My husband and I insisted that our children were old enough to clean their rooms and make their beds. But they thought
11 . My complaints, even self-justified（自有道理）
12 , were always landing on
13 ears. Very often a whole hour’s scolding would end up with their
14 into tears. I felt very frustrated. I realized I needed to
15 my method of “mothering”.
One day when they were at school, I spent some time tidying their rooms. On their desks, in plain
16 , I left the cards: “Dear Bill(the other card was
17 to Sarah), your room was messy this morning and I’m sure you like it clean. Love, the Room Fairy.”
18 arriving back, the children were
19 excited to receive the little note from the Room Fairy. The next day, their rooms were fairly tidy. Sure enough, there was another note from the Room Fairy
20 for them, thanking them for their nice “gift” of a clean room and
21 asking them to play a certain violin
22 . Each day, thank-you notes would be written differently to keep the ideas
23 ．
Sometimes the Room Fairy would propose a little
24 : “If you can finish your homework and go over your lessons before dinner, I’d like to watch a particular television program with you tonight.” Sometimes some colored markers or other little items would be left in
25 of well-done jobs the day
26 .
27 I can’t remember how long “the Room Fairy” continued leaving her love notes. When they were age appropriate, we used various versions of Post-Its （贴条）. The bathroom mirror became the
28 centre of our home. Appointments, notices about visiting relatives, lesson schedules, and changes in plans could be
29 .
We all benefited from and
30 the idea of sharing reminders and daily details of life through notes. I believe the true advantage of the Room Fairy notes survives in our frequent and enjoyable communication．
| 小题1: | | A．differently | B．positive | C．negative | D．same |
|
| 小题2: | | A．shouting | B．crying | C．persuading | D．beating |
|
| 小题3: | | A．side | B．neither | C．deaf | D．either |
|
| 小题4: | | A．crying | B．bringing | C．droping | D．bursting |
|
| 小题5: | | A．addict | B．adopt | C．access | D．adjust |
|
| 小题6: | | A．sentence | B．words | C．speech | D．sight |
|
| 小题7: | | A．sent | B．addressed | C．delivered | D．read |
|
| 小题9: | | A．more than | B．rather than | C．less than | D．other than |
|
| 小题10: | | A．asking | B．praying | C．waiting | D．expecting |
|
| 小题11: | | A．gently | B．friendly | C．politely | D．toughly |
|
| 小题12: | | A．music | B．piece | C．song | D．tone |
|
| 小题13: | | A．respectable | B．uninteresting | C．incredible | D．fresh |
|
| 小题14: | | A．suggestion | B．question | C．challenge | D．advice |
|
| 小题15: | | A．response | B．answer | C．praise | D．honor |
|
| 小题16: | | A．ahead | B．before | C．over | D．ago |
|
| 小题17: | | A．though | B．Even so | C．Even if | D．Actually |
|
| 小题18: | | A．memory | B．main | C．life | D．reminder |
|
| 小题19: | | A．sent | B．posted | C．struck | D．hanged |
|
| 小题20: | | A．appreciated | B．learned | C．shared | D．thanked |
|