(1)It was the spring of 1985, and President Reagan had just given Mother Teresa the Medal of Freedom in a Rose Garden ceremony. As she left, she walked down the corridor between the Oval Office and the West Wing drive, and there she was, turning my way. What a sight: a saint in a sari coming down the White House hall. As she came nearer, I could not help it: I bowed. "Mother", I said, "I just want to touch your hand." She looked up at me—it may have been one of Gods subtle jokes that his exalted child spent her life looking up to everyone else—and said only two words.
(2)Later I would realize that they were the message of her mission. "Luff Gott," she said. Love God. She pressed into my hand a poem she had written, as she glided away in a swoosh of habit. I took the poem from its frame the day she died. It is free verse, 79 lines, and is called "Mother's Meditation(in the Hospital)." In it she reflects on Christ's question to his apostles: "Who do you say I am?" She notes that "he was the boy born in Bethlehem", "put in the manger full of straw... kept warm by the breath of the donkey, who grew up to be an ordinary man without much learning." Donkeys are not noble; straw is common; and it was among the ordinary and ignoble, the poor and sick, that she chose to labor. Her mission was for them and among them, and you have to be a pretty tough character to organize a little universe that exists to help people other people aren't interested in helping. That's how she struck me when I met her as I watched her life. She was tough. There was the worn and weathered face, the abrupt and definite speech. We think saints are great organizers, great operators, and great combatants in the world. Once I saw her in a breathtaking act of courage. She was speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in 1995.
(3)A11 the Washington Establishment was there, plus a few thousand born-again Christians, orthodox Catholics and Jews, and searchers looking for a faith. Mother Teresa was introduced, and she spoke of God, of love, of families. She said we must love one another and care for one another. There were great purrs of agreement. But as the speech continued it became more pointed. She asked, "Do you do enough to make sure your parents, in the old people's homes, feel your love? Do you bring then each day your joy and caring?" The baby boomers in the audience began to shift in their seats. And she continued. "I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion," she said, and then she told them why, in uncompromising term.
(4)For about 1.3 seconds there was complete silence, then applause built and swept across the room. But not everyone: the President and the First Lady, the Vice President and Mrs. Gore, looked like seated statues at Madame Tussauds, glistening in the lights and moving not a muscle. She didn't stop there either, but went on to explain why artificial birth control is bad and why Protestants who separate faith from works are making a mistake. When she was finished, there was almost no one she hadn't offended. A US Senator turned to his wife and said, "Is my jaw up yet?" Talk about speaking truth to power! But Mother Teresa didn't care, and she wasn't afraid. The poem she gave me included her personal answers to Christ's question. She said he is "the Truth to be told... the Way to be walked... the Light to be lit." She took her own advice and lived a whole life that showed it.
单选题 To Mother Teresa's understanding, God refers to _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】综合考虑特雷莎修女的言谈(第3、4段)和她的实际行动(第1段)便能得出她对God的真实理解,故答案为C。
单选题 The sentence "Donkeys are not noble; straw is common." in the second paragraph implies that_____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】从该句的下文可知,特雷莎修女选择服务于平凡大众正是因为上帝本身即扎根于普通人之中。这是她的人生信念,也是本段所要表达的思想,选C。根据第2段中特雷莎修女通过思考上帝的出身和经历而定位自己人生使命这一主题就可看出A、B是孤立且望文生义的句子;D中的poor and sick以偏概全。
单选题 Which of the following best describes Mother Teresa as seen by the author?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】从第1段作者称修女为“圣人”可知,他对修女总体是赞扬和仰慕的;第2段末作者称修女的讲话是一次勇敢行为,以及第4段中赞扬修女敢说真话。因此,D正确。A、B、C中的critical,picky和offensive只是某些听众对修女的看法,并非作者的观点。
单选题 The senator's question "Is my jaw up yet?" in the last paragraph indicates that_____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】最后一段中有位议员问道,“我的下巴合起来了吗?”可见他主要还是吃惊,即A。根据最后一段第4句可排除B、D;另从文中的场景描述可知,议员是被修女为说真话而挑战权威的勇气所震惊了可知议员不是生气,故排除C。