Question

Olive Bowen made some hot coffee and brought it to her husband Nate, who was over in the barn (牛舍). Olive herself was expecting a baby very soon.

The darkness in the barn made Olive nervous and she stood at the door, not sure what to do. Then she saw a light at the far end and called out to Nate. Nate held his lantern high as he came up to Olive and said, "You shouldn't have come out when it's so cold."

"I brought you some hot coffee," Olive kept looking into the darkness of the barn to see where Maudie was.

"I don't want you to stay," Nate said.

"Oh, no, Nate, I don't want to leave. If it begins to happen, I'11 go back to the house."

He helped Olive sit down in a chair and told her again that he did not want her to stay when their cow Maudie's calf came. It wasn't something a young wife should see, especially a young wife who would soon be a mother herself.

The cow lay quietly. The husband and wife did not say much as they waited; words did not seem to come easily to them.

Time seemed to be moving too slowly for Olive. She looked nervously at the cow. Then Nate began to rub the cow's head, but the cow turned its head away from his hands and then suddenly it came. Olive could see it clearly--- part of the head of the young calf slowly, painfully coming out.

But Nate saw that the cow was in trouble. He looked for a nail(釘子) on the wall where he could hang his lamp. There was none. Olive said he should have asked a neighbor to help him. Suddenly, Olive saw that Nate was also afraid---fearful that the cow's struggle would be too much for him alone. And at that moment she decided that nothing could drive her out of the barn. The emergency changed Olive. She no longer felt fearful. There was a sudden new strength in her.

Nate told her not to look, but she had to look. As she watched, Olive was afraid, but not of the cow or even herself. She was fearful of the calf. At last, it was done.

Olive and Nate were both tired. Olive remembered the coffee she had brought to the barn, She put it on the hot stove. Nate dried the calf with a cloth. As he worked, Olive looked through the barn window. She saw the apple trees with snow on them, the light in her kitchen and the beauty of the morning sun.

76. Nate didn't want Olive to stay in the barn because______.

A. it was too cold in the barn

B. Olive was afraid of darkness

C. there was nothing for Olive to sit on

D. it was not good for Olive to see Maudie's giving birth

77. The underlined word "it" in Paragraph 8 probably refers to______

A. the time of the calf's birth	B. Nate's nervousness
C. a neighbor's frightening voice	D. Olive's anxiety

78. How did Olive finally feel about Maudie's giving birth?

A. Nervous.

B. Fearless.

C. Tired.

D. Imaginative.

79. From the passage, we can know that______.

A. Nate asked Olive to bring him some hot coffee

B. Olive dried the calf with a piece of cloth

C. Olive was going to have a baby

D. Nate was helped by a neighbor with the calf's birth

80.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph implies that Olive______.

A. began to feel hopeful about life

B. appreciated the scene out of the window

C. loved apples very much

D. would like to have breakfast

Answer 1

 DABCA