Everyone has a moment in history, which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person the world today or life or reality he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashedemotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.
For me, this momentfour years in a moment in historywas the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. America is not, never has been, and never will be what the song and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because there isnt very much to buy. Trains are always late and always crowded with service men. The war will always be fought very far from America, and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people who are always either leaving or on leave. People in America cry often. Sixteen is the key and crucial and natural age for a human being to be, and people of all other ages are ranged in an orderly manner ahead of and behind you as a harmonious setting for the sixteen-year-olds of the world. When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future: fighting for them. You do not foresee it. To waste anything in America is immoral. String and tinfoil are treasures. Newspapers are always crowed with strange maps and names of towns, and every few months the earth seems to lurchfrom its path when you see something in the newspapers, such as the time Mussolini, who almost seemed one of the eternal leaders, is photographed hanging upside down on a meat hook.
1.Which statement best depicts the main idea of the first paragraph?
A.Reality is what you make of it.
B.Time is like a river.
C.Emotions are powerful.
D.Every person has a special moment.
2.Why does the author still clearly remember the war?
A.Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President.
B.It was his personal reality and part of his life.
C.There was not much to buy.
D.The war would never end.
3.Which statement best describes the authors feelings about the war?
A.It was ever real for him, yet he was not actively involved.
B.It was real for him because he was a soldier at that time.
C.It was very unreal to him.
D.The war was very disruptive to the people at home.
4.Why does the author think that adults are impressed with sixteen-year-olds?
A.Adults would like to be young.
B.Sixteen-year-olds do not waste things.
C.Sixteen-year-olds read newspapers.
D.They will be fighting soon for adults.
5.Why does the author say that string and tinfoil are treasures?
A.The war has made them scarce.
B.They are useful to sixteen-year-olds.
C.He liked them when he was sixteen.
D.People are very wasteful.