Grandma celebrated her fifty-third birthday just weeks before grandpa died of cancer in 1965. Although his passing was very difficult for her, I think their shared struggle to make his life longer taught grandma that good health was not to be taken for granted, and she made up her mind to live the rest of her own life as fully and as long as she could. One day, when she announced to attend lessons at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Portland, Oregon, where she lived, we rolled our eyes in embarrassment and helplessly wished she would just stay home and bake cookies as normal grandmothers did. Many years filled with countless dance lessons passed before we learned to appreciate the wonder of having a dancing grandma. I suppose grandma's primary motivation for wanting to learn to dance was social. She had been a shy girl, always very tall and heavy, and had married into grandpa's quiet lifestyle before developing any elegance or confidence in her personal appearance. Dancing, on the other hand, filled her life with flash lights, wonderful parties, beautiful dresses, handsome young dance instructors, and the challenge of learning. Although the weekly dance lessons did not change her ample, two-hundred-pound figure, grandma surprised everyone with energetic performances on the dance floor, which soon gave her as much elegance and confidence as any Miss American competitor. Having taken weekly dance lessons for years, my grandma learned various dances easily and was soon participating in dancing matches all over the Northwest. When I was fourteen, grandma proudly invited me to watch her compete in one of these matches to be held in the grand ballroom of the Red Lion Inn. My attitude was still unenthusiastic at that point, but to make her happy, my mother and I attended the match. As if to prove me wrong, grandma made a wonderful showing in every event she entered. I thought she was truly the queen of the ball during the dance, and my thoughts were shared by the judges a short time later when she was awarded a gold... What did grandma learn from grandpa's death? A) Good health was not there for everyone. B) She should take dance lessons. C) She had to struggle to live a better life. D) She should wear beautiful dresses.
A
We live in central Phoenix, near the canal . Every day I used to see a homeless old man and his scruffy little dog hanging out down there. I would tell my husband we should give him food for the little dog. It wouldn't have been a problem; we have our own "mini farm" of animals! But he would say "OK!" and then blow the idea off because of our business. Being in Phoenix, Arizona, you can just imagine how hot it gets here, but his winter was really chilly! I had just come from KFC with take-out food for dinner. As I was turning by the canal, the man and his dog were sitting right there all bundled up. Even the doggy had a coat on! Not even thinking about it, I pulled into the parking lot along the canal and piled up a plate of chicken with all the fixings for the man and his little buddy . I gave it to him with a soda and a bottle of water for the little dog. He said, "Thank you, sweetie. You are an angel." And there were tears welling up in his eyes! I told him he was so welcome, and then went home. When my husband dug into the KFC bag he asked, "Were you hungry, or what?" I told him what I did and he said, "Only you!" Then he told me I had done a good thing. A few weeks later, we were walking along the canal and found the man walking to me, with his little dog. He asked whether I would mind adopting the dog. With tears in eyes, he said it had gotten too hard for him to care for the dog. He added that he was planning on heading to Washington State but his dog wouldn't have been up to it, so he hoped to give it to me. "Only you! In this city, you are the only person I can believe in!" Now, every time I watch and pat the dog lying near the fireplace, I will remember the old man's words and wish him good luck. Why did the old man hope to give the dog to the author? A) Because he knew the author was also a dog lover. B) Because the author was the person he could trust. C) Because the author was the only person he knew. D) Because he believed that his dog liked the author.
B
(Q).
Psychiatrists who work with older parents say that maturity can be an advantage in child raising--older parents are more thoughtful, use less physical discipline and spend more time with their children. But raising kids takes money and energy. Many older parents find themselves balancing their limited financial resources, decreasing energy and failing health against the growing demands of an active child. Dying and leaving young children is probably the older parents' biggest, and often unspoken fear. "Having late-life children often means parents, particularly fathers, end up retiring much later. For many, retirement becomes an unobtainable dream." says Brandy Gabrielle, an economics professor. Henry Metcalf, a 54-year-old journalist, knows it takes money to raise kids. But he's also worried that his energy will give out first. Sure, he can still ride bikes with his athletic fifth grader, but he's learned that young at heart doesn't mean young. Lately he's been taking afternoon naps to keep up his energy. "My body is aging," says Metcalf. "You can't get away from that." Often, older parents hear the ticking of another kind of biological clock. Therapists who work with middle-aged and older parents say fears about aging are nothing to laugh at. "They worry they'll be mistaken for grandparents, or that they'll need help getting up out of those little chairs in nursery school," says Joann Gals, a New York psychologist. But at the core of those little fears there is often a much bigger one: "that they won't be alive long enough to support and protect their children," she says. Many late-life parents, though, say their children came at just the right time. After marrying late and undergoing years of pregnancy treatment, Marilyn Nolen and her husband, Randy, had twins. "We both wanted children," says Marilyn, who was 55 when she gave birth. The twins have given the couple what they desired for years -- a sense of family. Kids of older dads are often smarter, happier and more sociable because their fathers are... What's the author's attitude toward the older parents? A) Encouraging B) Doubtful. C) Objective. D) Worried.
(A).
C