Question

Maybe no one forgets their first bike and there is no exception to a woman like me. Mine was a Schwinn coaster bike, second-hand, painted red and yellow by its previous owner. I remember riding too fast down the big hill on Springfield Avenue. I knew at once that the world was mine to explore.

A couple of years later, when I was 11, my grandmother visited from England, bringing me a bike. It was a dark green one, with three gears (齒輪) and hand brakes. As the owner of the first English bike my friends had ever seen, I was almost famous.

Unlike my coaster bike, it was light—riding it felt like flying. I rode past big stone houses with their huge yards and trees. I rode past brick row houses. I rode alone and with groups of friends.

That beloved bike went with me to college, carrying me to the library and to classes. Beyond transport, it was often a prop (道具): Pushing it along as I walked the college paths made me feel less self-conscious. Somehow, conversation flowed more easily on either side of a bike.

After college, I lived abroad for a while. Returning from London, I discovered to my horror that my parents had sold my bike.

For years after that, I didn't have a bike that was really mine. Teaching in a New England prep school (學(xué)校), I simply rode whatever bikes its graduates had left behind. I rode around the little town on bikes with gears and brakes that often failed. I did not take any of those bikes with me when I moved south to the coastal town where I now live. But after a while I missed riding.

Finally, on a fall day, I bought a bike. Called a comfort bike, it has wider tires than my old bike and seven gears. But it is green—a brighter green bike.

Still, I was a bit worried; I was a lot older. I brought the bike home and put on my helmet—I'd never worn a helmet before. Then I got on the bike. After a difficult start, I felt exactly as I was on that long-ago day on Springfield Avenue: free. Soon I was riding along, watching the waves break. It seemed that everyone I passed smiled. And I knew they all remembered their first bike and how it had set them free. I wanted to call back to them, "It still can!"

1.According to the article, the author's beloved bike ________.

A. was a red and yellow coaster bike

B. made her the envy of all her friends

C. was her birthday gift from her grandmother

D. made her shy and awkward at times at college

2.When she was teaching at a prep school, the author ________.

A. didn't like her once-beloved bike

B. got out of the habit of riding bikes

C. loved exploring the little town by riding around

D. rode bikes that had been recommended to her by graduates

3.What happened to the author after she moved to the coastal town?

A. She bought another coaster like her old one.

B. She found that she was too old to ride a bike.

C. She challenged herself to ride a more demanding bike.

D. She regained the feeling that her first bike had given her.

4.What was the author's main purpose in writing this article?

A. To describe the different bikes she has been riding alone.

B. To recall the joy and freedom she has enjoyed thanks to riding.

C. To inform us of the fun and benefits of riding bikes with others.

D. To tell us about how she grew up through her riding experiences.

Answer 1