I’m a 50-something male, the father of two mostly grown girls. I’m happy to

游客2023-11-03  13

问题     I’m a 50-something male, the father of two mostly grown girls. I’m happy to say that both my parents are still kicking. I’m on good terms with my brothers and sisters most of the time. I am blessed with good friends and other relations, and tend to get on well with my co-workers. I am fortunate in so many ways, but feel like I consistently disappoint everyone I know.
    I cannot, for the life of me, give a genuine compliment. It simply doesn’t come naturally. When I try, and I do, in order to maintain all the aforementioned relationships, it feels forced, more a matter of obligation than a gift that might put wind in the sails of someone I truly care for. I feel strongly that giving should spring from joy, or at least from a heartfelt desire to see the recipient enlivened by it. When I have nothing to offer in response to a job well done, or I can’t cite the intrinsic value of those I love, everyone loses. I feel like I’ve warped the emotional and social development of my children, alienated any number of perfectly wonderful lovers, and generally kept the world at arm’s length.
    I can recall certain compliments given to me through the years. Some of them made all the differences, whether in attaining some goal or simply affording me an elevated sense of self and my rightful place in the world. The value of timely acknowledgment is obvious.
    After years of psychotherapy and the obsessive self-examination endemic to my generation, I believe I know where this stinginess of spirit comes from. Six kids in total, at a very tender age, there were five younger, cuter kids standing between me and the object of our affection. Mama was driven to distraction, to put it mildly, by the demands placed on her, but it was the 1950s and she set a selfless and hardy example. I had complete sympathy for her difficult situation, even at the time. The fact remains, however, that, as a young child, I needed more than I got. I thirsted for my mother’s attention. I needed to know that she valued me as more than her helper, her strong little man. I clearly recall, at the ripe old age of 7, coming to the conclusion that I would never get it. "That’s OK," I reckoned, "I can get by without it", "it" being her love.
    You can imagine the sibling rivalry in all its permutations. Eventually I took haven in the written word to get away from it. But even before I learned to read, I had realized that giving any sign of approval or encouragement to my brothers and sisters could only serve to increase the gulf between me and my mom. Does that make sense? I can rationalize otherwise, of course, and now we’re all "one big happy family", but the damage is done. I want to be gracious and giving, but when I even think to reach into that purse, however, it’s pretty much empty. [br] The word "haven" in the last paragraph refers to______.

选项 A、paradise
B、shelter
C、comfort
D、compliment

答案 B

解析 语义题。由最后一段第一句中的rivalry一词可以看出,作者与弟弟、妹妹间的竞争,而第二句中的to get away from it亦点明作者读书的目的就是为了逃避,所以[B]“避难所”正确。[A]“天堂”、[C]“安慰”以及[D]“称赞”均不准确,故排除。
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