The 1____ picked up the thermos and poured some hot water into the tea-cup and placed it on the small table in front of his 2____, who were a father and daughter, and put the lid on the cup with a clink. Obviously 3_____ of something, he hurried into the inner room, leaving the 4 _____ on the table. His two guests heard a box of drawers opening and a rustling(飒飒地响).
They 5 _____ sitting in the living-room, the 10-year-old daughter, looking at the flowers outside the window. The father was just about to take his cup when the 6 ____ came, right there in the living room. Something was hopelessly broken.
It was the thermos, which had fallen to the floor. The girl looked 7 ____ her shoulder at once, startled(吓一跳), 8_____. It was 9 _____.Neither of them had touched it, not even a little bit. The sound caused the host to rush back from the inner room. He looked at the 10_____ floor and blurted out（脱口而出）, “It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter!”
The father started to say something. Then he muttered（嘀咕）, “ Sorry, I 11_____ it and it fell.”
“It doesn’t matter,” the host said.
Later, when they left the house the daughter said, “Daddy, I saw your 12 ____ in the windowpane(玻璃窗). You were sitting perfectly13____. Why did you say…?”
The father 14____, “What then would you 15____ as the cause of its fall?”
“It fell by itself. The floor is uneven(不平). It wasn’t steady when Mr Li put it there.”
“It won’t 16_____, girl. It sounds more 17_____ when I say I knocked it down. There are things people accept less the more you 18_____them. The truer your story is, the less true it sounds.”
The daughter was 19_____ in silence for a while. Then she said, “Can you 20____ it only this way?”
“Only this way,” the father said.
A.owner B. host C. guest D. master
A.friends B. neighbors C. children D. guests
A.knowing B. remembering C. hearing D. thinking
A.thermos B. cup C. lid D. tea
A.enjoyed B. remained C. imagined D. hated
A.stranger B. host C. crash D. noise
A.around B. at C. behind D. over
A.staring B. watching C. shouting D. crying
A.helpless B. exciting C. strange D. terrible
A.broken B. streaming C. dirty D. flooded
A.touched B. used C. hit D. moved
A.faced B. shadow C. reflection D. action
A.calm B. still C. silent D. straight
A.shouted B. murmured C. laughed D. repeated
A. tell B. make C. accept D. give
A.do B. help C. go D. fit
A.comfortable B. friendly C. acceptable D. agreeable
A.defend B. support C. discuss D. argue
A.kept B. shut C. worried D. lost
A.do B. explain C. make D. manage