JackArmstrongsatupinthesecondhandhospitalbedthathadbeen...

习题库
关注：5.84K次

问题详情：

Jack Armstrong sat up in the secondhand hospital bed that had been placed into a corner of his home in Cleveland. Jack had been in the military for five years when the war in the Middle East started. He’d survived his first tour in Afghanistan and earned a Purple Heart. After that he’d weathered several tours of duty in Iraq, one of which included the destruction of his Humvee while he was still inside. That injury had won him his second Purple. And he had a Bronze Star on top of that for rescuing three fellow soldiers and nearly getting killed in the process. After all that, here he was, dying fast in his house in Ohio.

His goal was simple: just hang on until Christmas. He sucked greedily on the oxygen coming from the line in his nose. Jack knew that one day soon it would be turned off because he’d be dead. Before Thanksgiving he was certain he would last another month. Now Jack was not sure he could make another day.

But he would.

“I have to.” He thought to himself.

“Jack, Jack honey?”

His wife Lizzie was bending down in front of him. She was still beautiful, though her looks had taken on a fragile edge. There were dark circles under her eyes and recently stamped worry lines on her face. Jack was the one dying, but in a way she was too.

His youngest child, Mike, toddled(蹒跚) in and climbed on his dad’s lap, resting his head against father’s sunken chest. Jack slowly slid his arm around his two-year-old son. Little fat fingers grasped his forearm, and warm breath touched his skin. It felt like the sharp point of needles, but Jack simply gritted(咬紧) his teeth and didn’t move his arm because there wouldn’t be many more of these embraces. He slowly turned his head and looked out of the window, where the snow was steadily falling. It was truly beautiful.

He took his wife’s hand.

“Christmas,” Jack said in a breathless voice. “I’ll be there.”

“Promise?” said Lizzie, her voice beginning to break.

“Promise.”

24. What made Jack win his highest military award?

A. Saving his fellow soldiers.

B. Driving a damaged Humvee.

C. Surviving his Afghanistan tour.

D. Being in the military for five years.

25. What did the author mean by saying that Jack’s wife, Lizzie was dying?

A. She was full of regrets.

B. She was defeated by life.