August 1990, Boston
Dear Maya Shaoming，
To me, June 6，1990 is a special day. My longawaited dream came true the minute your father cried, “A girl!” You are more than just a second child, more than just a girl to match our boy. You, little daughter, are the link to our female line, the legacy of another woman's pain and sacrifice 31 years ago.
Let me tell you about your Chinese grandmother. Somewhere in Hong Kong, in the late fifties, a young waitress found herself pregnant(怀孕) by a cook, probably a coworker at her restaurant. She carried the baby to term, suffered to give it birth, and kept the little girl for the first three months of her life. I like to think that my mother—your grandmother—loved me and fought to raise me on her own, but that the daily struggle was too hard. Worn down by the demands of the new baby and perhaps the constant threat of starvation, she made the painful decision to give away her girl so that both of us might have a chance for a better life.
More likely, I was dropped at the orphanage(孤儿院) steps or somewhere else. I will probably never know the truth. Having a baby in her unmarried state would have brought shame on the family in China, so she probably kept my existence a secret. Once I was out of her life, it was as if I had never been born. And so you and your brother and I are the missing leaves on a family tree.
Do they ever wonder if we exist?
Before I was two, I was adopted by an Anglo couple. Fed three square meals a day, I grew like a wild weed and grasped all the opportunities they had to offer—books, music, education, church life and community activities. In a family of blueeyed blonds, though, I_stood_out_like_a_sore_thumb. Whether from jealousy or fear of someone who looked so different, my older brothers sometimes teased me about my unpleasing skin, or made fun of my clumsy walk. Moody and impatient, burdened by fears that none of us realized resulted from my early years of need, I was not an easy child to love. My mother and I conflicted countless times over the years, but gradually came to see one another as real human beings with faults and talents, and as women of strength in our own right. Lacking a mirror image in the mother who raised me, I had to seek my identity as a woman on my own. The Asian American community has helped me regain my double identity.
But part of me will always be missing: my beginnings, my personal history, all the delicate details that give a person her origin. Nevertheless, someone gave me a lucky name “Siu Wai”. “Siu” means “little”， and “Wai” means “clever”. Therefore, my baby name was “Clever little one”. Who chose those words? Who cared enough to note my arrival in the world?
I lost my Chinese name for 18 years. It was Americanized for convenience to “Sue”. But like an illfitting coat, it made me uncomfortable. I hated the name. But even more, I hated being Chinese. It took many years to become proud of my Asian origin and work up the courage to take back my birthname. That, plus a little knowledge of classroom Cantonese, is all the Chinese culture I have to offer you. Not white, certainly, but not really Asian, I try to pave the way between the two worlds and bridge the gap for you. Your name, “Shaoming”， is very much like mine—“Shao” means “little”. And “ming” is “bright”， as in a shining sun or moon. Whose lives will you brighten, little Maya? Your_past_is_more_complete_than_mine,_and each day I cradle you in your babyhood, generously giving you the loving care I lacked for my first two years. When I pat you, I comfort the lost baby inside me who still cries for her mother.
Sweet Maya, it doesn't matter what you “become” later on. You have already fulfilled my wildest dreams.
I love you，
Mummy
65.Why is June 6, 1990 a special day for Mummy?
A.Her dream of being a mother came true.
B.She found her origin from her Chinese mother.
C.She wrote the letter to her daughter.
D.Her female line was well linked.
66.How does Mummy feel about her being given away?
A.It is bitter and disappointing.
B.It is painful but understandable.
C.She feels sorry but sympathetic.
D.She feels hurt and angry.
67.What does “I stood out like a sore thumb” in Paragraph 5 mean?
A.I walked clumsily out of pains.
B.I was not easy to love due to jealousy.
C.I was impatient out of fear.
D.I looked different from others.
68.What can be inferred from Mummy's Anglo family life?
A.She used to experience an identity crisis.
B.She fought against her American identity.
C.She forgot the pains of her early years.
D.She kept her love for Asia from childhood.
69.Why did Mummy name her daughter “Shaoming”?
A.To match her own birthname.
B.To brighten the lives of the family.
C.To identify her with Chinese origin.
D.To justify her pride in Chinese culture.
70.By “Your past is more complete than mine，” Mummy means ________.
A.her past was completed earlier than Shaoming's
B.Shaoming has got motherly care and a sense of roots
C.her mother didn't comfort her the way she did Shaoming
D.her past was spent brokenly, first in Asia, then in the US
【要点综述】 本文是一篇书信。作者给自己深爱的女儿写信，此时她还是一个婴儿。在信中作者回忆往事，并憧憬着女儿的未来。
65.D 细节理解题。A项说她成为母亲的梦想实现了，由首段的“You are more than just a second child …”可知她已经有个儿子了;B项说从她中国妈妈那儿她找到了根源，文中没有提及;C项说她写信给她的女儿，这和题干所问没有联系;D项说她与母系一脉相承。由首段的the link to our female line可知答案选D。
66.B 推理判断题。根据第二段的“She carried the baby to term, suffered to give it birth…”可以推断出本句表达的是对母亲的理解;再根据此段最后一句中“…she made the painful decision to give away her girl…”可知这是一个痛苦的决定，故B项正确。
67.D 推理判断题。根据此句后的“…someone who looked so different…”可知，这里的someone指的就是作者本人，这句话是对画线句的补充和解释，故只有D项符合题意。
68.A 推理判断题。根据第五段中“…I was not an easy child to love.”和倒数第二句“Lacking a mirror image in the mother who raised me, I had to seek my identity as a woman on my own.”可知作者因为不知道身世来源而感到困惑，进而使得自己不受人喜欢，即她过去经历了身份危机，故A项正确。
69.C 细节理解题。根据倒数第二段的“Your name, ‘Shaoming’ is very much like mine…”和“It took many years to become proud of my Asian origin…”可知女儿的名字和作者的很像，而作者的名字和亚洲的来源相关，故C项“把她和中国的来源联系起来”符合文意。
70.B 推理判断题。根据此句后的解释“…and each day I cradle you in your babyhood, generously giving you the loving care I lacked for my first two years.”可知她女儿得到了母爱，得到了一种归属感，即B项正确。
