Father was in the army all through the First World War, so up to the age of five, I never saw much of him, and what I saw did not worry me. Sometimes I woke and there was a big figure (身影) looking down at me. Sometimes in the early morning I heard the closing of the front door and the sound of shoes walking down. These were father’s entrances and exits.
Each time he went away, he left me lots of presents―model tanks, knives and all sorts of military (军队的) equipment which he put in a long box. When he was not there, mother let me get a chair and search through his treasures. She did not seem to think so highly of them as he did.
The war was the most peaceful period of my life. Every morning I awoke as soon as it was light and felt myself to be like the sun. Life never seemed so simple and clear and full of possibilities as then. I got up, went into mother’s room and climbed into the big bed. She woke and I began to tell her of my plans. I talked but then fell asleep and woke again only when I heard her below in the kitchen, making the breakfast.
I often wondered what mother and I should do all day and what present I would get for Christmas. There was that little problem of the baby, for example. Mother and I could never agree about that. Ours was the only house in the street without a new baby, and mother said we could not buy one until father came back from the war as they were very expensive. That showed how simple she was. The Geneys who lived nearby had a baby, and everybody knew that they had hardly any money at all. Maybe it was a cheap baby, and mother wanted something really good, but I felt this did not really matter. The Geneys’ baby would have been fine for us.
41. Until the age of five, the writer ______.
A. did not worry about his father B. never saw his father
C. often annoyed his father D. saw his father sometimes
42. When father was away, mother asked the writer to ______.
A. put the presents aside B. go over the presents carefully
C. get everything ready D. throw the presents away
43. When the writer woke up, he felt that ______.
A. life was good B. he was simple C. life was uninteresting D. he was funny
44. What happened as soon as he writer got into his mother’s bed?
A. She went to make breakfast. B. He told her all his plans.
C. She asked him about his plans D. He went to sleep
45. The writer’s mother said they could not have a baby because _____.
A. there was a war on B. there were too many babies in the street
C. it costs a lot of money D. father was ill in the army