When I was a child, I was shocked at the idea that my sisters could be my best friends. No

When I was a child, I was shocked at the idea that my sisters could be my best friends. Now, I wouldn’t have it any other way. At the time, the idea of my two sisters being my closest friends seemed strange to me. We fought all the time over toys, food, attention, what to watch on television—you name it, and we quarreled about it at some point. How could my sisters be my best friends? They weren’t the same age as I. We all had our own friends in school.
My mother never let the three of us forget that sisters are lifelong friends. Her wish like most parents’ was to give us something that she never had. Growing up as an only child, she longed for (渴望) siblings. When she gave birth to three daughters, the fulfillment (实现) of her dream had only just begun. She had given each of us a gift and she wanted to make sure we did not take that gift for granted. She would frequently tell us how lucky we were. But there were other, more subtle (难以察觉的) ways that she encouraged us to grow closer. She never showed favoritism to one daughter over the other, as not to cause jealousy or bitterness between sisters. She constantly took us places together—skating, shopping and swimming, so that we developed common interests. And when we were teenagers, Mom always punished us equally, giving us yet another bonding (密切相连) experience.
We didn’t always get along beautifully and fought just like any other siblings. But somewhere in between Mom’s lectures, the family vacations and the shared memories, we realized that our mother was right. Today I share things with my sisters that I do with no one else. My sister Cindy and I ran the New York City Marathon together, side by side, even holding hands when we crossed the finish line. When my sister Karen got married, I was her maid of honor(伴娘). Cindy and I traveled through Europe together and even shared an apartment for two years. The three of us trust each other with our greatest secrets.
It was twenty-three years ago that my mother first asked me who my two best friends were. Today she doesn’t have to. She already knows.
【小题1】As a child, the author was shocked at her mother’s idea because .A．her sisters seemed strange to herB．her sisters didn’t like to be her friendsC．none of the girls had their own friendsD．they didn’t have much in common【小题2】The underlined word “siblings” in the passage probably means .A．sistersB．parentsC．daughtersD．friends【小题3】How did the author’s mother encourage her three daughters to grow closer？A．She punished her daughter differently.B．She showed equal love to her daughters.C．She encouraged her daughters to do sports.D．She often took her daughters to many places.【小题4】The best title of the passage could be .A．The Greatest GiftB．Mother’s LoveC．Growing ExperiencesD．Unforgettable MemoriesD

(答案→)D 解析：从文体上看，属回忆录式的记叙文。通过以前姐妹常吵架，引出如今姐妹情浓这一主题。讲述母亲如何培养姐妹间的感情。在母亲的努力下，姐妹们成为最好的知己。【小题1】 细节题。A选项是很典型的干扰项，即从原文中直接摘取内容，看上去很像，但原文说的是my sisters could be best friends这个idea对作者而言很奇怪，而非她的姐妹们对她而言很奇怪。C选项刚好跟文中We all had our own friends in school相反。而且干扰项一个很大的特点是一般都含有极端词，如none, no, never, nothing, always, must等。B选项的干扰性比较强，因为前面谈到姐妹们常常争吵。但每一道题目的设计，都或多或少能从原文中找到提示，而这题的提示除了之前说到的姐妹争玩具、争电视频道等，还在文中提到“They weren’t the same age as I”，“ …so that we developed common interests”.所以，此题选D。【小题2】词汇题。在文中有两处地方出现过该单词，而两处都可以给我们答案的提示。第一处在第二段，…she longed for siblings，在上面的词汇讲解已经解释过。第二处则是原文划线部份，要理解siblings是什么，就要知道前面的We是指代谁。We这里是指“我们姐妹”的意思，代进原文就容易理解了：我们（姐妹们）也不能总好好相处，有时也会像其他的姐妹们打闹。选A。【小题3】 细节题。我们从But there were other, more subtle ways that she encouraged us to grow closer.可以定位答案在全文的位置，通过这句话可以知道，下面就是讲这几种ways，换句话说，能把后面几句话读懂就可以解开这道题。而后面几句的关键词是favoritism（偏爱），说到妈妈能使姐妹们相亲相爱是因为没有偏爱任何一方，这点在上面的词汇详解已提及。故应选B。【小题4】 主旨题。给标题是其中一种典型的主旨题题型，要考生读懂全文后，再根据全文最核心考查知识点是利用几个单词概括全文的中心。本文的中心重点是姐妹之情，B, C, D干扰性很强，尤其是B，因为文章中讲了不少母亲努力使姐妹们成为好朋友的细节，但做主旨题很重要的是在文章的开头和结尾找提示点，而文章的开头和结尾部份都是跟姐妹之情相关，所以不能选B。C选项的growing experience（不断成长的经历）也跟原文不相符。D选项意为难忘的回忆，尽管跟原文有沾边，但对比起文章的中心，还是不能统领全文。A选项作为答案项把自己隐藏得特别好，我们通过首尾段，知道全文中心后，从She had given each of us a gift and she wanted to make sure we did not take that gift for granted.一句中，可以知道母亲所指的gift是“姐妹”。由此可以判断A选项说明了姐妹之情。

这下我知道了