It was eleven o'clock that night when Mr. Pontellier returned from his night out

It was eleven o'clock that night when Mr. Pontellierreturned from his night out. He was in an excellent humor, in high spirits, andvery talkative. His entrance awoke his wife, who was in bed and fast asleep whenhe came in. He talked to her while he undressed, telling her anecdotes and bitsof news and gossip that he had gathered during the day. She was overcome withsleep, and answered him with little half utterances.

He thoughtit very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence,showed so little interest in things which concerned him and valued so littlehis conversation.

Mr.Pontellier had forgotten the candies and peanuts that he had promised the boys.Still, he loved them very much and went into the room where they slept to takea look at them and make sure that they were resting comfortably. The result ofhis investigation was far from satisfactory. He turned and shifted theyoungsters about in bed. One of them began to kick and talk about a basket fullof crabs.

Mr.Pontellier returned to his wife with the information that Raoul had a highfever and needed looking after. Then he lit his cigar and went and sat near theopen door to smoke it.

Mrs.Pontellier was quite sure Raoul had no fever. He had gone to bed perfectlywell, she said, and nothing had made him sick. Mr. Pontellier was too wellfamiliar with fever symptoms to be mistaken. He assured her the child wasburning with fever at that moment in the next room.

He reproachedhis wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it wasnot a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it? He himselfhad his hands full with his business. He could not be in two places at once;making a living for his family on the street, and staying home to see that noharm done to them. He talked in a dull, repeated and insistent way.

Mrs.Pontellier sprang out of bed and went into the next room. She soon came backand sat on the edge of the bed, leaning her head down on the pillow. She saidnothing, and refused to answer her husband when he questioned her. When hiscigar was smoked out, he went to bed, and in half a minute was fast asleep.

Mrs.Pontellier was by that time thoroughly awake. She began to cry a little, andwiped her eyes on the sleeve of her nightdress. She went out on the porch,where she sat down and began to rock herself in the chair.

It was thenpast midnight. The cottages were all dark. There was no sound except thehooting of an old owl and the everlasting voice of the sea, which broke like amournful lullaby (催眠曲) upon the night.

The tearscame so fast to Mrs. Pontellier's eyes that the damp sleeve of her nightdressno longer served to dry them. She went on crying there, not caring any longerto dry her face, her eyes, her arms.

She couldnot have told why she was crying. Such experiences as had just happened werenot uncommon in her married life. They seemed never before to have weighed muchagainst theabundance (充足) of her husband's kindness and a uniformdevotion which had come to be self-understood.

Anindescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part ofher consciousness, filled her whole being with vague pain. It was like ashadow, like a mist passing across her soul's summer day. It was strange andunfamiliar; it was a mood. She did not sit there inwardly scolding her husband,expressing sadness about Fate, which had directed her footsteps to the pathwhich they had taken. She was just having a good cry all to herself.

Themosquitoes succeeded in driving away a mood which might have held her there inthe darkness half a night longer.

Thefollowing morning Mr. Pontellier was up in good time to take the carriage whichwas to convey him to the ship. He was returning to the city to his business,and they would not see him again at the Island till the coming Saturday. He hadregained his calmness, which seemed to have been somewhatweakened the nightbefore. He was eager to be gone, as he looked forward to a lively week in thefinancial center.

1.Mr.Pontellier comes back home from his night out ina/an ______state of mind.

A．excited           B．confused          C．depressed         D．disappointed

2. Mr. Pontellier criticizes his wife because ______.

A．she is notwholly devoted to her children

B．she doeslittle housework but sleep

C．she knowsnothing about fever symptoms

D．she fails totake her son to hospital

3.The writer would most likely describe Mr.Pontellier’s conduct during the evening as ______.

A．impatient andgenerous                  B．enthusiasticand responsible

C．concerned andgentle                    D．inconsiderateand self-centered

4.The underlined sentence suggests that Mr.Pontellier's complaints to his wife are ______.

A．hesitant andconfused                    B．not as urgentas he claims

C．angry and uncertain                     D．too complexto make sense

5.In paragraphs 8 to 13, Mrs. Pontellier’s reactionsto her husband’s behavior suggest that ______.

A．she acceptsunquestioningly her role of taking care of the children

B．this is oneof the first times she has acknowledged her unhappiness with her husband

C．herrelationship with her husband is not what has made her depressed

D．she is angryabout something that happened before her husband left

6.The passage shows Mr. Pontellier is happiest when he______.

A．sits near theopen door smoking a cigar and talking

B．makes up withhis wife after a heated argument

C．has been awayfrom home or is about to leave home

D．has given hischildren gifts of candies and peanuts

试题答案

【答案】

1.A

2.A

3.D

4.B

5.B

6.C

【解析】

试题