Ways to Report Death
Two brothers, Herbert and James, lived with their mother and a cat named Edgar. James was particularly attached to the cat, and when he had to leave town for several days, he left Herbert meticulous instructions about the pet' s care. At the end of this first day away. James telephoned his brother. "How is Edgar?"
"Edgar is dead." Herbert answered. There was a pause. Then James said, "Herbert, you're insensitive, you know how close I was to Edgar -you should have broken the news to me slowly. When I asked about Edgar tonight, you should have said, 'Edgar's on the roof , but I have called the fire department to get him down.' And tomorrow when I called, you could have said the firemen were having trouble getting Edgar down, but you were hopeful they would succeed. Then when I called the third time, you could have told me that the fire-men have done their best, but unfortunately Edgar had fallen off the roof and was at the veterinarian's. Then when I called the last time, you could have said that although everything possible had been done for Edgar, he had died. That's the way a sensitive man would have told me about Edgar. And, oh, before I forget," James added, "how is mother?"
"Oh," Herbert said, pausing for a moment, "She' s on the roof."
Notes:
(1) particularly adv.特别地
(2) be attached to 为爱或感情所束缚；爱慕；依恋
(3) meticulous adj.仔细的
(4) insensitive adj.感觉迟钝的
(5) fire department 消防部
(6) have trouble doing做某事有困难
(7) unfortunately adj.不幸地
(8) veterinarian n.兽医（常可写为vet）
Exercises:
根据短文选择正确答案：
① How many people were there in the family?
A. two
B. three
C. four
D. five
② Who was greatly attached to the cat?
A. Herbert
B. James
C. the mother
D. Edgar
③ What did James ask Herbert to do when he had to leave town for several days?
A. to take good care of Edgar
B. to take good care of his mother
C. to take good care of himself.
D. to take good care of the house
④ What happened to Edgar?
A. He was on the roof.
B. He fell off the roof.
C. He was at the veterinarian's.
D. He was dead.
⑤ From the passage we can see that_____ .
A. James didn't care about his mother as much as he cared about the cat
B. the mother was dead
C. something was wrong with the roof of the house
D. Herbert was very angry with James
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