The day was warm and the sun shone down like a new beginning on my life. I was waving goodbye to my son, the last one of my fledglings （刚会飞的鸟）to leave home and go to new woods, "University actually" . I felt so lighthearted after spending many years looking after my four children—cooking, washing, ironing, teaching them how to look after themselves and manage their finances—that I actually thought “At long last, freedom".
But, as I watched my last one leave, although it was a joyous occasion, I realized I had not really prepared for this day, I
was too tied up with bringing up these adults of the future to realize that they would all leave the nest and lives independently.
At first I didn't know what "I" wanted to do. I tried a part time job, which ended in me running out in tears. I started a business making soft furnishings, but that didn't work either. I grew my own veggies and fruit, which lasted 3 years, until I was advised by my doctor that my feet couldn't take any more "tools” driven through them.
I began wondering if I had a future of my own. I cried for the life I was used to, and hadn't known or wanted anything different.
Then one day I saw an ad. for foster parents, I discussed it with my husband who was always behind everything I tried and with great disturbance , I rang up the number.
I now laugh and sing with my 14-year-old foster daughter, even when my cooker is a mess and my bathroom is a disaster area. I now know, 8 years later, what “I” was meant to be doing with all the spare hours, days, and weeks I had on my hands when my last fledgling flew the nest. The sun shines once again in my home.
小题1:How did the mother first feel when her last child went off to university?
| A．Lonely. | B．Anxious. | C．Relieved. | D．Annoyed. |
小题2:The underlined phrase “was tied up with” in the second paragraph means “
”.
| A．was occupied in | B．was associated with |
| C．was tired of | D．was addicted to |
小题3:In the third paragraph, the poor mother did all the things just to
.
| A．live a greener and healthier life |
| B．earn more money for her kids’ education |
| C．shift her attention and ease her anxiety |
| D．start her own decorating business |
小题4:What did the empty-nested mother think of her husband?
| A．Skilled | B．Supportive | C．Stubborn | D．Open-minded |
小题5:Thanks to the foster daughter, the author
.
| A．got rid of her busy work |
| B．forgot her other children |
| C．found a suitable job |
| D．knew what she really wanted |