I didn’t believe in ghosts （幽靈）. However， my mother reminded me many times that I had the 1 . It was all because of a 2 I told when I was 4. One night I 3 to get ready for bed， so I lied there was a ghost in the bathroom. Mother was 4 to learn that.

After that she often 5 anything unusual—a sudden wind， a vase that fell and got broken. She would ask me， “Is she here？” She 6 my grandmother， who she said died in a car accident. When I was 14， my older brother was seriously ill. My mother 7 me to ask my grandmother to save him. When he died， she asked me to talk to him as usual. “I don’t know 8 ，” I said. When my father died six months after my brother， mother asked me if they still loved us. I spelled out the answer which I 9 she wanted to hear： Yes， always.

When I became a writer in my 30s， I wrote a story about a woman who killed herself by eating too much opium （鴉片）.

10 the story， my mother got shocked， 11 it’s exactly how my grandmother died. For some reason， mother didn’t tell me the truth. Now she had 12 ： My grandmother had talked to me and told me her true story. She asked me， “Is she here now？” I answered 13 ， “I don’t know.”

Over the years， mother always asked me some 14 questions. Sometimes I really got 15 of them. And I began to

16 whether there was something wrong with her 17 . Ten years later， my mother left me for ever. Suddenly I felt sad and 18 . It seemed that I had lost everything. That night I 19 about her and she was laughing at my surprise. When she reached me， I felt as if I had been 20 in the chest with something： love， but also joy and peace. “Now you know，” my mother said.

1. A. chanceB. giftC. secretD. experience

2. A. lieB. storyC. dreamD. plan

3. A. pretendedB. preparedC. refusedD. decided

4. A. satisfiedB. movedC. disappointedD. surprised

5. A. noticedB. questionedC. ignoredD. found

6. A. askedB. meantC. rememberedD. missed

7. A. beggedB. forcedC. orderedD. helped

8. A. whatB. whoC. howD. which

9. A. imaginedB. doubtedC. hopedD. knew

10. A. PrintingB. TellingC. ReadingD. Typing

11. A. becauseB. soC. thoughD. unless

12. A. confidenceB. proofC. knowledgeD. information

13. A. quicklyB. happilyC. honestlyD. sadly

14. A. commonB. sillyC. familiarD. similar

15. A. tiredB. lostC. gladD. excited

16. A. understandB. figureC. wonderD. speak

17. A. eyesightB. mindC. bodyD. head

18. A. strong-mindedB. aloneC. relaxedD. empty

19. A. sawB. dreamedC. metD. saved

20. A. takenB. hitC. filledD. kept