险公司工作了21年，是家庭的主要收入来源，他被这家他为之工作了21年的公司解雇了，故选C。

4.推理判断题。根据文章最后一句Here is what I learned from my own experience﹣and from talking to experts﹣on how to support your spouse through a job loss下面是我从我自己的经历，以及与专家的交谈中学习到的关于如何帮助自己的伴侣度过失业期的东西，所以推测出作者将向大家分享她是如何帮助伴侣度过失业期的，故选C。