Question

“Mom, I have cancer.” These four words catapulted my son and me on a journey that lasted two years. On that day I felt a wave of paralyzing fear.
Scott was the oldest of my four children. He was 33 years old and a successful assistant principal at SamRayburn Hifht School in Pasadena, Texas. He and his wife Carolyn were busy raising four active children. Scott was 6’2’’, weighed 200 pounds and had never been sick a day in his life.
A few month earlier a mole（痣）on his neck had changed color. “Dr.Warner called,” Scott said that spring morning. “It’s melanoma.（黑素瘤）” I tried to comfort him, naming all the people I knew who had survived skin cancer. Yet, I felt small tentacles of fear begin to wrap around my chest.
Our next stop was MDAnderson, the famous cancer hospital in Houston. Scott had surgery at the end of May and was scheduled for radiation treatments over the summer recess. “There is an 80 percent chance it won’t reoccur,” the doctors said. At the end of summer, all his tests came back negative and Scott was back at school in the fall. However, in December, Scott discovered a lump on his neck. It was examined and the result came back “malignant.（惡性的）” We now realized that Scott fell into the 20 percent category. I could feel the tentacles tightening around my chest. He entered the hospital for an aggressive treatment, a combination of interferon and interleukin.
After five months of treatment, he had radical surgery on his neck. The test results were encouraging, only three of the 33 lymph nodes（淋巴結） removed were malignant. We were very hopeful.
For the next six months, Scott’s follow-up visits went well. Then in October, X-ray revealed a spot on his lung. The spot was removed during surgery and the doctors tried to be optimistic. It was a daily battle to control the fear and panic each setback brought.
In January, he was diagnosed as having had a “disease explosion.” The cancer had spread to his lungs, spine and liver and he was given three to six months to live. There were times during this period when I felt like I was having a heart attack. The bands constricting my chest made breathing difficult.
When you watch your child battle cancer, you experience a roller coaster of emotions. There are moments of hope and optimism but a bad test result or even an unusual pain can bring on dread and panic.
Scott was readmitted to the hospital for one last try with chemotherapy. He died, quite suddenly, just six weeks after his last diagnosis. I was completely destroyed. I had counted on those last few months.
The next morning I was busy notifying people and making funeral arrangements. I remember having this nagging feeling that something was physically wrong with me. It took a moment to realize that the crushing sensation in my chest was gone. The thing every parent fears the most had happened. My son was gone. Of course, the fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow.
After you lose a child, it is so difficult to go on. The most minimal tasks, combing your hair or taking a shower, becoming monumental. For months I just sat and stared into space. That spring, the trees began to bloom; flowers began to pop up in my garden. Friendswood was coming back to life but I was dead inside.
During those last weeks, Scott and I often spoke about life and death. Fragments of those conversations kept playing over and over in my mind.
“Don’t let this ruin your life, Mom.”
“Make sure Dad re models his workshop.”
“Please, take care of my family.”
I remember wishing I could have just one more conversation with him. I knew what I would say, but what would Scott say? “I know how much you love me, Mom. So just sit on the couch and cry.” No, I knew him better than that. Scott loved life and knew how precious it is. I could almost hear his voice saying, “Get up Mom, Get on with your life. It’s too valuable to waste.”
That was the day I began to move forward. I signed up for a cake decorating class. Soon I was making cakes for holidays and birthdays. My daughter-in-law told me about a writing class in Houston. I hadn’t written in years, but since I was retired I decided it be time to start again. The local college advertised a Life Story Writing class that I joined. There I met women who had also lost their children. The Poet Laureate of Texas was scheduled to speak at our local Barnes and Noble. I attended and joined our local poetry society. I never dreamed that writing essays and poems about Scott could be so therapeutic. Several of those poems have ever been published. In addition, each group brought more and more people into my life..
I don’t believe you ever recover from the loss of a child. Scott is in my heart and mind every day. However, I do believe you can survive.
Scott fought so bravery to live and he never gave up. He taught me that life is a gift that should be cherished, not wasted. It has taken years to become the person I am today. The journey has been a difficult, painful process but certainly worth the effort and I know that my son would be proud

1. 1.
   How old was Scott probably when he died?
   1. A.
      33
   2. B.
      35
   3. C.
      37
   4. D.
      40
2. 2.
   What does the underlined sentence “ The bands constricting my chest made breathing difficult” probably imply?
   1. A.
      It implies that Scott’s mother was likely to have a heart attack
   2. B.
      It implies that there was something wrong with Scott’s mother’s chest
   3. C.
      It implies that Scott’s mother was very upset and panic because of Scott’s severe illness
   4. D.
      It implies that the cancer had spread to her chest just like her son
3. 3.
   Which of the following statements best shows the author’s feeling about Scott’s death?
   1. A.
      It was a daily battle to control the fear and panic each setback brought
   2. B.
      She felt a wave of fear
   3. C.
      She felt a feeling of fear begin to wrap around her chest
   4. D.
      The fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow
4. 4.
   From Scott and his mother’s conversation, we can know that Scott is ________
   1. A.
      considerable
   2. B.
      humorous
   3. C.
      determined
   4. D.
      sensitive
5. 5.
   The author intends to tell us that___________
   1. A.
      it takes a long time to make a person recover from the shock of losing a child
   2. B.
      Scott is proud of his mother
   3. C.
      life is full of happiness and sorrow
   4. D.
      We’d better make our life count instead of counting your days
6. 6.
   What might be the best title of the passage ?
   1. A.
      Life is valuable
   2. B.
      Grieving and Recovery
   3. C.
      Love and sorrow
   4. D.
      Alive or dead

Answer 1

BCDAD B
試題分析：本文講述了一位母親在兒子患病和去世后的一段心路歷程，從害怕失去兒子的恐懼到失去兒子后的悲痛，然后到重新找到生活的動力。在作者的敘述中我們不僅感受到了深深的母愛，也領悟到了人生的真諦：生命不在于長短，而在于活著的意義。
1.B細節理解題。從文章開頭．．． a journey that lasted two years. 和．．．He was 33 years old可知當Scott去世時是35歲，故答案選B。
2.C推理判斷題。根據上文內容可知Scott的癌癥已經擴散，從情理上做為母親的作者內心應該是痛苦，不安的。所以C選項正確。
3.D細節理解題。根據文中My son was gone. Of course, the fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow.可知D選項正確。
4.A推理判斷題。A體貼的；B幽默的；C意志堅強的；D敏感的。從Scott對母親的叮囑“Don’t let this ruin your life, Mom.”“Make sure Dad re models his workshop.”“Please, take care of my family.可知在自己身患絕癥，不久就要離世的時候，Scott還在想著別人，由此可知A選項正確。
5.D推理判斷題。根據最后作者的感悟可知作者講述這件事的目的就是告訴大家生命是值得珍惜的，人活著要有意義。所以D選項正確。
6.B主旨大意題。在文中作者講述了自己在兒子患病期間的緊張恐懼和兒子過世后的悲痛，但是后來卻在回憶和兒子的對話中意識到了兒子的堅強，意識到了生命的真正意義，從此振作了起來。由此可知文中內容就是講述自己的痛苦和振作的過程，故B選項正確。
考點：考查故事類短文閱讀。