“I was only thirteen when four of my team members and I were chosen by my swim c

 “I was only thirteen when four of my team membersand I were chosen by my swim coach to train with the Chinese National Team. Thefollowing piece shows how that experience has influenced me.”

The night before I left for China, my mother called meinto her room. I entered not knowing what to expect. I sat down at the end ofher very neatly-made bed, opposite the bedroom table on which she kept aMing-style vase illustrated in great detail. She told me that mygreat-grandmother was still living in the surroundings of Beijing. Her name wasRen Li Ling and she was 97 years old. This was the first time I had ever heardof her.

The dragon on the vase snaked through the flowers andvines（藤蔓）as my mother said, “Pu Pu, look at me. Youneed to hear this so that when you go to China you will understand. You mustkeep this knowledge in your heart.”

She told me a story about my grandfather, Ren LiLing's son, who left Beijing to go to college in Taiwan. She told me how theChinese civil war kept him away from his mother for fifty years, so neither ofthem even knew that the other was alive. No one from Taiwan could visit, write,or call anyone in mainland. All lines of communication were cut off.

She told me of my grandfather's devotion to his ownchildren, and how difficult it was for him to send his daughter to America forher education, fearing that same separation. He gave my mother all that hecould give — nineteen years of love and fifty years of savings. I learned howmy mother, through means only available in this country, would finally be ableto unite my great-grandmother with my grandfather again. The dragon curledaround the vase, connecting the separate vines. For a fleeting second, I feltit was present in my mother's room. It was all very strange, yet very clear. Ibegan to understand that this trip to China was not just for me; it was for mymother, and her father, and his mother. Now, I had not only a future, but moresignificantly, a past. I saw the world with new eyes.

And so I went to China and met my great-grandmother.My great-aunt picked me up at the training center, and we rode in a taxithrough the crowded city. The noise of the taxi and the city united into a deeproar. We finally stopped in front of a narrow street lined on either side withsmall one-level houses. As we made our way to a house like all the others, Idrew the stares of many people in the street. My great-aunt led me through arotting（朽烂的）doorway into a room with a furnace（炉子）, table, and a rocking chair where an old womanwearing gloves sat facing the doorway, covered with a worn brown blanket. Iwalked over and immediately embraced this frail woman as if I had known her allmy life. My limited, broken Chinese wasn't up to expressing my complicatedfeelings. And even though I couldn't completely understand what she was sayingin her thick Beijing accent, I knew — the same way I knew what my mother hadbeen trying to tell me before I left. Her joy shone through her toothlesssmile. She wouldn't let go of my hand. I haltingly（结结巴巴地）asked her how she had managed to live such a longlife. She answered in words I will never forget, “Hope has kept me alive. Ihave lived this long because I wanted to see my son before I died.”

My fellow team members must have wondered how twopeople separated by three generations could be so close. Before this trip, Iwould have wondered the same thing. And even now, I can't quite explain it. Wewere as different as two people can be; some 85 years and 8,000 miles apart. Wecame from two entirely different cultures; yet we were connected by a commonheritage(传统).

I stayed for dinner which was cooked in a black ironwok（锅）over the furnace. The meal was lavish（过分丰盛的）, prepared in my honor. As I began to eat, with mygreat-grandmother beside me, I felt the dragon was present. But this time, thefeeling didn't pass; the dragon had become a part of me.

My great-grandmother passed away last year at the ageof 100. With her highest hopes and wildest dreams fulfilled, I know she diedhappy.

1. The writer’s mother called him into her room to___________________.

A．prepare himfor the trip and warn him against possible problems

B．remind him ofhis origin

C．ask him tolook for his great-grandmother

D．share withhim the story of her childhood

2. The dragon is mentioned several times in thepassage because __________________.

A．the vase withthe dragon on it is very valuable and beautiful

B．it stands forthe blood running in every Chinese

C．it is a signof the writer’s devotion to his birthplace

D．the writer’s mother hoped the writer would be as strong as adragon

3. How old was the writer’s mother when she was sentto America for her education.

A．13               B．16               C．19               D．20

4.Which of the following can be inferred from thetext?

A．The writer’s grandfather was afraid of a war when sending hisdaughter to America.

B．The hope tosee her son again kept the writer’sgreat-grandmother alive for this long.

C．It was withinthe writer’s expectation that he could be so close tohis great-grandmother.

D．The writer’s great-grandmother was reunited with her son beforeshe died.

5.Which is the best title for the text?

A．We Share theSame Heritage.

B．Love from MyGreat-grandmother.

C．A Story fromMy Mother.

D．AnUnforgettable Training Trip.

试题答案

【答案】

1.B

2.B

3.C

4.D

5.A

【解析】

试题