Philip was a nine-year-old boy in a Sunday school class of 8-year-old girls and boys. Sometimes the third graders didn’t welcome Philip into their group and usually tricked him. This was not because he was older, but because he was “different”. You see, Philip suffered from a condition called Downs’s Syn to each child. On that beautiful spring day, the children were to go out and discover for themselves some symbol of “new life” and place it inside the plastic eggs.
After the children returned to the classroom, the teacher opened their eggs one by one, asking each child to explain that symbol of “new life”. The first opened egg contained a flower. Everyone cheered. In another was a butterfly…. When the teacher opened the last egg, it was empty. “That’s stupid,” said someone. The teacher felt a pull at his shirt. It was Philip. Looking up, Philip said, “It’s mine. I did it. It’s empty. I have new life, because the tomb is empty.” Not a sound was heard in class at all. From that day on, Philip became a real part of the group. They welcomed him, and whatever made him different was never mentioned again.
Philip’s family knew he wouldn’t live a long life, for there were too many things wrong with him.
41. The underlined word “condition” in the first paragraph probably means ________.
A. grade B. disease C. status D. health
42. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that ________.
A. The 8-year-olds were friendly to Philip
B. The 8-year-olds were sometimes cruel
C. Philip was really different in school
D. Philip was older and more sensitive
43. The teacher gave each child one plastic egg to let them ________.
A. play around on that beautiful spring day
B. go out and discover themselves
C. try to pull it apart in the middle
D. put some symbol of “new life” into it
44. After Philip explained his new life, ________.
A. The class fell silent B. The class thought he was clever
C. He began to study in the class D. He felt dying.
45. We learn from the passage that ________.
A. The teacher used to have classes outdoors
B. Philip was healthy as a whole
C. Philip was accepted by his classmates in the end
D. The Philip’s new life wish was empty