Everyone gathered around and Paddy read out loud, slowly, his tone growing sadder and sadder. The little headline said: BOXER RECEIVES LIFF SENTENCE.
Frank Cleary, aged 26, professional boxer, was today found guilty of the murder of Albert Gumming, aged 32, laborer, last July. The jury (陪审团) reached its decision after only ten minutes, recommending the most severe punishment to the court. It was, said the Judge, a simple case. Cumming and Cleary had quarreled violently at the Harbour Hotel on July 23rd and police saw Cleary kicking at the head of the unconscious Gumming. When arrested, Cleary was drunk but clear-thinking.
Cleary was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Asked if he had anything to say, Cleary answered, “Just don’t tell my mother.”
“It happened over three years ago,” Paddy said helplessly. No one answered him or moved, for no one knew what to do. “Just don’t tell my mother,” said Fee numbly (麻木地). “And no one did! Oh, God! My poor, poor Frank!”
Paddy wiped the tears from his face and said. “Fee, pack your things. We’ll go to see him.”
She half-rose before sinking back, her eyes in her small white face stared as if dead. “I can't go,” she said without a hint of pain, yet making everyone feel that the pain was there. “It would kill him to see me. I know him so well — his pride, his ambition. Let him bear the shame alone, it’s what he wants. We’ve got to help him keep his secret. What good will it do him to see us?”
Paddy was still weeping, not for Frank, but for the life which had gone from Fee’s face, for the dying in her eyes. Frank had always brought bitterness and misfortune, always stood between Fee and himself. He was the cause of her withdrawal from his heart and the hearts of his children. Every time it looked as if there might be happiness for Fee, Frank took it away. But Paddy’s love for her was as deep and impossible to wipe out as hers was for Frank.
So he said, “Well, Fee, we won’t go. But we must make sure he is taken care of. How about if I write to Father Jones and ask him to look out for Frank?”
There was no excitement in the eyes, but a faint pink stole into her cheeks. “Yes, Paddy, do that. Only make sure he knows not to tell Frank we found out. Perhaps it would ease Frank to think for certain that we don’t know.”
【小题1】Paddy cried because he thought ________.
| A．what had happened to Frank was killing Fee |
| B．Frank should have told Fee what had happened |
| C．Frank did kill someone and deserved the punishment |
| D．Frank had always been a man of bad moral character |
【小题2】The underlined sentence “She half-rose before sinking back...” in Paragraph 6 shows that ________.
| A．Fee was so heart-broken that she could hardly stand up |
| B．Fee didn’t want to upset Paddy by visiting Frank |
| C．Fee struggled between wanting to see Frank and respecting his wish |
| D．Fee couldn’t leave her family to go to see Frank |
【小题3】What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The jury and the judge agreed on the Boxer’s Sentence of Life Imprisonment. |
| B．Frank didn’t want his family to know the sentence to him, most probably out of his pride. |
| C．The family didn’t find out what had happened to Frank until 3 years later. |
| D．The police found Gumming unconscious, heavily struck by Frank. |
【小题4】What is Frank and Paddy’s probable relationship with Fee?
| A．Frank is Fee’s son and Paddy is Fee’s brother. |
| B．Frank is Fee’s lover and Paddy is Fee’s husband. |
| C．Frank is Fee’s brother and Paddy is Fee’s lover. |
| D．Frank is Fee’s son and Paddy is Fee’s husband. |
