Question

In the kitchen of my mother’s houses there has always been a wooden stand（木架）with a small notepad（记事本）and a hole for a pencil.

I’m looking for paper on which to note down the name of a book I am recommending to my mother. Over forty years since my earliest memories of the kitchen pad and pencil, five houses later, the current paper and pencil look the same as they always did. Surely it can’t be the same pencil? The pad is more modern, but the wooden stand is definitely the original one.

“I’m just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these year.” I say to her, walking bank into the living-room with a sheet of paper and the pencil. “You still use a pencil. Can’t you afford a pen?”

My mother replies a little sharply. “It works perfectly well. I’ve always kept the stand in the kitchen. I never knew when I might want to note down an idea, and I was always in the kitchen in these days.”

Immediately I can picture her, hair wild, blue housecoat covered in flour, a wooden spoon in one hand, the pencil in the other, her mouth moving silently. My mother smiles and says, “One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty. One of the children must have taken the paper. So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back. It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on.”

This story—which happened before I was born—reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is, as a gifted mathematician. I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work. Later, when my mother is in the bathroom, I go into her kitchen and turn over the breadboards. Sure enough, on the back of the smallest one, are some penciled marks I recognize as mathematics. Those symbols have traveled unaffected through fifty years, rooted in the soil of a cheap wooden breadboard, invisible（看不到的）exhibits at every meal.

1.Why has the author’s mother always kept the notepad and pencil in the kitchen?

A.To leave messages. B.To list her everyday tasks.

C.To note down maths problems. D.To write down a flash of inspiration.

2.What is the author’s original opinion about the wooden stand?

A.It has great value for the family.

B.It needs to be replaced by a better one.

C.It brings her back to her lonely childhood.D .It should be passed on to the next generation.

3.The author feels embarrassed for_______.

A.blaming her mother wrongly.

B.giving her mother a lot of trouble.

C.not making good use of time as her mother did.

D.not making any breakthrough in her field.

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A .The mother is successful in her career.

A.The family members like traveling.

B.The author had little time to play when young.

C.The marks on the breadboard have disappeared.

5.In thauthor’s mind ,her mother is_________.

A.strange in behavior. B.keen on her research.

C.fond of collecting old things. D.careless about her appearance.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.A

5.B

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。作者妈妈的厨房里总是放着一个记事本架子和一支铅笔。我很不解为什么她到现在还保持用铅笔的习惯。母亲向作者讲述了保持用铅笔的习惯原因。作者后悔没能像母亲那样利用自己的时间。

1.细节理解题。由第三段I never knew when I might want to note down an idea可知，母亲不知道什么时候就会该记下自己的一个想法。所以为什么作者的母亲总是把记事本和铅笔放在厨房里是因为它们是母亲用来记录下自己突然的灵感的工具。故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第三段I'm just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these years可知，作者只是很惊讶，这么多年过去了，母亲还用着记事本和铅笔。所以判断出，作者对母亲一直用很早以前的工具不解，认为她早就应该换更好的了。故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段中的This story—which happened before I was born—reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is, as a gifted mathematician. I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work可知，这个故事——发生在作者出生之前——让作者想起了自己的母亲是一个多么非凡的有天赋的数学家。作者感到很尴尬，因为作者抱怨没有足够的时间工作。所以判断出作者后悔没能像母亲那样利用自己的时间。故选C。

4.推理判断题。根据文章最后一段中的This story—which happened before I was born—reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is, as a gifted mathematician可知，母亲是一个有天赋的数学家。所以从最后一段推断出出这位母亲事业有成。故选A

5.推理判断题。根据第四段第二句“One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty. So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back. It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on.”可知，有一天母亲一边做饭一遍看小波林，母亲有一个很棒的想法，但是没有任何地方可以记录。所以母亲拿起面板，把它的想法写在了背面。事实证明，这是解决母亲正在研究的数学问题的真正突破。所以判断出作者的母亲很热衷于自己的研究。故选B。