閱讀理解。
I was 15 months old, a happy carefree (無憂無慮的) kid, until the day I fell. It was a bad fall. I
landed on a piece of glass that cut my eye badly. My mom found a doctor who knew that if the eye
were removed, my face would look ugly, so my scarred (有疤痕的), sightless, cloudy gray eye lived
on with me.
Sometimes people asked me embarrassing questions. When kids played games, I was always the
"monster". I grew up imagining that everyone looked down on me.
Yet Mom would say to me, "Hold your head up high and face the world." I began to rely on that
saying.
As a child, I thought Mom meant, "Be careful or you will fall down or bump into something because
you are not looking." As a teenager, I usually looked down to hide my shame (羞愧). But I found that
when I held my head up high, people liked me.
In high school I even became the class president, but on the inside I still felt like a freak (怪物). All
I really wanted was to look like everyone else. When things got really bad, I would cry to my mom and
she would look at me with loving eyes and say, "Hold your head up high and face the world. Let them
see the beauty that is inside."
When I met the man who became my husband, we looked each other straight in the eye, and he told
me I was beautiful inside and out.
My mom's love was the spark (火花) that gave me confidence. I had faced hardships, and learned
not only to appreciate myself but to have deep compassion (憐憫) for others.
"Hold your head up high" has been heard many times in my home. Each of my children has felt its
invitation. I say it to my children. The gift my mom gave me lives on in another generation.
1. Why did the author's mother tell her to hold her head up high and face the world?
A. Because her mother wanted to show sympathy for her.
B. Because her mother wanted her to be confident.
C. Because her mother didn't want her to be seen as a "monster".
D. Because her mother thought the author looked prettier when she did that.
2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the article?
A. The author managed to get over her disability in high school.
B. The author gave her children encouragement and love, as her mother had given her.
C. The author was always confident after the accident.
D. In high school the author was chosen to be president of the student's union.
3. The underlined sentence "Each of my children has felt its invitation." means her children ________.
A. each received an invitation from her mother
B. didn't quite understand the meaning of her words.
C. faced the same difficulty as their mother.
D. benefited from their mother's words.
4. Which would be the best title for the article?
A. My mom's gift to me
B. How I found my life-partner
C. My terrible childhood accident
D. Disability is no shame
