The day was warm and the sun shone down like a new beginning on my life. I was waving goodbye to my son, the last one of my fledglings （刚会飞的鸟）to leave home and go to new woods, 'University actually' . I felt so lighthearted after spending many years looking after my four children—cooking, washing, ironing, teaching them how to look after themselves and manage their finances—that I actually thought “At long last, '.
But, as I watched my last one leave, although it was a joyous occasion, I realized I had not really prepared for this day, I was too tied up with bringing up these s of the future to realize that they would all leave the nest and lives independently.
At first I didn't know what 'I' wanted to do. I tried a part time job, which ended in me running out in tears. I started a business soft furnishings, but that didn't work either. I grew my own veggies and fruit, which lasted 3 years, until I was advised by my doctor that my feet couldn't take any more 'tools” driven through them.
I began wondering if I had a future of my own. I cried for the life I was used to, and hadn't known or wanted anything different.
Then one day I saw an ad. for foster parents, I discussed it with my husband who was always behind everything I tried and with great distce , I rang up the number.
I now laugh and sing with my 14-year-old foster daughter, even when my cooker is a mess and my bathroom is a disaster area. I now know, 8 years later, what “I” was meant to be doing with all the spare hours, days, and weeks I had on my hands when my last fledgling flew the nest. The sun shines once again in my home.
小题1:How did the mother first feel when her last child went off to university?A．Lonely.B．Anxious.C．Relieved.D．Annoyed.小题2:The underlined phrase “was tied up with” in the second paragraph means “”.A．was occupied inB．was associated withC．was tired ofD．was addicted to小题3:In the third paragraph, the poor mother did all the things just to.A．live a greener and healthier lifeB．earn more money for her kids’ educationC．shift her attention and ease her anxietyD．start her own decorating business小题4:What did the empty-nested mother think of her husband?A．SkilledB．SupportiveC．StubbornD．Open-minded小题5:Thanks to the foster daughter, the author.A．got rid of her busy workB．forgot her other childrenC．found a suitable jobD．knew what she really wanted