I grew up in a big family---five brothers, three sisters and I ----with just enough of all the right part to make a childhood well remembered. It was a very strict upbringing.

On the first day of my second grade, my father asked me if I could read well. “Yes, I can,” I said. So he gave me a hand-draw map with street names and directions on how to walk to school. The school was three miles away, and I had never been there by myself.

He handed me the map and my lunch box and said, “Don’t stop and don’t turn back.” I was standing, scared, but he kissed me goodbye and sent me out of the door. On my way to school, I couldn’t help crying, but I continued to walk. I didn’t know how long it would take me to get there, or how many fearful and anxious moments I would have, but I do remember forever how I felt when I came around the last corner, and saw my school.

My heart was filled with relief and joy. I made it! I wished I could tell my father right then that I had make it. When he got home, he said to me, “Hi, did you have fun?” I murmured, “yes.” and waited for him to ask what had happened, but he never did.

Years later, I finally got the courage to ask him why he did that and why he didn’t care about what had happened. He just looked at me for a few minutes and then said, “I didn’t have to ask you, because I knew. I followed you the whole way. I saw you jump up and down at the last street corner. I felt what you felt.” Then I understood and cried.

(1) According to the passage, how many children does the author’s father have?

A. Five.

B. Three.

C. Eight.

D. Nine.

(2) Which of the following statements is TRUE on the first day of the author’s second grade?

A. The author asked her father’s permission to go to school on her own.

B. The author’s father gave the author lots of directions and guidance before he let her go to school alone.

C. The author cried because she couldn’t see her father and lost her way.

D. The author felt relieved and joyful when she finally reached school by herself.

(3) We can know from the passage that         .

A. the author misunderstood her father at first

B. the author hates her father because he was too strict with her

C. he author’s father didn’t care about the author’s feelings at all

D. the author’s father regretted for what he had done to his daughter

(4) What does the passage mainly want to tell us?

A. Living in a big family is not good at all.

B. Parents’ love for their children is often unnoticed.

C. Children cannot grow up under parents’ protection.

D. We should be brave enough to accept challenge at a young age.