并且由于其他人对艾滋病人的歧视，我们都把父亲的病情保密

【题目】I was aged 9 the moment I discovered my father was seriously sick. It was 1994, but I can well remember my mother’s words as though it were yesterday: “Maggie, I don’t want you to take ______ from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very cautious when you are around him.”

AIDS wasn’t something we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family ______. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could attend to himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father’s other children lived far away, so it ______ to me to look after him.

We couldn’t _____ all the necessary medication for him, and because Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t ______ buy food for dinner. I ______ sit in class feeling completely ______. The teacher’s words were ________ as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage.

I did not ______ my burden with anyone. I had seen how people ______ to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be _____. When my father was ______ to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was too fragile to feed himself.

I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his ______ a secret, I was truly ______ when he reached his final days. ______ and down, I called a woman at the non-profit National AIDS Support. That day, she ______ me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who cared. She saved my life. I was 15 when my father ______ on. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn’t want to call ______ to AIDS. I do.

【1】A. trust         B. joke      C. food         D. fun

【2】A. disease       B. project   C. challenge    D. secret

【3】A. fell          B. sent     C. chose        D. left

【4】A. afford       B. offer    C. select      D. prepare

【5】A. only          B. even     C. yet         D. still

【6】A. might         B. should   C. could       D. would

【7】A. moved         B. lost      C. bored        D. nervous

【8】A. rolled        B. eaten     C. proved       D. drowned

【9】A. pack         B. compare   C. share       D. affect

【10】A. applied      B. escaped  C. reacted      D. referred

【11】A. cruel        B. curious  C. considerate  D. confused

【12】A. admitted    B. concerned C. removed      D. sentenced

【13】A. dream        B. promise  C. instruction  D. condition

【14】A. calm        B. religious C. unprepared   D. devoted

【15】A. Red         B. Black    C. Green        D. Blue

【16】A. kept         B. talked   C. reminded    D. replied

【17】A. died         B. hid      C. passed      D. sighed

【18】A. relief      B. attention C. support      D. Trouble