Rosemary sat at her kitchen table, working a crossword puzzle. Crosswords were nice; they filled the time, and kept the mind active. She needed just one word to complete this morning’s puzzle; the clue was “a Swiss river,” and the first of its three letters was “A”. Unfortunately, Rosemary had no idea what the name of river was, and could not look it up. Her atlas was on her desk, and the desk was in the guest room, currently being occupied by her grandson Victor.
Looking up over the tops of her glasses, Rosemary glanced at the kitchen clock: it was almost 10 a.m. Land sakes! Did the boy intend to sleep all day? She noticed the pain in her wrist again, and put down her pen. Anyhow, at 87 years of age, she was glad she could still write at all. She had decided long ago that growing old was like slowly turning to stone; you couldn’t take anything for granted. She stood up slowly, painfully, and started walking to the guest room.
The trip, though only a distance of about 25 feet, seemed to take a long while. Rosemary arrived at the door to the guest room. It stood slightly open, and she looked through the opening. Victor lay sleeping on his side, his arms bent, his expression slightly pained. Get up, lazy bones, she wanted to say. Even in childhood, Rosemary had never slept past 4 a.m.; there were too many chores (杂iS) to do. How different things were for Victor’s generation! Her youngest grandson behaved as if he had never done a chore in his life. Twenty-one years old, he had driven down to Florida to visit Rosemary in his shiny new car, a gift from his dear parents. Victor would finish college soon, and his future appeared bright — if he ever got out of bed, that is.
Something Victor had said last night over dinner had disturbed her. Now what was it? Oh yes; he had been talking about one of his college courses ——a “gut”，he had called it. When she had asked him to explain the word, Victor had said it was a course that you took simply because it was easy to pass. Rosemary, who had not even had a high school education, found the word unpleasant. If she had been allowed to continue her studies, she would never have taken a “gut” ...
The memory flooded back then, still painful as an open wound all these years later. It was the first day of high school. She had graduated from grammar school the previous year, but her father had forbidden her to go to high school that autumn, saying she was needed on the farm. After much tearful begging, she had gotten him to promise that next year, she could start high school. She had endured (忍、受）a whole year of chores instead of books, with animals and rough farmhands for company instead of people of her own age. Now, at last, the glorious day was at hand. She had put on her best dress (she owned two), her heart racing hopefully.
But her father was waiting for her as she came downstairs.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked. “To high school, Papa.”
“No you’re not. Take that thing off and get back to work. ”
“But Papa, you promised!” “Do as I say!” he thundered.
There was no arguing with Papa when he spoke that way. Tearfully, she had to drag herself upstairs to change clothes. Rosemary still wondered what her life would have been like if her father had not been waiting at the bottom of the stairs that day, or if somehow she had found the strength to disobey him...
Suddenly, Victor moved slightly, without waking, and whispered something unintelligible. Waken from her daydreaming, Rosemary stared at Victor. She wondered if he were having a nightmare .
5.From the second paragraph we know that Rosemary felt it to be getting older.
A. acceptable B, terrible C. unbearable D. enjoyable
6.By saying “if he ever got out of bed” (Para. 3) Rosemary thought Victor was .
A. too tired to get up B. promising but lazy
C. impolite to oversleep D. old enough to help with chores
7.Why did Rosemary dislike Victor’s use of the word “gut”？
A.Because it showed that Victor didn’t take education seriously.
B.Because it reminded Rosemary of her grammar school classes.
C.Because it indicated that college courses were too easy to pass.
D.Because it implied that Rosemary was lacking in high school education.
8.The year after Rosemary graduated from grammar school was .
