How old was I? I can’t remember. Maybe I was only 10. It was the first    16   without my father because he was away for something. He left me to fill that sad place in my mother’s heart. It was the Christmas when I stopped being a    17   and tried to play Father Christmas myself. I really wanted to make it happy and bright again. It was the Christmas of the    18  .
Mom first saw the coat at Tobias, a nice    19   shop in our town’s little shopping mall. It was dark green. And it was a    20  , heavy, wool dress coat. Mom pulled it out from the rack(架) and held it up. “Long enough,” she said in a low voice and    21  .
“I need a new coat,” Mom smiled before the mirror. She looked good on any clothes,       22   this coat suited her much better. She looked at the    23  , then hung the coat back on the rack, standing there once more to    24   
Eighty-seven dollars. But I decided to buy it for her. As we moved on    25  the mall, I found some excuse to return and asked one of the Tobias ladies to    26   the coat.
I helped clean every yard(庭院) in our neighbourhood—some yards twice, and soon I got the coat. The store ladies helped me put it in their biggest    27   with bright blue paper and thick silver ribbon(絲帶). I don’t remember    28   I got it home, but I can still feel the wonderful    29   and pride that filled me. I would imagine the big space which the box would take up under our tree. Here it was—joy, peace and    30  —all in the box, waiting for Mom’s surprise.

It was a Saturday afternoon. Mr. Green was reading a newspaper. Suddenly he heard his wife 16    in the next room. He hurried to her and asked, "What happened to you. my dear?”
“Oh, dear!” his wifecried out, "My head hurts!  17    a doctor. Hurry up!”Their two children were both  18   at that moment and something was wrong with the telephone. Mr. Green 19    go to a hospital himself. Bad luck! All the hospitals in the town were 20  that day. Mr. Green didn't know   21   . Just then his friend, Mr. Brown, saw him and asked. "What is   22 ?"
Mr. Green told him everything. The man .said. "Why not turn to  23   ? He can help you."
Mr. Green remembered his friend, Mr. Black was a good doctor. He hurried to Mr. Black's.
When he got there, Mr. and Mr. Black were having their 24 meal . The doctor asked Mr. Green to drink with him.He was happy and sat  25. After that they began to chat. And when Mrs. Black asked, “How is you wife?”“She is fine, thanks…” Mr. Green stopped at once — he remembered his wife was waiting for a doctor at home. ^

【小題6】

A．when to go B．how to do C．where to go D．what to deal with

Mobile phone (手機) has become a problem for middle schools. Some middle schools in Australia have banned (禁止) students from carrying(攜帶)mobile phones during school hours.

Mobile phone use among children has become a problem for the school this year.Several children have got mobile phones as Christmas gifts, and more students will want them.Mary Bluett,an official官員,said mobile phone use is a distraction (分心的事) to students during school hours and it also gives teachers so much trouble in their classrooms.Teachers were also saying that sometimes students might use phone messages to cheat during exams.

She said some schools had tried to ban mobile phones.Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t get in touch with(和...取得聯(lián)系)their children.

Many teachers said students should not have mobile phones at school,but if there was a good reason,they could leave their phones at school office.They also said there were many reasons why the students should not have mobile phones at school:they were easy to lose and were a distraction from studies.

Many people say that they understand why parents would want their children to have phones,but they think schools should let the students know when they can use their mobile phones.

( )23.We know from the passage that some children get mobile phones from　　　　　 .　　

A.the makers and sellers B.the passers-by and strangers C.their parents and friends D.some mobile phone users

( )24.What does the underlined word cheat mean in the passage?　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　

A.聊天 B.核對 C.查詢 D.作弊

( )25.The passage tells us that 　　　　　　　　.

A.students shouldn’t have mobile phones at school except for some special reasons

B.it is impossible to ban students from using mobile phones at school

C.some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t use their phones at school

D.parents should teach their children how to use mobile phones during school hours